1) The Gender Agenda: Gender Differences in Australian Higher Education by Alan Olsen is the September 2009 paper that points out that girls do better than boys to the extent that, in any research on outcomes of higher education, it may be that a cohort dominated by women will do better than a cohort dominated by men. For this reason, gender needs to be on the agenda in any consideration of academic outcomes. This is an important finding in its own right. Equally important is its relevance to the Australian target that, by 2025, 40% of all 25-34 year olds will have a qualification at bachelor level. This target, essentially, has been achieved for young women. Now the focus needs to shift to the completion rate for young men, sitting on 28% with no growth in the last five years.

2) Impacts and Outcomes for Students, by Alan Olsen is the paper for the Australian International Education Conference in Brisbane in October 2008, using student progress rates to measure and compare academic performance in the Group of 8. In this elite group of Australian universities, 195,694 students in 2007 passed 91.8% of what they attempted. The 46,812 international students on campus in Australia passed 91.6% of what they attempted, and did just as well as the 140,903 Australian students, who passed 92.0%. The paper was published in Outcomes and Impacts of International Education: From International Student to Australian Graduate, the Journey of a Lifetime, edited by Melissa Banks and Alan Olsen and published by IDP Education Pty Ltd.

3) Staying the Course: Retention and Attrition in Australian Universities, by Alan Olsen, is the October 2008 paper for the Australian Universities International Directors’ Forum. In this study of 485,983 students in 32 Australian universities in 2006, the retention figure was 89.5%, the attrition figure was 10.5%. 89.5% of students stayed the course, either completing the course in 2006 or continuing to 2007. 10.5% dropped out.

4) 2008 Research Agenda: Australian Universities International Directors’ Forum, by Alan Olsen and Rebecca Wright, is the October 2008 paper on benchmarking of international operations of Australia’s universities.

5) Outgoing International Mobility of Australian University Students 2007, by Alan Olsen, is the August 2008 paper for the Australian Universities International Directors’ Forum. Nearly 6% of undergraduates in 37 participating Australian universities undertake an international study experience by the time they complete their degrees.

6) Global Student Mobility: An Australian Perspective Five Years On, by Melissa Banks, Alan Olsen and David Pearce, is the third study by IDP Education to forecast demand for international higher education. The framework builds on previous work and takes advantage of the latest information sets ultimately to combine both demand and supply side drivers. A What If? Calculator enables users to vary key assumptions, build their own forecasts and undertake risk analyses for key markets.

7) Ten Years On: Satisfying Hong Kong's Demand for Higher Education is the 2007 paper by Alan Olsen of SPRE Limited and Peter Burges of IDP Education P/L published in Hong Kong on 30 June 2007, ten years after the handover of Hong Kong to China. Ten years into Chinese rule, ten years since the last British Governor sailed out of Hong Kong, it is still difficult to get into university in Hong Kong.

8) Models and Types: Guidelines for Good Practice in Transnational Education, by Stephen Connelly, Jim Garton and Alan Olsen, is the September 2006 paper published online by the Observatory on Borderless Higher Education, London.

9) Comparative Academic Performance of International Students in Australia, by Alan Olsen, Zena Burgess, and Raj Sharma, is the Winter 2006 paper which shows there is no difference between the academic performance of international students compared with their Australian counterparts http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/soe/cihe/newsletter/Number42/p11_Olsen_Burgess_Sharma.htm