Leaders from across the globe working at every level of an institution share how they approach policy, institutional culture, branding and community collaboration 


Leadership and strategy

The pace of change in higher education makes it increasingly difficult for students to feel a sense of belonging on campus. This is even more difficult for the increasing number of students who take on part-time work to support themselves during their studies or who have other responsibilities.Because these challenges are not unique to a specific university, it’s tempting to think that there is a simple, one-size-fits-all solution, but to be successful in this area, institutions must build a tailored programme to match the needs of their unique demographic and local environment.What is the Snowflake Method?While change takes time in a large organisation, it is possible to make a significant difference by building out from a core set of principles. This is called the Snowflake Method and it is used in several areas, from political campaigning to creative writing and community engagement. It advocates that by cycling around the core themes you are seeking to address, it is possible to identify and construct a multilayered approach that delivers a cohesive narrative.&nbsp;The Snowflake Method is ideal for developing a sense of belonging because it enables a university to enact myriad small interventions that cumulate into a complex strategy of belonging. The themes addressed may vary by institution but a good place to start is:Student demographics and pressures: what does the student body look like and what specific pressures do they face?Settings: what are the settings, the buildings used and the location of the campus/es? How do students engage with support services? How do they engage with local residents?Existing best practice: what already happens around the institution at the course, school or service level? Can this be expanded to other areas or brought into the centre to include more students?Using these themes and the questions they pose, we can build belonging programmes that proactively respond to student needs by identifying further scope for improvement, reinforcing successes and driving change incrementally.Resource collection: Well-being in higher educationHow our Study Together programme promotes belonging and improves well-beingBelonging: why it is the next step on the equity, diversity and inclusion ladderA case study using the snowflake method&nbsp;Student demographics and pressures: at Teesside University we have a very diverse student population, with one in three of our students international, 54 per cent from the North East and 55 per cent commencing study after 25. We also have a high proportion of students who are first-in-family degree entrants, and many who are returning to education with personal responsibilities, such as caring roles and families.Settings: we have a town centre campus in Middlesbrough and a further campus in Darlington, which is 16 miles away. Many students commute from the surrounding areas and leave as soon as their timetabled day ends. Encouraging students to spend more time on our campuses, particularly after the pandemic, is an important part of building belonging and encourages interaction between our home and international students.Existing best practice: we were aware of several excellent initiatives that existed within the university when we commenced the programme, from events that showcase students’ home nations to school initiatives around subject terminology and support services that cover topics from academic shock to exam anxiety.We used the outputs of these theme reviews as a basis to weave a belonging programme into the wider university experience, combining this with feedback on previous events to adjust delivery. Building around existing activities, as the Snowflake Method advocates, we added new interventions such as free engagement activities, including mindfulness and short yoga sessions, winter warmer chats with coffee during university closure to alleviate loneliness, and made some of our student events family-friendly so that those with caring responsibilities were able to attend. In doing this, we have been able to build a schedule alongside our students to enrich the sense of belonging on our campuses. We also co-created welcome and celebration campaigns with our students to bring our student voice visibly to the fore in our student life building – something that has been so well received that we will be expanding it in the next academic session.&nbsp;Feedback on these additions has been excellent, including comments that these are some of the best events students have attended at the university.The beauty of the Snowflake Method is that it allows teams to try new initiatives in a low-stakes way, building on successes and adjusting in response to feedback. This iterative process delivers tangible benefits to the student community and builds a sense of belonging from the outset. It builds a fuller picture of the university’s internal communities. Using the snowflake method to run multiple smaller initiatives has enabled us to identify areas where students feel isolated and respond by working with internal and external partners to support these students in finding their feet. We don’t just say “Welcome” to our students at Teesside University, we say “Welcome home”.Sarah Bishop is assistant director (communities, culture and international) of student and library services at Teesside University.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Using the Snowflake Method to build belonging on campus

To build a sense of belonging, institutions must create a tailored programme to match the needs of their unique demographic and local environment

