tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439168179960787195.post5826560347148458100..comments2024-03-28T17:13:01.117+10:00Comments on Condensed concepts: Four reasons why the USA has the best universitiesRoss H. McKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09950455939572097456noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439168179960787195.post-626981772158701012014-04-21T09:23:51.364+10:002014-04-21T09:23:51.364+10:00He doesn't seem to give any evidence for these...He doesn't seem to give any evidence for these four factors being important. Historically having the best universities seems to go with being the richest country. Paris in the late middle ages, when France was rich (focusing only on the western tradition). (Post reconquest Spain is a counterexample, perhaps.) Oxbridge (+ Royal Society) produced Newton/Maxwell/Faraday during the rise and height of the British empire. German science in the late 19th century until WWII coincides with German industrialisation and economic power. And the US now. <br /><br />The common factor seems to be money and power rather than the structure of the Universities. Also, as a theory this predicts that assuming India and China continue to rise economically and dominate in that sphere they will do the same in science. Ben Powellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04312113344388752854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439168179960787195.post-18681230297593084982014-04-20T14:44:29.229+10:002014-04-20T14:44:29.229+10:00Australia could definitely use more diversity in i...Australia could definitely use more diversity in its university culture. This is hard with such a small country. Selling education for overseas students might allow more room to diversify, because it could be diverted to a private system without taking away from the public one. But, as a plan, this probably raises more issues than it solves, and could be easily mismanaged to the greater harm: both education and immigration are separate hot-button issues here; it seems unlikely that bringing them together would be likely to produce a reasonable outcome. <br /><br />I do think that Australia is missing -- to is great detriment -- something that the US had in abundance: rich industrialists willing to found Universities in order to perpetuate their name. Bond is the only example I can think of here, but there are countless good universities over there which started this way. Policy revision should work to incentivise the foundation of well-endowed universities by the current well-known-and-able crop of Aussie Robber Barons. Seth Olsenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09304457461800104790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439168179960787195.post-86408383773471755842014-04-20T04:04:28.266+10:002014-04-20T04:04:28.266+10:00I think the main reason they're the best is th...I think the main reason they're the best is that they attract the best people. Why do they attract the best people? Because they're the best universities, of course.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439168179960787195.post-84836061777363046522014-04-19T23:47:07.641+10:002014-04-19T23:47:07.641+10:00I agree with Hunter Rawlings' presents problem...I agree with Hunter Rawlings' presents problems for "top down" management in China, there is huge education problem in China, actually some education reformation was performed some years also by a famous Chinese person who was the president in one of the top university in China, he claimed the university should be governed by academic person, we called it as "professors govern university"Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00247682100268896391noreply@blogger.com