Tag Archives: Post-Secondary

Ken Coates: Failing the ‘average’ Canadian

In the Press, , , ,

NATIONAL POST – Statistics Canada recently released new data on the narrowing earnings gap between high school graduates and those with a university bachelor’s degree. There’s nothing particularly new about this, but it adds to a mounting body of evidence showing that what Canadians have been led to believe about the cash value of a university education is, for a great many people, simply not true.

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Some students shouldn’t be at university

In the Press, , ,

THERECORD.COM – For every three students in a Canadian university, one of them shouldn’t be there. That’s the idea behind What To Consider If You’re Considering University, the book that should be given to every Grade 10 student in the country.

This book is like a slap of cold water on a tired face. Written by Ken Coates, former dean of arts at University of Waterloo, and Bill Morrison, a retired professor who lives in British Columbia, it offers a much-needed wake-up call to all those teenagers who are going to university because they’ve got good marks, and because that’s what everyone else is doing.

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Examining the “university myth”

In the Press, , ,

June 12, 2014 – THE MORNING EDITION – CBC K-W – After years of hard work and tens of thousands of dollars, university graduates get a degree, but no job guarantee. Ken Coates, author, and former UW dean of arts, says the past four years may have been a waste of time and money.

Listen to interview here

Failing the ‘average’ Canadian

In the Press, , , ,

NATIONAL POST – Statistics Canada recently released new data on the narrowing earnings gap between high school graduates and those with a university bachelor’s degree. There’s nothing particularly new about this, but it adds to a mounting body of evidence showing that what Canadians have been led to believe about the cash value of a university education is, for a great many people, simply not true. Read More

Should college and university professors attach “trigger warnings” to certain kinds of course material?

In the Press, ,

cbc.ca THE CURRENT WITH MARIA TREMONTI – A student Senate motion at the U of California asks professors to include warnings on course material that could trigger damaging emotional reactions in students.  Some see this awareness as positive. Other see an attempt to coddle and Censure.

But not everyone is on board with these policies and some worry that efforts to protect students will end up stifling academic freedom and free speech.

For their thoughts on where the right balance lies, we were joined by three people.

  • Ken Coates is Canada Research Chair in Regional Innovation at the University of Saskatchewan’s Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy. He’s also the author of Campus Confidential: 100 Startling Things You Don’t Know About Canadian Universities.  Ken Coates was in Saskatoon.
  • Carrie Rentschler is the Director of the McGill Institute for Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies. She was in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
  • Raechel Tiffe is a Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences at Merrimack College. She was in North Andover, Massachusetts.

Listen to full interview here.

Coates & Morrison: Kathleen Wynne’s latest bad idea

In the Press, , , ,

A recent news release from the Government of Ontario, although re-stating old news, invited universities to “submit proposals for new or expanded campuses in under-served areas.” The goal: add 60,000 university spaces to the already large Ontario system to permit more students to study closer to home. This announcement is a one of two things: an early April Fools’ joke or an impending provincial election. Picking up from former Premier Dalton McGuinty, who never saw an educational commitment he did not like, Premier Kathleen Wynne appears determined to return to university inducements to boost the Liberal party’s electoral fortunes. These bribes, which is what they were — particularly the tuition rebates hastily announced mid-campaign — were costly vote-getters during the last election. The Liberals clearly believe they will work again.

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