The COVID-19 pandemic, the climate and refugee crises, and the global supply chain disruption, among others, have exemplified the high level of planetary connectedness the world endures today, making the phrase "we are all in this together" an undeniable fact. A joint statement from the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of…

In this article, Brian Coppola begins by discussing the 2007 National Academies of Sciences (NAS) publication, "Rising Above the Gathering Storm" which called for for reprioritizing investments because "the world is changing rapidly, and our advantages are no longer unique. Without a renewed effort to bolster the foundations of our…

Each year, thousands of undergraduates in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields conduct research in US university and college laboratories. Such undergraduate research (UR) experiences are common practice in US higher education, with nearly a century of history at research universities and liberal arts colleges.…

Graduate students and post-doctoral scholars at research universities will shape the future of undergraduate education in the natural and social sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics (the STEM disciplines) in the United States. In 2009 alone, more than 41,000 doctorates were awarded in STEM fields, and if employment trends hold,…

In an attempt to move, if not balance, the scales of activity toward increasing scientific capability across a diverse national population, U.S. federal funding agencies are purposefully linking research funding to broad national impact. Among United States federal agencies, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has led the way in the integration…

In this cartoon essay, the author shares his experience from a travel to Paris to see the French higher education system. From his travel, he learned that in France, "degree" inflation may be an issue, but not grade inflation. On the flight home, the author reflects how French and American academics answer one question about the state of…

Currently, 42 percent of Americans in the 25-34 age range hold a degree from a two- or four-year institution of higher education. At one time, that proportion was high enough to make the United States the best-educated country in the world. But in one generation, America's educational attainment has held steady while in other countries it has…

This study focuses on aspects of the Changing Academic Profession survey of 2007-08 that describe the place of faculty in their institutions. The authors examine the following aspects of institutional life: (1) the faculty role in institutional governance; (2) who evaluates their teaching and research; (3) the locus of their loyalties as between…

In the long term, there is little doubt that US higher education will remain extremely attractive to foreign talent, due to the academic quality of a large number of its research universities; the legacy of a relatively open society for immigrants; and America's still strong, if slightly tarnished, reputation as a land of opportunity. However, a…

A global revolution has been taking place in higher education during the past half-century. In the educators' view, four fundamental and interrelated forces have impelled the current academic revolution: the "massification" of higher education, globalization, the advent of the knowledge society and the importance of research universities…

The 44th President of the United States will have the greatest opportunity--and face the greatest necessity--since the 1950s to lead the nation to sustainable prosperity. In the knowledge economy of the 21st century, America's intellectual edge, creative ingenuity, and adaptive workforce are and will remain the most important components of…

There are countless reports stressing the economic and societal benefits to be gained from improved science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education for all students. Although there is extensive research on alternative teaching methods that increase student learning and are practical to implement, the combined efforts of federal…

The Carnegie Commission on Higher Education was established by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in 1967 to study and make recommendations regarding the major issues facing U.S. higher education. The commission soon confronted a problem: no extant classification system differentiated colleges and universities along the…

A number of institutions have developed policies designed to foster family-friendly work environments, but bias against caregiving may lead gatekeepers to discourage faculty members from using them. The message sent to faculty and prospective faculty by this scenario is that it is too difficult to be a productive academic and an involved, caring…