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UK universities slide down global rankings

thetimes.co.uk

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Re: UK universities slide down global rankings

#31

Post by rcarr »

Symbiote wrote: post #27
rcarr wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m in the process of getting rid of all my stuff and so I’m in the process of shredding old school work and it’s mad how much of is centred on the royal family, the UK military and the romans. The indoctrination starts early.

The National Curriculum (applies in England and Wales) for history: > aims to ensure that all pupils: > - know and understand the history of these islands as a coherent, chronological narrative, from the earliest times to the present day: how people’s lives have shaped this nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world > - know and understand significant aspects of the history of the wi…

I can only speak for my experience but there was little discussion of events elsewhere in Europe, let alone the rest of the world, with the exception of very significant events involving the UK military such as the world wars or the withdrawal from India and even they were told from a very UK centric viewpoint.

Quite frankly, I think learning about say the conquistadors, the Ottoman Empire, the Portuguese empire, asian history etc and how that has gone on to shape the world we have today would probably be of more use than the amount of time spent dissecting the personalities of past monarchs.

Re: UK universities slide down global rankings

#32

Post by 908B64B197 »

inglor_cz wrote: post #8
keiferski wrote: post #5

I recently spent about a month total in Cambridge and Oxford, just as a remote worker / tourist. Having previously visited Harvard, Yale, MIT, Princeton, etc. it was my impression that American universities have an order of magnitude more resources than UK ones. Even an average state school campus in the US appears larger and better funded. Of course, Oxford and Cambridge have a centuries-old historical legacy (and a…

While good amenities may matter for certain types of research (biotech), what about disciplines such as maths, which require good thinking, a piece of paper to draw on, and that's about it? If you look at the results of the International Mathematical Olympiad, many of the really successful countries (Russia, Hungary, Romania, Iran) aren't very rich. A possible explanation would be brain-drain: talented mathematicians…

> many of the really successful countries (Russia, Hungary, Romania, Iran) aren't very rich

While the US could use (homebuilt) computers to solve engineering issues, the Russians had to resort to manual calculations. The eastern block always lagged behind in terms of computing.

> Does that happen?

All the time.

Post 2016 the messaging from most commonwealth countries (UK, Canada, Australia) seemed to be that they were going to be the ones bennefiting from a brain drain of americans leaving the country. Canada was supposed to become an "AI Superpower" and Universities in the UK were supposed to be where innovation was going to happen next due to the perceived hostility of the United States to foreing talent. I recall someone pitching the "Silicon Roundabout" and that Cambridge and Oxford were going to be the new Stanford and MIT.

It's interesting, in retrospective, to see how wrong these predictions were.

The top destination for top tier UK scientists and researchers is the US. [0]

[0] http://spectrum.ieee.org/at-work/tech-careers/the-global-bra...

Re: UK universities slide down global rankings

#34

Post by inglor_cz »

908B64B197 wrote: post #32
inglor_cz wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While good amenities may matter for certain types of research (biotech), what about disciplines such as maths, which require good thinking, a piece of paper to draw on, and that's about it? If you look at the results of the International Mathematical Olympiad, many of the really successful countries (Russia, Hungary, Romania, Iran) aren't very rich. A possible explanation would be brain-drain: talented mathematicians…

> many of the really successful countries (Russia, Hungary, Romania, Iran) aren't very rich While the US could use (homebuilt) computers to solve engineering issues, the Russians had to resort to manual calculations. The eastern block always lagged behind in terms of computing. > Does that happen? All the time. Post 2016 the messaging from most commonwealth countries (UK, Canada, Australia) seemed to be that they wer…

I grew up behind the Iron Curtain and yes, computational power was sorely lacking. Calculators were sold on the black market for enormous money.

But despite this fact, actual maths was on a high level both in the satellite states of Central and Eastern Europe, and the Soviet Union itself. Notably, translated Soviet mathematical textbooks are still rather popular in the Anglosphere among people who want to dive into higher mathematics deeply.

Some of those books were literally written at the same time when ordinary Soviet citizens queued for food.

Re: UK universities slide down global rankings

#35

Post by thebruce87m »

okeuro49 wrote: post #13
was_a_dev wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From a UK perspective, the US "throws money" at everything, both culturally and because you are a larger economy. Education, sports, healthcare, industry, space, science to name a few. The UK also has an opposing culture, we don't invest in the long term in infrastructure or people. Even in your case, you visited the two richest universities (by a long margin) in the UK.

There's long term investment in London, but the North never recovered after losing its industry. Numerous promises such as "northern powerhouse" have failed to materialise.

For people outside the UK - English people refer to the north of England as “the North”, even when talking in the context of the UK.
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