IntoGrad

At IntoGrad, we pride ourselves on our commitment to diversity. The IntoGrad community stands in solidarity with all those affected by the escalating conflict in Ukraine, regardless of ethnicity, religion, or nationality. We will continue to show our unwavering support for the people of Ukraine and their fight to defend Ukrainian sovereignty. We also urge those of us in the academic community to do whatever we can to help those in need as the crisis continues to unfold — an effective way to do so is to support one of the many ongoing Ukrainian relief and humanitarian efforts, for example, the UN crisis relief (https://crisisrelief.un.org/t/ukraine)!

Over the last month-or-so, academic staff across the UK’s universities have been taking strike action against their employers. Organised by the University and College Union (UCU), this action is intended to combat what the union’s members deem to be continually low rates of pay for academic staff and a pension valuation that seeks to deprive academics of 35% of their retirement income.

Having been reignited after a series of strikes in 2018, this most recent round of action has impacted universities across the UK, with staff members ‘downing tools’ to form picket lines around their places of work. Over the course of three weeks, the levels of striking increased in its severity as part of a calculated move to ramp-up the pressure on universities across the UK and yield the results the union members demand. Though this official strike action ended on 2/3/22, staff members across the nation continue to stand vigil outside their places of employment to express their discontent with low pay and far too much work.

An aspect of this strike action that many are quick to point out is the way in which it might negatively impact the education of paying students at the university. Missing three weeks (or more) of teaching can be catastrophic to a student’s progress in their degree, and many are worried that the students themselves could bear unfair negative consequences if action continues.

What do you think of the strike action? Is the cause just, or is the potential damage to education too much to risk?

ARTICLE: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-59415694

With more and more mentee reviews coming through from our first round of mentor pairings, we wanted to share with you the feedback we received from people who have used our mentoring service:

‘I got more insight into the specific lab that I am interested in…which was a great and informative experience! Thank you so much for your time…!’

At IntoGrad, we pride ourselves on providing free, bespoke mentoring to students who want access to the world’s best institutions. We are constantly looking into ways to improve our service, and getting direct feedback from mentees who have taken part in our program is invaluable to us.

If you would like to explore the possibilities offered by our free mentoring service, and contribute to the growth improvement of our services through your feedback, feel free to explore our mentorship scheme at: https://www.intograd.org/find-a-mentor!

Here's wishing everyone a very merry christmas and happy holidays!!