Prior to the pandemic, when the universities were still allowing international students (and I believe they're about to reopen to international students again soon) the anecdotes I was hearing from teachers was appalling. Pressure to pass students despite them being barely able to speak English, let alone know the subject matter.<p>The universities here in Australia have essentially transitioned to being businesses and failing students is bad for business. The incentives have become completely misaligned and short sighted.<p>Who I choose to interview and eventually hire now has no relationship to a computer science degree. Instead I'm looking at what you've actually achieved prior to the interview. If you're coming in for an entry level position, show me your group project. Show me you fumbling around in technologies that you don't really understand fully yet but have a genuine interest in. I want to see the homepage you created for your dads panel beating business, that alone tells me that you're curious enough about the industry to actually try (and succeed!) in creating something, even if it looks like a dogs breakfast.<p>I know others are thinking the same way when hiring and the universities have only themselves to blame for chasing short term profits over long term viability.
I graduated from an Australian uni in 2006 and have nothing but wonderful things to say about the experience. Heartbreaking to think that my kids might not have access to the same quality of institution.<p>Twelve years of Coalition government is part of the problem but imo the decline really started earlier, under Howard, with the shift to “user pays”. The rapid expansion of international student intake began shortly thereafter as a response to funding shortfalls.
Yes! My partner eventually quit her job university lecturing because she was explicitly told time and time again she was never allowed to fail any of the international "full fee paying" students. If she lodged a fail mark she was raked over the coals and forced to change it as a passing mark.
She was only allowed to give failing marks to Australians who pay approximately a quarter the university fees compared to international students.
Universities aren't learning institutions anymore, they are businesses. They are not run by academics, but by managers who in the face of criticism spew "hooray statements" about mental-health frameworks instead of improving conditions. They no longer have students, but customers.<p>And customers, if they don't get what they <i>paid</i> for, complain.
> “If I went through and only passed the students I knew had put in a sincere ongoing effort I might have passed [about 2%].”<p>The only reason I went to university is so I can apply for entry level jobs that require a university degree. As long as the job market is structured this way it's cruel to fail student for not putting in "sincere ongoing effort". Nothing about university is sincere.
Here is a list of Vice Chancellor salaries in Australia. Even in public institutions, they get paid handsomely - more than the Prime Minister.<p><a href="https://campusmorningmail.com.au/news/accounting-for-vice-chancellors-salaries/" rel="nofollow">https://campusmorningmail.com.au/news/accounting-for-vice-ch...</a>