Virtual ISSA 2020 Graduate Symposium

The landscape of higher education has been transforming in complex ways over the past three decades and the COVID-19 pandemic presents new challenges. This graduate symposium provided a forum for students to gather together in a virtual environment to consider the opportunities and challenges that they may face as academics in a pandemic/post-pandemic world. Following an overview of the state of higher education, including the impact of COVID-19 on universities (for example, the consequences of turning education into an export commodity, state/university dependency on international students and the impact of the pandemic on international study and student recruitment), panellists explored the challenges of research and teaching during COVID. This included discussing more foundational elements of developing and maintaining a successful academic career including: how to choose a thesis topic of significance; how to make your research relevant to multiple audiences; how to navigate through the research and publication process; the importance of teaching and related experience; understanding what makes a candidate attractive to a university employer; and discussing the potential impacts of COVID-19 and government policy on career opportunities in higher education.