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information . And the early offer schemes that are provided by universities are also very strong .
One university that is a very diverse thinks that students in 2021 will not be taking the gap year . So , students who previously might ’ ve put their higher education career on pause by going overseas and having that sort of world life adventure will most likely – according to the evidence from this university – follow on from school .
The other point is that when there ’ s uncertainty about employment , that ’ s when students also go to university . So , we ’ ve got two things that are working together to support student numbers .
Now , the challenge for universities and how they manage it – and I don ’ t quite know the answer to this – is that many universities have had caps . So , will universities actually exceed their caps because there is the demand , or will they be held hostage to the caps that were put on them by the government ? These will be really serious considerations for universities . They will have financial impacts on universities .
My sense is , given the challenges of international student numbers , they will exceed the caps so that they at least get continuing revenue . I guess the other area where there are student numbers are not just school leaders and mature students , it ’ s postgraduate students . And , according to the people that I ’ ve spoken to , postgraduate student numbers are also holding up .
What do you think the student makeup will look like next year ? I think there certainly will be the diverse range of students , but I think their expectations may well be different as well . Their compositions and the experience they will have may well be very different . I think that one of the things that we ’ ve learned this year with COVID is that courses can be put online . And for many students , they actually quite like that online experience from remote learning .
But for other students , and I ’ ve spoken to a few of these personally , they ’ re looking forward to getting back to being on campus because part of campus life is actually about the social element of meeting up and talking with your mates , and that ’ s much more difficult to do when you ’ re working via zoom lectures or something like that .
So , I think that the challenge for universities here will be to be able to provide and deliver their programs in ways that meet the diverse needs of students .
What other challenges will universities have to face because of this change in the student demographic ? I think that there may well be some mental health issues . Last year I spent four months at the University of Canberra as interim Deputy Vice- Chancellor and it became apparent through that , and also through the work that I do at some other universities , that mental health issues and the role of counselling services are really often stretched because of students feeling isolated , feeling that they ’ re burnt out and don ’ t belong .
I think one of the ways that universities need to respond to that is to start with the assumption that we have to make sure we provide a safe and secure environment : so that students feel that they belong , and they feel they will be successful . And , so , to be successful , various sorts of interventions need to be put in place . And I guess the other thing that also needs to happen is that it has to be a much more personalised experience .
For many students sitting in large first-year classes like psychology , you ’ re invisible . So , there ’ ll have to be more attention made to that sense of building a community of belonging , and many universities already do that .
Over the years , there have been multiple initiatives to support students ’ first-year experience to ensure that they ’ re successful and to meet the requirements of diversity . But I think we can ’ t underestimate the trauma – particularly of school leavers – of having a year that was so unlike what they anticipated .
They ’ ll have to recalibrate how they see themselves as learners . They ’ ll have to recalibrate the importance of relationships on and off campuses , and they ’ ll have to recalibrate how they work in their study programs . So , I think the challenges are social , academic and personal for many of them .
Do you think this year ’ s Year 12 cohort will have some skills that will prepare them well for university , such as resilience and flexibility ? They ’ ve had to grow up in ways that they never thought that they would have to grow up . They ’ ve had to learn skills of independence and independent learning . They have probably had to learn skills of time management . They ’ ve probably had to become more self-reliant and find new ways of maintaining and sustaining their relationships with their cohort of students . And I think that they ’ ve probably had to , particularly during the lockdown , find new ways to exercise , to be creative and just to survive .
So , I guess all of those together means that these students may well be much more flexible , much more resilient . And in 2021 , they may be much more demanding of the sort of education that they want to receive from their university . ■
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