Australians rate universities tops for trust

Universities and their staff are the most trusted institutions/people in the country. The press is the least

Who’s respected and who’s not: The 29th ANU poll finds just on 80 per cent of people surveyed have confidence in universities, their researchers and lecturers, just ahead of schools and their teachers. In contrast around 20 per cent have confidence in the media – behind the banks.

What people approve, more or less: However, confidence is not blind with lower support on what universities teach, notably among graduates. “Having attended a university may have increased confidence in the university, but it does not mean that a person thinks the curriculum is being designed or delivered in the right way, ANU’s Nicholas Biddle and Karuna Reddy suggest.

What they want, or not: There is also bipartisan support for numerous core university activities, with training students for the workforce and developing new ideas around 90 per cent. However, coalition supporters are less impressed with universities providing “an environment for controversial ideas to be expressed and debated”, while 85 per cent still agreed, just over half thought “holding universities to account” is a role for universities.

As to international students, the closer people are to them the more they welcome them. A quarter of present university students surveyed support reducing international numbers, compared to 51 per cent of respondents who have never attended university.

Which creates a question: Overall this is excellent news for the HE community – conforming what the growth in student numbers shows, Australians believe in education and trust the people who provide it. So why does the electorate appear indifferent to calls for more money for teaching and research?


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