"3 prestigious universities about to go bust" - on Radio 5 live this morning..

[devilsadvocate77]

...heard a chap who was contributing as part of Nicky's slot (still on) say that three unis are about to go bust, not to mention the many others who are running at a deficit.

Nicky asked if he would name them but he refused.

Any ideas??

Male behaviour and dominance doesn’t start at university. Nor does the messaging that ‘girls don’t do engineering’. Why do you think the number of girls choosing to pursue male-dominated stem subjects is higher in single sex schools?

I think a lot of what girls choose is about upbringing and interests. DH is a chartered engineer. Women in engineering has been pushed and pushed. If DDs don’t really enjoy the necessary subjects, it’s not fair or right to lush them into it. What is better is an exploration of what their interests are. Women are not in short supply as doctors. Other science fields are nowhere near 50/50 though.

Plus there’s something a bit “off” about girls being admonished for not choosing some careers. They are not all conditioned to be girly or not be able to work alongside men. They just choose what they enjoy. My DDs were educated in girls’ schools. The big message was do what suits you. Not do something because boys do it and you should join them or you are letting the side down.

@Delphigirl Those are astounding sums of money U.K unis would kill for.

Yup!

International visas have changed. People cannot come here to study with their family anymore, which is impacting many universities' international student numbers.

And that's the massive difference - in mixed schools girls DO NOT DO SCIENCE. Obviously that's hyperbole, but the differences in the take up rate of say A level Physics in girls schools compared to mixed is huge.

Not an area I'm particularly familiar with, but lots of evidence that girls do better in all-girl schools, while boys do better in mixed - presumably because of the influence of girls. Ironic really.

@titchy Yes I know girls do better in girls schools so we chose one. Well two actually as DD2 changed for 6th form. Neither school was that fussed about science but the international and ethnic minority students did little else! No drama for them. So who is in the schools very much drives interest and careers I think. Plus maths A level has more take up than any other A level. But, if it’s not what you enjoy, it’s not for you.

this thread contains snobs 🫡

But I wouldn't up sticks if any of mine had attended a university abroad. University doesn't last forever.

But I wouldn't up sticks if any of mine had attended a university abroad. University doesn't last forever.

It's their spouses and children overseas students used to be able to bring along - not usually their parents! And it was generally Masters not undergrads.

Thank you for clarifying for me!

Yes, our Masters programmes are suffering badly because those who would have brought their spouse and children from.abroad are no longer interested.

That was only in place for a couple of years.

What dependants' visas? They were in place for years!

It’s also just the culture…the sports in American Unis is wild, and they tend to continue to identify heavily with their college sports teams. The universities offer alumni weekends with big sports games, the whole system is just different

Yes. The USA is different. It’s difficult to get that sort of money out of teachers and NHS staff.

Women from certain cultures won't come here without a brother or other male relative as well.

You're talking about girls being admonished for not taking STEM whilst ignoring the lifelong social messaging that girls get that admonishes them for even thinking about taking STEM.

There's a reason why all-girl schools produce more female STEM students than mixed schools: in all-girl schools the "science is for boys" message isn't on endless repeat.

https://xkcd.com/385/ was drawn for a reason.

I’ve never met these Shrinking Violet girls! Their parents push stem if the girls like it. Other cultures 100% push stem for the girls. Some of them, it is said above, cannot travel without men. I’m not sure girls are really quite so unable to make up their own minds. Of course girls think about stem. They probably take maths and biology. They become doctors and chemists too. They just don’t become engineers in huge numbers. The idea these poor girls are conditioned by dreadful parents and teachers to swerve stem is just wrong. They just prefer other things. And why shouldn’t they?

There was something on the Welsh news tonight on Lampeter. It looks like Humanities will cease there.

The message is coming from the whole of society, with male peers a large part of its delivery. The increased uptake of STEM at all-girl schools proves this

Humans do not act in isolation. We are all influenced by our community, peers, and wider society. This is unrelated to being "shrinking violets".

👏👏👏 Summed it all up perfectly

Tony Blair barely increased the number of unis. This was Conservatives 5 years before Blair was elected. Cameron lifted the numbers cap. Blair encouraged dc to go to uni but the unis were already there. So @duc maybe look at facts?

Promo messages about girls doing STEM are completely inadequate in the face of a y9 physics lessons full of semi feral boys.