i-SECT magazine is the definitive resource for all students considering international study in Science, Engineering, Computing or Technology. This is a great opportunity to be featured alongside experts in the field and will make an impressive addition to your portfolio! To get involved please email Vivienne Egan, i-studentadvisor Editor, at vivienne.e@i-studentgroup.com by Friday 20 January.

View the 2011 edition of i-SECT here.

The guide contains a range of interesting and informative articles exploring the study of specific subjects overseas, written by experts and professionals from within the six main areas of higher education and industry. The guide also contains select articles from counsellors and students about their own experience and their advice about overseas education.

The guide is divided into sections according to subject, with correspond with our interactive online subject guides, where you can find even more useful articles and information.

We’d like to thank all of our contributors who have shared their knowledge and expertise to make this guide as extensive and informative as possible. We are confident that the articles and information within this guide will help students to embark upon the wonderful experience of international study.

If you would like to request a free copy of The Subject Guide 2012, please click here and provide us with your name, school name and address. You can also preview some of the pages from The Subject Guide 2012 in the gallery below.

Interested in contributing to the next issue of The Subject Guide? We are always looking for new associations, organisations and counsellors to contribute to our guides. Please contact us at editorial@i-studentgroup.com

If you are from an institution and are interested in featuring in any of the i-studentadvisor resources – online or in print – please contact us at editorial@i-studentgroup.com

View a gallery of sample pages from The Subject Guide 2012…

This includes a new Science and Technology Action Plan, announced by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper during meetings with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff in early August.

A further eleven scholarship projects are to receive funding as part of the Brazil Award: Joint Research Projects Programme, plus a further CAD$5 million has been allocated to renew the International Science and Technology Partnership programme, which was established in 2005 in order to promote collaborative research and development between Canadian and foreign scientists and technologists.

The new programmes continue the work of the 2010 memorandum of understanding between Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and Brazil’s Federal Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education. The programmes are hoped to encourage academic mobility and cooperation between top research universities in the two countries.

President and CEO of the Canadian Bureau for International Education, Karen McBride, which manages the Canadian projects said: “It is encouraging that there is widespread public interest in the growing relationship between Canada and Brazil, particularly because of what it could mean for strategic partnerships in the education sector – which are foundational to sustained political and economic ties between our countries.”

Brazil has also recently announced an investment of US$2.2 billion in science and technology scholarships for student studying overseas, and Canada is likely to be a popular destination for those students, especially due to the opening of three new visa application centres in Brazil for processing study applications for Canada.

Want to know more about studying in Canada? See our Canada Study Guide!

The immigration subcommittee of the US Senate is trying to pass into law an expansion of the H-1B visa category. The reform would see green card work permits available to science, maths, or technology graduates from American colleges.

Senators John Cornyn and Chuck Schumer are targeting immigration reform that would mean a greater number of highly-skilled workers could emigrate to the US. The Senators argue that it is not in America’s interests to force foreign students to return to their country of origin having graduated from US academic institutions.

The move is motivated by a desire to give America’s flagging economy a shot in the arm.

Advocates of the change outlined in the Senate say that America faces the threat of falling behind the world’s strongest and emerging economies if it does not do more to retain the ‘world’s best and brightest minds’.

Other countries, including America’s neighbour Canada, do far more to welcome skilled immigration. This seems strange for a country that became an economic powerhouse on the back of an open doors immigration policy from the last century; however America has been far less welcoming in recent years.

At a recent Senate hearing representatives from a number of the world’s leading firms spoke in favour of immigration reform. Brad Smith, General Counsel at Microsoft and Robert Greifeld, CEO of Nasdaq, both advocated reform as they say technology companies are struggling to fill vacancies for qualified workers.

At present reform of the H-1B visa system is only in the pipeline, but if this legislation is passed there will be a genuine opportunity for students to learn their way into emigrating to America.

For more information about studying in the US, please visit our country pages here.

The original post was written by Matthew French and republished with permission from JP Events and Exhibitions, a division of Johnston Press PLC.

The WISE Awards is an annual event that aims to recognise inspiring organisations and individuals in the UK involved in promoting science, engineering and construction to girls and young women. If you know an individual or organisation who has done outstanding work in this area, you can nominate them for an award now. The Award Ceremony will be held on 19th October this year at The Institution of Engineering and Technology in central London.

