Campus Talks by Times Higher Education

Campus Talks: The real-world power of soft skills

How do universities ensure their programmes and curricula meet the demands from industry, government – and students themselves – for career-ready graduates equipped with vital transferable skills?

Skills – whether you call them soft, transferable, power, productivity, work-based or human skills – have come to dominate the conversation about employability. The rapid advance of artificial intelligence, coupled with a shrinking number of entry-level roles, means that graduates are looking for the capabilities that will give them an edge. Industry and governments, meanwhile, have their eye on the economic and innovation advantages that come with an agile, digitally literate and productive workforce.

Alongside academic skills, universities have long provided students with opportunities to develop communication, critical thinking and teamwork skills, but external demands mean they need to be more intentional about embedding transferable skills in curricula – and give graduates means to evidence this learning.

To find out how institutions in the UK and Australia are responding to the call for work-ready graduates with a skill set adapted to the modern economy, we talked to:

• Sir David Bell is vice-chancellor and chief executive of the University of Sunderland. He is also vice-chair of Skills England. Sir David has served as Her Majesty’s chief inspector of schools, and his public sector roles include permanent secretary at the UK Department for Education, director of education and libraries for Newcastle City Council and chief executive of Bedfordshire County Council.
• Dawn Bennett is a higher education consultant, with a focus on graduate outcomes and student success. She is also founder of the Developing Employ-ability Initiative, which gives students and educators a framework for managing career development and mapping employability skills, and a senior associate with consultancy Outside Opinion. She spent 14 years as the John Curtin distinguished professor of higher education and director of the Developing Employability and Creative Workforce Initiatives at Curtin University, Australia, and continues to engage in research. She is a former professional violist.
• Derek Harding is manager of the VET Educator Academy at Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne. In this role, he works on professional development for staff to promote academic quality. A former high school teacher, he has experience in foundation education and instructional design.

For more advice and insight on developing transferable skills from academics and experts from universities around the world, read our spotlight Soft skills for hard times.

Campus Talks: Why teaching with AI is ‘like a giant field experiment’

Her ability to engage with leading-edge technology has long set Jenny Moffett apart, whether that’s her early embrace of the potential of online education for professional development or using immersive technology to help medical students navigate ambiguous situations. And now last year’s winner of the Times Higher Education Award for Most Innovative Teacher is working on understanding the potential of artificial intelligence to engage students in reflective writing.

Jenny is a senior lecturer and educationalist in the Health Professions Education Centre at RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences in Dublin. She also serves as programme director for the postgraduate diploma in health professions education, where she leads curriculum design and delivery to support educators in developing evidence-informed, learner-centred teaching practices.

To mark this year’s THE Awards, which are being presented in Edinburgh on 13 November, we talk to Jenny about how educators can put AI to use in a way that fosters efficiency without taking away rich cognitive work, how her uptake of technology has evolved, strategies for dealing with uncertainty and complexity in the classroom, why students should learn to be bored, and the skills university teachers can develop to future-proof their practice (hint: it involves finding the spark of enjoyment).

To learn more from acclaimed academics, teams and institutions from the UK and Ireland, check out our latest Spotlight guide, which pulls together advice from this year’s shortlist: THE Awards 2025: lessons from the stars of UK and Irish higher education.

Campus Talks: The role of universities as bastions of free speech and open debate in polarised times

As centres of learning, universities should be places where ideas, opinions and beliefs can be openly discussed, challenged and interrogated. They also have a duty of care to ensure their diverse community students and staff feel safe, welcome and free from discrimination.

But some claim that an over-zealous focus on inclusion and appeasing students has led to an erosion of academic freedom and allowed a ‘cancel culture’ to dominate higher education, leading to a worrying expected conformity of opinion on important contemporary issues. This is all playing out against the wider backdrop of growing polarisation and identity politics.

For this episode, we speak to two experts in this space to find out what practical steps universities can take to encourage more constructive disagreement and engagement with differing viewpoints among students as part of their learning. And how institutions can uphold the requirements of free speech and nurture plurality across campus, while protecting those most affected by contentious issues.

You will hear from:

• Caroline Mehl, the co-founder and executive director of the Constructive Dialogue Institute, a non-profit organisation that builds educational tools to equip US higher education institutions and other organisations with skills to communicate and collaborate across differences. She founded the CDI with psychologist and author Jonathan Haidt in 2017 having previously worked as an associate research scholar and visiting scholar at New York University’s Stern School of Business.
• Abhishek Saha, a professor of mathematics at Queen Mary University of London and co-founder of the London Universities Council for Academic Freedom. Abhishek was heavily engaged in lobbying the UK government over key details of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 which came into force this year.

