Female law students in the U.S. are less likely than male students to participate in class discussions or seek help from their professors outside of class, according to the findings of the 2010 Law School Survey of Student Engagement released on Wednesday, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported. The survey also found that women are more likely than men to cite fear of failure or embarrassment as their motivation for hard work. The survey, conducted by researchers at the Indiana University at Bloomington's Center for Postsecondary Research in 2010, was designed to help law schools improve their efficiency in addressing the needs of their students. Students often emphasize the role that faculty members have played in their professional development when prompted, though less than a third of third-year law students have worked in close proximity with professors in any capacity, the study concluded. Findings from the study were based on survey responses from approximately 25,000 students at 77 law schools, The Chronicle reported.
United States Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., has been tapped to lead a subcommittee in the U.S. House of Representatives charged with investigating higher education, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported. Foxx has been critical of President Obama's education reform plans, and supports Republican proposals to cut discretionary spending when programs cannot prove their worth. She has expressed particular doubts about Obama's goal for community colleges to graduate five million additional students by 2020. She has also criticized the legislation that began 100-percent direct lending to students from the U.S. Department of Education and eliminated the bank-based program for federal loans. Foxx has long-supported policies that favor for-profit colleges, some of which have contributed to her reelection campaigns, The Chronicle reported. Foxx may spearhead Republican attempts to reverse recent Education Department legislation, according to The Chronicle.
India is in the process of conducting its first comprehensive survey of higher education, a senior official in the country's education department announced last month, according to The New York Times. India's higher education statistics are notoriously inadequate, especially compared to existing statistics for primary and secondary schools, Sunil Kumar, additional secretary for higher education at the Ministry of Human Resource Development, told The Times. The survey, which will be sponsored by the government, will chart the number of students enrolled based on their prospective course of study, Kumar announced at a conference held by the Confederation of Indian Industry in late December. India's government is currently involved in a 10-year plan to expand higher education, aiming to enlarge the ratio of students enrolled in colleges and universities from 12.4 percent to 30 percent by 2020, The Times reported.