There are three different WISE awards:

• The WISE Excellence Award – open to women who are in the early stages of their SET career, and who have shown a high level of commitment to their profession and to the promotion of SET to other girls and women. The winner will receive a prize of £1,000 and an engraved plaque
• The WISE Champion Award - open to schools, industry, universities, colleges, charities and professional bodies who are actively encouraging girls and young women in to STEM (science, technology engineering and mathematics) education and careers. The winner will be awarded an engraved plaque
• The WISE Advisor Award - open to career advisors, teachers, ambassadors, mentors and educators who have encouraged and motivated girls and young women to study STEM subjects. The winner will be awarded an engraved plaque.

There are also two more awards, organised by partnered organisations: The FORD WISE prize for students studying to become a chartered engineer or training to become an incorporated engineer; and the Primary, Secondary and Advanced Leaders Award for STEM, which challenges female students (aged 5-19) to interview female STEM processionals about what first excited them about their subject and how they have furthered their careers.

The WISE Awards provide an opportunity for organisations and individuals to be praised and recognised for their good work in this area. If you think that someone you know or an organisation is suitable to receive an award, you can fill out an application form and email it to the UKRC. You can also nominate yourself or your own organisation. The deadline for nomination applications is 5pm on Friday 16^th September 2011.

If you would like to find out more about the awards, the criteria for nominations and how to nominate yourself, someone else or an organisation, please visit – www.theukrc.org/news-and-events/wise-annual-awards-2011

About the UKRC

The UKRC is the lead organisation for the provision of advice, services and policy consultation regarding the under-representation of women in science, engineering, technology and the built environment (SET). It works with employers; professional bodies; education institutions; women’s organisations and networks; policy institutes; sector skills councils; the government and many others to promote gender equality in SET.

You can read an article written by the UKRC about careers and study for women in SET in our recent issue of i-SECT – please click here.

The research also found that higher education will lead to a better paying job in the future, earning up to 84% more in a lifetime than high school graduates.

Anthony Carnevale along with his colleagues, Stephen J Rose and Ban Cheah, also discovered that the unemployment rate for people without college degrees is about twice that of people with degrees; taking into account life-time earnings by education level, occupation, age, race/ethnicity and gender.

It’s not just a case of going to college and getting a degree; it also appears that the course you study can have an effect on what you will earn in the future. “The College Payoff” report showed that those with degrees in science, technology and engineering will be set to earn the most.

Carnevale said that “the most lucrative major is petroleum engineer, but any major that has a strong mathematical basis has very high earnings out of college and long-term earnings that are really stellar.”

At the other end of the spectrum with the lowest paying degrees were those who studied education, with counselling and the liberal arts falling somewhere in the middle.

This issue is packed with great articles and features about studying these popular and diverse subject areas, and the careers they can lead to. Along with the traditional disciplines such as chemistry and mathematics, this issue also has plenty of information about lesser-known subjects such as naval engineering and the environmental sciences, which are becoming increasingly popular. This issue also sees us speaking to a genetic scientist and a marine biology graduate about their respective study and career paths.

We’d like to thank all of our contributors who have helped make this issue our best i-SECT yet. We really appreciate the time taken by all the organisations, professionals, students and experts who have contributed their expertise and experiences to make this i-SECT guide as extensive and useful as possible.

We hope you enjoy reading this magazine and find it useful when choosing your study options and, as always, we would love to hear what you think. You can get in touch with us at: editorial@i-studentadvisor.com

The new website offers all the country-specific information a student will need to start researching their options for studying overseas. On our country pages you can find information about visas, the application process, entry requirements, travel and much more in six of the most popular English-speaking countries – Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK and the USA.

Plus, you can still read all of our extensive interactive subject guides on the Subjects page, which are great for students who know which subject they want to study but are not sure on the country, or for those who want to find out more about a certain subject area. You can also read more subject- and country-specific articles by professional and educational organisations, plus blogs by our i-studentlife bloggers that show what it’s like studying overseas from a student perspective.

For counsellors and advisors, we also have our Counsellor Chronicles page, which contains articles written by education experts and counsellors from around the world about their work. Also, have a look at our News page for all the latest international news stories affecting education around the world.

We will be continuing to update and add content and features to the website in the coming months, as we strive to make the website as useful and enjoyable as possible. If you want to keep updated with all the latest news and articles, you can Subscribe or follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

We always love to hear what our readers and visitors think, so if you have any comments or suggestions about the new website – or any of our resources – please get in touch at editorial@i-studentgroup.com

We hope you enjoy our new website!

Best wishes

The i-studentadvisor team

i-studentenquiry.com, the free service matching students with universities, colleges and English language schools around the world, has relaunched and now offers faster, clearer results for both students and institutions.