You can find more insight and advice on how universities can encourage respectful disagreement, while handling sensitive topics with care and protecting academic freedom in our latest spotlight guide: Dealing with division: the polarised university.

Campus Talks: The future of doctoral research funding for arts and humanities

Arts and humanities scholars in the UK are feeling embattled as the current government focus appears to be firmly trained upon STEM. This makes the hunt for funding for doctorates and early career research in the arts and humanities ever more difficult.

But there are still opportunities available for PhD candidates who can successfully convince the relevant funding bodies of the worth of their proposed work.

We speak to a research leader and historian who has demonstrated notable success in her own career about changes to the funding landscape, how institutions can respond and how doctoral students can optimise their grant applications.

Hear from Alice Taylor, a professor of medieval history and vice-dean for research in the faculty of arts and humanities at King’s College London.

Her first book, The Shape of the State in Medieval Scotland, which was co-awarded the Royal Historical Society’s Whitfield Prize in 2017 – the same year she was awarded the prestigious Philip Leverhulme Prize for History. 

More recently, she led the launch of a new doctoral school for arts and humanities at King’s, which opens next year.

For more advice and insight on related topics, read our guide to finding and securing research funding.

Campus Talks: How to unlock motivation and beat procrastination in your students and yourself

Motivation is key to getting stuff done – whether that “stuff” relates to your work, studies, hobbies or simply answering a Whatsapp message. For academics, working on long-term research projects while also teaching courses, that can last years, to hundreds of students, understanding how to boost and sustain motivation in themselves and others is vital for success.

So, today we explore the many factors that influence motivation and ask how educators can use these to keep students engaged throughout their studies. You will hear tips for improving the quality of motivation, for beating procrastination and improving your time management, from:

• Ian Taylor, a reader in motivational science at Loughborough University and an associate fellow and chartered psychologist of the British Psychological Society and the author of a new book, published this year, Time Hacks: The Psychology of Time and How to Spend It.
• Helena Seli, a professor of clinical education and assistant dean of academic programme development at the USC Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California. She is an expert in educational psychology and co-author, with Myron H. Dembo, of Motivation and Learning Strategies for College Success: A Focus on Self-Regulated Learning.

For more insight and practical advice on this topic, head to our spotlight guide which contains dozens of resources on motivating university students and staff.

Campus Talks: Why ‘grit’ and knowing when to say ‘no’ are vital skills in academia today

While stimulating and rewarding, academic careers present numerous challenges that require resilience and determination from those who wish to remain in the academy. The job precarity now so common across higher education, alongside the repeated rejection from funders and publishers and pressure to demonstrate excellence across teaching, research and administration, makes for a brutal combination, too often resulting in stress, overwork and ultimately burnout. 

We speak to two professors, who have both written on navigating this tricky career terrain, about how they have managed to find freedom and fulfilment in their work, even when faced with spiralling workloads and multiple pressures, and what fulfilment looks like.

You will hear from:

Jeffrey McDonnell is a university distinguished professor of hydrology in the School of Environment and Sustainability, and associate director of the Global Institute for Water Security at the University of Saskatchewan, as well as a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. In 2024, he was appointed as an officer to the Order of Canada and his many awards include the 2016 Dooge Medal from the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (with Unesco and the World Meteorological Organization), the 2022 Outstanding Achievement Award from the New Zealand Hydrological Society and the 2009 John Dalton Medal from the European Geosciences Union. He is the author of Navigating an Academic Career: A Brief Guide for PhD Students, Postdocs and New Faculty (American Geophysical Union, 2020).

Sarah Robinson is a professor of human resource management at IÉSEG School of Management in Paris. She moved into academia after working in international development and completed her PhD at the University of Lancaster before working her way up through a series of lectureships at the Open University, Leicester University and the University of Glasgow, where she was promoted to professor in 2019. After years studying the experiences of early career researchers, Sarah co-edited Doing Academic Careers Differently: Portraits of Academic Life (Routledge, 2023) with fellow researchers Alexander Bristow and Olivier Ratle, a book that seeks to highlight approaches to academia that diverge from the traditional career model.

For further career advice from academics all over the world, addressing some of the key challenges associated with working in higher education, head to our latest spotlight: An academic’s survival guide.

Campus interview: Susan Aldridge, president of Thomas Jefferson University on educating career-ready graduates

How can universities equip students with the knowledge and skills they will need to succeed in a job market that is ever changing and increasingly difficult to forecast?

