“Student accommodation has become an infrastructure asset class … Students borrow from government to pay rent to pension funds, while the equity their parents might once have used to help them onto the property ladder is siphoned into maintaining returns for retirees.” Well worth a read.

Death toll in Gaza rises to 90 as Israel intensifies strikes - https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/death-toll-gaza-rises-90-israel-intensifies-strikes

THIS WEDNESDAY! calling all parents, teachers/lecturers of young people in #greatermanchester this event, part of #ESRC #FESTIVALOFSOCIALSCIENCES offers a great route into thinking about rights at work & combining work &education. Places limited, so please register! Weather looks better too on weds!

This is hugely important to highlight and something universities will often seek to hide from students - it means likely higher turnover, as staff only take these jobs if they have no choice & grab any chance to leave. A horrendous way to run a university.

📢 Applications are open for the Sociology (SOC) and Work, Employment and Society (WES) Editorial Boards! Both welcome ECRs, with Sociology offering mentoring for those newer to reviewing. 🗓️ Deadline: 30 Oct 2025, 17:00 GMT 👉 Apply or nominate: www.mi-nomination.com/britsoc

Tickets available Explore how #play physical activity and #green spaces shape #children and young people’s #wellbeing. 📅 Wed 22 October, 4–7pm 📍 Foyer, University Place 🔗 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/active-liv... #ESRCFestival #McrESRCFest @ukri.org @manchester.ac.uk @uomhums.bsky.social

Calling all secondary #schools and #FE teachers around #GreaterManchester - please promote this event to students in your classes or your networks. A participatory workshop around rights at work and worker voice. #festivalofsocialsciences #esrc

NEW on Wonkhe: Jim Dickinson explores how UCL’s oversubscription crisis has left hundreds of international students in limbo - raising fresh questions about whether UK universities are operating within consumer law buff.ly/TBG7zay

🚨Festival of Social Sciences Event - Manchester 29 October. Please share with your networks @ywworking.bsky.social

Help, I didn’t get paid this month! Working while studying? Learn about your rights, share experiences & connect with support at this free interactive session. 📍 Manchester Central Library 🗓️ Wed 29 Oct, 1:30–3:30pm 🎟️ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/help-i-did... #ESRCFestival #McrESRCFest @ESRC

"Hobbyist" is a truly breathtaking choice of phrase. It encapsulates a profound sense of contempt for the labour of academics in the UK, who already have to navigate an underfunded system dominated by precarity and overwork. "Knows the price of everything but the value of nothing" springs to mind

'As universities close courses and departments in response to financial pressures...students in parts of the North, South West and East of England, as well as large areas of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, are losing access to social sciences, humanities and arts (SHAPE) courses.' 1/2

School, self-image and rebellion: what it feels like for a girl – in pictures

A fantastic issue that I can’t wait to get into. And all as I take on the role of Dissertation unit coordinator - what timing!

NEW on Wonkhe: Mack Marshall and Jim Dickinson chart a summer of startling student stories – from hidden hardship to systemic neglect – and warn that silence in higher education is costing students dearly buff.ly/zISKpBJ

The 2nd of this genre in 2 days. The previous one included some tips on careful use of buy now pay later (BNPL) apps; this suggests sharing a room to cut rent. The emphasis is always on personal budgeting &limiting. Ridiculous gaslighting of young/students for whom life has been made unaffordable.

One clear sign of the neoliberalisation of universities is the callous, dehumanising way in which junior staff are seen as assets to be sweated for narrow short term gain rather than valued people to be invested in for the long term.

I've written a blog on the entirely expected (and predicted) crisis that (UK) HE is in and where it's going, with three broad predictions: - Increasing Elitism - Soaring Precarity - Poorer Student Experiences Do you agree? What have I missed? #academicsky ddubdrahcir.wordpress.com/2025/08/27/l...

Ah! Mohammed El-Kurd has just written on this “We seem to only run to the rescue of those perceived to be apolitical. When the affiliated (or the allegedly affiliated) are a target, we first try to negate their alleged affiliation before we respond to their calls” open.substack.com/pub/mohammed...

'James, who is emeritus professor...at the University of Cardiff, said the related financial crisis in universities means “thousands of personal and professional crises, as university-based researchers—often in precarious or vulnerable circumstances—continually ‘run faster to stand still’”.' 2/3

Took a little break from Bluesky recently, but I'm back to share that our new journal has now published its first issue! Journal of Global Higher Education: journal.libraries.wm.edu/global_highe... Open for submissions in September!

