subject: The culture of an Australian university, and the problems international students may face [print this page] The culture of an Australian university, and the problems international students may face
Australian universities have a unique academic culture which is similar to, but not the same, as British universities. It is substantially different to the culture of a North American college and very different to an East Asian university.
Once example is the extremely informal nature of relationships between professors and students. It is normal to call one's professor by their first name in Australia and it may be considered odd to address them by their title, unless you are meeting them for the first time. This is part of Australia's generally relaxed, egalitarian society which doesn't have much place for formalities.
Another example of this informal atmosphere is the fact that tutorials are often very interactive and tutors will expect students to offer answers to problems and to express their opinions. It is not only acceptable in Australian universities to contradict (politely) the tutor and to offer your own opinion, it is actually encouraged.
It is extremely common (and encouraged) to criticise the Australian government. This can be quite suprising, but especially in humanities-based subjects, international students should be comfortable with criticising the government. Indeed, some classes might require government criticism.
There is also a strange culture of anti-study in Australia which means that it is considered unusual to wholly dedicate yourself to diligent study. Indeed, Australian students will think you are boring and sometimes cowardly to think you need to study so much. There is an expectation in Australia that university is as much about socialising and making friends as it is about learning and gaining a degree. Australians will encourage you to not spend too much time studying and may want to head to the pub (a bar) after classes for a beer!
In graduate study it is expected that you keep on schedule with your research, but it is not expected that you spend more than normal office hours at uni and it is not expected that you do more work than your supervisor. Australian supervisors tend to be more of the opinion that so long as you get the work done, they don't care how or when you do it
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