The answer, Thomas Jefferson University president Susan Aldridge says, lies in an interdisciplinary and applied approach to learning.

In this video podcast, she describes how the institution has achieved a 98% success rate for graduates in employment or further study, the benefits of bringing students from different disciplines together, upskilling everyone in the use of AI and why US university leaders need a joined-up strategy for communicating the value of higher education.

Thanks to Thomas Jefferson University for sponsoring this episode.

 

Campus Talks: What today’s hyper-connected students need from their first weeks on campus

This episode of Campus Talks heads back to school. As millions of freshmen prepare to start university – whether that’s on campus or online – we look at what institutions can do to make the transition to higher education a bit less overwhelming and a little more tailored to a cohort who are informed by AI and social media and focused on career-based skills. Orientation is no longer a one-size-fits-all proposition. For universities, this means listening to students’ need for flexibility, taking into account their different backgrounds and ages, and addressing barriers to the settling-in process.

We speak to Rachel Gable, director of academic programme authorisation at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, and the author of The Hidden Curriculum: First Generation Students at Legacy Universities (Princeton University Press, 2021) and the upcoming The College Handbook: How to Arrive, Survive, and Thrive on Campus (PUP, 2026). With a background in anthropology and a doctorate in education from Harvard, she has spent years researching student success, interviewing scores of students about how they navigate the unspoken norms and social rules of higher education. 

You can find more practical advice and insight on how best to set students up for success at your institution, from academics all over the world, in our latest Campus spotlight guide: A warm welcome for new students.

Campus Talks: Getting back to the basics of equity, diversity and inclusion in higher education

Equity, diversity and inclusion work in higher education is under growing scrutiny, in some cases outright attack, most notably in the US. So, on this week’s podcast we spoke to two experts in EDI – or DEI as it is referred to in north America – based in the US to get back to the basics of what this work is all about and discuss how universities can protect and advance equality of opportunity for all, against a challenging political backdrop.

You will hear from:

Paulette Granberry Russell JD, the president and CEO of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education. She took up the position in March 2020, after more than 20 years as chief diversity officer and senior adviser to the president for diversity at Michigan State University. She is a leading national voice on civil rights, justice in higher education and beyond, and the transformative power of higher education.

Frank Dobbin, the Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University, whose research investigates what initiatives are most effective in promoting diversity in corporations and in higher education. He has written and spoken widely on this subject, with his 2022 book, co-authored with Alexandra Kalev of Tel Aviv University, Getting to Diversity: What Works and What Doesn’t sparking widespread coverage and commentary.

You can find more practical advice and insight on how best to support a diverse, equitable and inclusive higher education sector, from academics and EDI practitioners all over the world, in our latest spotlight guide: What next for EDI? Protecting equality of opportunity in HE.

Campus Talks: Are we facing a crisis in critical thinking in higher education?

Critical thinking is one of the most lauded graduate skillsets, praised by academics, sought after by employers and upheld as a solution to many contemporary challenges from AI to polarisation.

But are universities equipping students with the capabilities and mindset needed to properly question information and assumptions, to self-reflect, overcome biases, analyse, empathise and reason? And if not, what could higher education do differently?

To find out, in this podcast episode we speak to two experts in education and strategic decision-making:

Olivier Sibony is an affiliate professor at the business school HEC Paris and a specialist in strategic decision making and the role that heuristics and biases play in this. Olivier spent 24 years as a management consultant with McKinsey and Company in New York, Paris and Brussels and has produced hit books including You're About to Make a Terrible Mistake in 2020 and Noise, A Flaw in Human Judgment in 2021, which he co-wrote with Nobel prize winner Daniel Kahnemen and Cass R Sunstein.

Tony Wagner is a senior research fellow at the Learning Policy Institute. Prior to this, Tony worked at Harvard University for more than twenty years, as expert in residence at the Harvard Innovation Lab and the founder and co-director of the Change Leadership Group at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He has also worked as a high school teacher, a K-8 principal, university professor and founding executive director of Educators for Social Responsibility. And he is the author of eight books with his next, Mastery: Why Deeper Learning is Essential in an Age of Distraction, published in September.

In these interviews, we break critical thinking down into its component parts, discuss its role in decision making, why it can be so challenging and why contemporary education systems need a rethink if they are to truly equip students to think independently amidst the flood of digital information with which they are bombarded daily.

For more practical insight and advice on teaching and practicing critical thinking in higher education, go to our latest spotlight guide: Critical thinking in teaching and research.