The Open University

Why it’s time to rip up the political playbook and imagine a truly new global order

11 January 2019

Dr Peter Bloom, Senior Lecturer in Organisation Studies and Head of the Department of People and Organisation at The Open University discusses how Brexit and US government headaches are revealing a transforming world … The new year has not ushered in a fresh political start. The problems and divisions of 2018 have carried over to 2019. […]

Why Africa’s women entrepreneurs struggle to grow — and how to help

8 January 2019

Africa has seen the highest growth among businesses run by women in recent years. This would appear to be good news: entrepreneurship is arguably crucial for job creation and economic growth. But the flip side of this data is that businesses run by women are less likely than those run by men to grow because […]

Curious Kids: why don’t poorer countries just print more money?

17 December 2018

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages, where The Conversation asks experts to answer questions from kids. All questions are welcome: find out how to enter at the bottom of this article. In this piece, Economist Alan Shipman explains why poorer countries don’t just print more money. Why don’t poorer countries just […]

Civil marriage and religious vows – new study calls for flexibility

4 December 2018

With the law currently forbidding the use of religious elements in civil marriage, Dr Stephanie Pywell, Senior Lecturer at The Open University and Professor Rebecca Probert, Professor of Law at The University of Exeter have worked closely with registrars to call for a reform to allow more flexibility. Working with registrars Stephanie and Rebecca’s research is […]

Champion for mid-life working women recognised with award

28 November 2018

Professor Jo Brewis (pictured on the left, with Dame Cilla Snowball, chair of the Women’s Business Council) has been awarded the Staying On Award 2018 by the Women’s Business Council, which is a business-led initiative to advise on how women’s contribution to economic growth can be optimised. Recognised for her work in raising the profile […]

Open University free law clinic highly commended at pro bono legal awards

31 October 2018

The Open Justice Centre’s Law Clinic, which offers free online legal advice led by OU students supervised by qualified solicitors, was highly commended in the LawWorks Annual Pro Bono Awards. They received their award in the ‘Best new pro bono activity’ category at the award ceremony at the Law Society in London on Monday 3 […]

Police in hi-visibility jackets policing crowd control at a UK event

Baseline Survey Report published: Implementing the Transformation of Police Learning and Development:

17 August 2018

The ‘Implementing the Transformation of Police Training, Learning and Development’ Project released their Baseline Survey Report this week. The project is led by the London Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC), working in collaboration with The Open University’s Centre for Policing Research and Learning. 32 police forces in England and Wales contributed to the […]

Back to the future: looking back at predictions on regional development

6 August 2018

In 2009, in celebration of the Open University’s 40th Anniversary, we asked academics from around the University to predict what the future would look like in their areas of study. Now, as we approach the OU’s 50 Anniversary, we asked the same academics to revisit their predictions, reflect on their accuracy, and reset them for […]

The Prosecutors: new series throws light on Crown Prosecution Service

25 July 2018

The second series of The Prosecutors, co-produced by The Open University and Gold Star Productions for the BBC, begins on Thursday 2 August at 9pm on BBC Two, with the second episode following a week later. This series uncovers more about our Criminal Justice System’s workings, following the prosecutors tackling an organised criminal gang who […]

Three days is still too long to hold pregnant women in immigration detention

25 July 2018

It’s been two years since a coalition of lobbying groups in the UK successfully challenged Home Office policy on the immigration detention of pregnant women. Under the new policy, enforced in mid-July 2016, pregnant women can now only be detained for a maximum of 72 hours (three days), or up to one week with the […]

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Category: Business and law