NEW PAPER! Thrilled to share this piece on early career perspectives on the future of child and youth mental health research, envisioning a field that continues strides in embracing complexity, centring diverse voices, and facilitating sustainable environments and systems bit.ly/455VxCv

'The number of student-initiated PhD scholarships funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) is set to fall by 60 per cent when new doctoral training arrangements come into effect next year, new figures show.' 1/3

This is excellent and really worth reading.

Teens from disadvantaged areas face lower life satisfaction but not more emotional problems, new study finds. New research led by experts from @manchester.ac.uk’s @educationuom.bsky.social has shed important light on how the mental wellbeing of young people is affected by where they live. 🧵👇

I’m still not in the habit of blueskying but luckily have incredible colleagues I like @drlizgregory.bsky.social to keep me in check! Today we launched @ywworking.bsky.social policy briefs to employers, unions and the education sector. Thanks to those who joined us! Great questions.

On Tuesday the 3rd June we will host a webinar to discuss the importance of Earning while Learning to students and employers. We will present the research findings, and will share recommendations for the education sector, employers and trade unions. Sign up here: earningwhilelearning.eventbrite.com

Please check out our briefings on #studentwork #earningwhilelearning from our ESRC Transforming Working Lives project. There are also details of an upcoming webinar on 3 June. Please share with your networks. TIA

Looking forward to hosting @kayguccione.bsky.social and @jonrainford.bsky.social for their (online and publicly accessible) workshop on the 27th of May. Details/registration here: www.lancaster.ac.uk/educational-...

It also doesn’t start at motherhood! Check out our new paper on gender and student employment onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... @ywworking.bsky.social

Book now for ‘Storying Hope in an Age of Climate Anxiety’, a BSA Postgraduate Forum event, 15 May, Loughborough University tinyurl.com/44jjveek #sociology

Cc Manchester

Does higher education politicise today's students? Delighted to be starting a new ESRC-funded project with @rilleraaper.bsky.social & Tom Fryer Follow our new account @studentspolitics.bsky.social & come along to our launch seminar in June! www.researchcghe.org/events/does-...

📣 Online conference for those working/researching with international students, 10th-13th of March, hosted at Manchester University by @jlmittelmeier.bsky.social and @selomer42.bsky.social #internationalstudents #research #onlineconference researchintlstudents.com/conference20...

Please see our thread about @suttontrust.bsky.social internships research. Important gender differences (in addition to class) that we make sense of through our own data ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️

NEW PAPER @talfeder.bsky.social @rebeccaflorisson.bsky.social @siobhanmcandrew.bsky.social @markrt.bsky.social & I demonstrate the “parenthood penalty” for mothers in creative jobs journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... Open access in Work and Occupations

Can someone working in a shop really be their own boss? Some big name UK retailers seem to think so. My story for the Observer on shops hiring "freelance" gig workers without basic employment rights 1/2 www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Do you work with students in higher education? Like to share your views on training you've had (or not)? Call for participants for a short survey! (10 mins): www.qualtrics.manchester.ac.uk/jfe/form/SV_... Survey closes January 30. Please share in your networks/re-post!

And @kathryn-telling.bsky.social discussing “The Liberal Arts Paradox in Higher Education: Negotiating Inclusion and Prestige” newbooksnetwork.com/the-liberal-...

One for those focusing on disability studies in HE in particular, but also if you're interested in any aspects of in/exclusion. Pascal Angerhausen on the experiences of German university students' with disabilities, 22nd of January (online). #highered #disabilitystudies

'Ewart Keep, emeritus professor of education...at the University of Oxford, told delegates at the Independent Higher Education conference that banks were the “invisible funder and regulator” of UK universities, and said questions would be asked about big spending decisions made in past years.' 1/5

The L-earning team welcomes the focus on improving support for young people in the latest government White Paper and a recognition of the value of place-based policy solutions in the proposed #YouthGuarantee' trailblazer areas Get Britain Working White Paper. www.gov.uk/government/p...

Student life is increasingly mediated through digital platforms... I talked to Joe Noteboom about how students digitally navigate UK universities - includes fascinating insights on Chinese students' use of WeChat, Bilibili & Little Red Book to make sense of things: www.buzzsprout.com/1301377/epis...

Interesting read. In my experience, universities are selectively "business-like". So it's all 'tough decisions' and 'efficiency drives' when it comes to staff and student spending, but far less diligence on estates, senior pay, overseas campuses, advertising, etc. wonkhe.com/blogs/is-it-...

First paper from my @leverhulme.bsky.social project exploring how working-class 6th formers in Rochdale aspire to university to achieve a 'career', a marker of upward social mobility differentiated from other forms of work as a form of distinction Open-access 👇🏽 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...