Editor's Message

Language as a social mechanism is a strange thing. I don’t think we’ve ever seen a more accurate phrase become a groan-inducing cliché as “unprecedented times” did during the pandemic. Other terms, many of which we ourselves used in previous publications, also managed to outstay their welcome much sooner than in the past, such as “the accelerated rate of change” and “the new normal”.

The visceral nature of language can often distract from what’s in front of us. As a society, we were all desperate to move on as quickly as possible once the pandemic was over, or at least the restrictions put in place because of it were lifted. Shying away from still thinking we are in “unprecedented times”, however, might blind us to the new opportunities or the changed landscape we currently find ourselves in.

The aftershock of the pandemic, not only as it relates to student flows, but also in terms of student motivations, behaviours and attitudes towards higher education, as well as for those working in the sector, are yet to be fully understood. But there are subtle hints as to what might have changed, even if it isn’t immediately clear that the pandemic was an influencing factor. One example of the pandemic peaking through in a seemingly unrelated topic occurs in this month’s article on communicating research: “When we show what goes on in the lab, the kind of science we do, I feel we put people at ease who might otherwise view scientists with suspicion and doubt.”

Unpacking all the direct and indirect, subtle and overt ways the pandemic reshaped higher education, international education and, more broadly, society, will take time, but we take that spirt into all editions of QS Insights Magazine, particularly this one.