First launched in 2010, i-studentenquiry allows prospective students to fill out one simple form for either undergraduate, postgraduate or English language study. Students enter their requirements, such as the courses they would like to study and in which countries, along with their qualifications and personal details on a secure form. The form is then processed by the intelligent algorithm powering i-studentenquiry.com to find which universities and colleges around the world could provide the education the student is seeking.

The latest version of i-studentenquiry includes a range of new features to make the system more accessible and easier to use, such as:

• The “My Account” page, allowing students to log in and view their enquiry history and matches
• Easier to fill out forms, allowing students to complete their enquiry quickly and simply
• Improved control for institutions, ensuring faster responses to student enquiries

i-studentgroup would like to thank all of the students, counsellors and university admissions professionals who provided valuable feedback during the development of the new and improved i-studentenquiry service. To fill out your form, visit http://www.i-studentenquiry.com

You can also join the i-studentenquiry Facebook page here – http://www.facebook.com/istudentenquiry

The Russell Group, which represents 20 of the UK’s top universities including Oxford and Cambridge, recently sparked controversy with it’s new guide, Informed Choices, to help students choose A levels in preparation for university. Some, including the British Journal of Photography (BJP), felt that the guide has attacked so-called ‘soft subjects’ and accused the Russell Group of short-sightedness.

The guide warns students considering taking more than one ‘soft’ subject – usually courses that are vocational or practical based such as art, music or business studies- that “some caution may be needed” and encourages students to take two or more A level qualifications in ‘hard’ or ‘facilitating’ subjects such as English, maths and the sciences in order to have “a much wider range of options open to you at university”. They also state that general or critical studies should only be taken as an additional subject and not be one that students rely on for entry requirements.

But in an article the BJP editors, and the photography lecturers they spoke to, argued that it was absurd to consider some subjects as ‘soft’ and that these subjects could teach students independent thinking and creativity. However, although it may be aggravating to those involved in the ‘soft’ subjects it should be considered that this is not a new categorisation created by the Russell Group; the grouping of subjects as ‘soft’ and ‘hard’, whether correct or not, has been a persistent problem.

The BJP also pointed out the need for encouraging students to take up arts and humanities subjects, especially after government cuts meant a withdrawal of funding for these courses in the university sector. At a time when unemployment is high and university fees are set to increase, there are already fears that students will not take creative/humanities subjects, instead opting for subjects they think can lead to a specific job. There may be a worry that the Russell Group’s guide may discourage students further from taking a broad range of subjects, instead promoting the traditional ‘hard’ ones.

The guide could be of great use to students considering their post-16 study choices, though some of it’s recommendations may not sit comfortably with some. For example, the guide states: “By choosing facilitating subjects at advanced level, you will have a much wider range of options open to you at university. An advanced level qualification in any facilitating subject will keep open to you a number of degree courses” and also states that choosing non-facilitating subjects doesn’t increase your options at university.

Whilst this may be true in some circumstance, evidence shows that a majority of courses do not require specific subjects and will consider most subjects, whether ’soft’ or ‘hard’. Recent research titled ‘A level subjects: What universities want’ by The Guardian showed that many universities do not require or discount specific subjects, with the exception of general studies which some of the universities involved said could not be part of the entry requirements. Most outlined that for some courses specific A levels may be needed but this is not ‘hard’ or ‘soft’ based; i.e. whilst engineering may require a ‘hard’ subject such as maths, other subjects such as art will require a ‘soft’ qualification such as A level art.

For example, in the research Canterbury Christ Church University said: “We do not differentiate between A-level subjects and accept general studies. However, for some programmes a specific A-level or equivalent is required, eg a music A-level for the music degree, art for our fine art degree programme and most of our science programmes require at least one science A-level.”

City University London also said: “General studies is the only A-level generally excluded. Having it would not damage their chances of winning a place, as long as there was sufficient preparation elsewhere on the form.”

In any case, students should make sure they are aware of the requirements for the courses and universities they are interested in. If you are unsure of what you would like to study at university, you should try to keep your options as wide as possible and study subjects that may be required for subjects you think you might want to study.

To see the Russell Group Informed Choices guide, click here. To see the The Guardian’s ‘A levels: What universities want’ click here.

What do you think about the categorising of subjects as ‘soft’ and ‘hard’? Have you taken an A level subject that you don’t enjoy in order to have better qualifications? Let us know your thoughts.