An Academic’s Perspective

Academics are now expected to manage increasingly demanding research, administrative, and teaching obligations. These demands in practice mean that the pressures to balance teaching and research duties render cultivating links between the two activities a less-than-intuitive process. The author describes the difficulties faced by academics in the United Kingdom, students ’ learning experiences and perceptions of quality higher education, and the ways these issues relate to modern society’s expectations of what University education should achieve. The author also considers how these issues are currently received and managed by Universities. To provide good quality higher education to the next generation, government and Universities should work together to address disparities and fill gaps in the research-teaching nexus. The evidence points to an urgent need to confront issues in a way that will benefit students, academics, Universities, and society. A non-exhaustive list of proposals described here aims to reverse the current trends that pull research and teaching apart. Such policies should be implemented, either on a national basis, or by individual Universities and should reflect the educational philosophy and cultural outlook of each institution. Ultimately a positive “nexus ” may have potential benefits for both science research and teaching in the United Kingdom