Australia documents higher education's impact on student character

A new report of the impact of Australia's higher education sector published in Oxford Economic Papers indicates that university education makes students more agreeable, conscientious, and extroverted. Commentary on the study of 575 youth over an eight year period indicated that the non-cognitive changes observed in the sample match what employers and other stakeholders hope to see in youth. "University education may impact character skills development by providing students with exposure to new peer groups and extracurricular activities including sports, politics, and art. Because students from disadvantaged backgrounds are likely to be more affected by a change in peer groups through day-to-day interaction with academically inclined peers and academic groups, there may be a greater effect of university education on students from disadvantaged backgrounds."

While some of the language in the summary perpetuates stereotypes about students who have not had the advantage to be included in high quality pre-college education, the results are still worth considering. It's interesting that Australia is move up in the ranks of nations hosting larger numbers of international students and they are doing it by advocating more holistic and engaged learning. Watch out U.S., U.K., and Canada - the Aussies are coming!