Universities need to find inventive ways to interact with and attract prospective students using a combination of personalised communication strategies, innovative engagement initiatives and digital marketing expertise. Here are some strategies that have worked well in my department.Capitalise on current and past students’ experiencesPublish present and former student testimonials on your website and social media channels. These can be about experiences with a particular programme, campus life or anything else relevant. They can take various forms, such as written statements, videos, interviews or ratings and reviews.Make your institution more visible onlineMaking sure content from your website ranks highly in search engine results is critical. To do this, you need to invest in search engine optimisation (SEO). I would suggest hiring someone in-house who understands SEO principles, your university’s offering and your target audience to create educational blog posts that answer prospective students’ frequently asked questions and to optimise content appropriately.Use email marketingBuild a list of prospective students by encouraging them to sign up for your newsletter at your student recruitment events and online. Build relationships with counsellors and community leaders who can refer students to your sign-up page. On the sign-up form, include questions that help you identify where your prospective students are based and their area of study so that you can segment your audience and tailor email campaigns with valuable insights into course curricula, scholarships, campus infrastructure and important dates. Use automation tools to streamline the process, and gauge the effectiveness of your campaigns by tracking open and click-through rates. Make data-driven adjustments as needed.Resource collection: Pathways to better university admissionsHow to attract and support non-traditional students in higher educationWhy is recruitment and retention in the university sector more difficult than other sectors?Conduct online campus tours&nbsp;If distance is a challenge for students, you can engage them with virtual campus tours to give them an insight into what life is like on your campus. Include classrooms, accommodation, food courts, sports facilities and other recreational areas. Student interviews and faculty-led virtual information sessions enhance the virtual tour experience further; when you create opportunities for potential students to interact with present students and alumni via live chat sessions, you make them feel like part of the community before they even arrive on campus.Collaborate with influencersThe power of influencer marketing is undeniable. There is no reason for universities to shy away from using it to reach a wider audience of potential students. You can identify them by searching for content using hashtags. Some popular ones include:#HigherEducation#CollegeLife#UniversityLife#StudentLife#EducationMatters#AcademicExcellence#LearningIsKey#GraduateSchool#FutureLeaders#CampusCommunityFind relevant YouTubers, student bloggers or those with Instagram or X followings and collaborate with them to create authentic and engaging content that showcases your university. Use it to highlight what makes your institution and campus unique and to dispel any misconceptions. Monitor the activity to see how it performs.Host interactive webinars&nbsp;Organise online events on platforms such as GoToWebinar with alumni and speakers from your leadership team and academic departments. Include information about your programmes and curricula, student life and admissions support. Give students the option of switching off their webcams so that they feel comfortable, and provide a chat box so you can address any questions and concerns. You can use your website, social media and newsletters to drive awareness about these sessions and conduct surveys afterwards to identify areas for improvement.&nbsp;Consult school counsellors&nbsp;School counsellors are key influencers in students’ decisions on higher education. Building rapport with these individuals will help you reach more students. Give them thorough details on your university's offerings, admission standards, financial aid opportunities and value additions. You can offer them opportunities for professional growth by organising networking events and informational sessions and propose collaborative events for students such as seminars and fairs.&nbsp;Make data-informed decisions&nbsp;Finally, I would recommend hiring an in-house data analyst to employ various methods to test hypotheses and gather user data, which, in turn, will enhance your content strategy, website design and marketing initiatives.&nbsp;University marketing teams can increase their visibility and attract a diverse applicant pool by using contemporary strategies including influencer marketing, interactive webinars, tailored email campaigns, virtual campus tours and effective data analytics. By putting these practical strategies into practice, universities can forge successful connections with prospective applicants.Archana R. Nayak the assistant director of marketing at Manipal Academy of Higher Education, India.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus&nbsp;newsletter.

Digital marketing for universities: strategies for success

University marketing teams can increase their visibility and attract a diverse applicant pool by using contemporary strategies, writes Archana R. Nayak 

There is nothing fundamentally technical about cybersecurity.It may seem counterintuitive, but effective cybersecurity is more about people.&nbsp;After all, it doesn’t matter how much technology you have in place if all it takes for a breach to happen is for one person to click on a phishing email – and phishing emails account for 90 per cent of initial compromises globally. Firewalls and multi-factor authentication have an essential role to play, but they can’t defend against an individual’s lack of understanding of the consequences of their actions – which can be disastrous and long-lasting.&nbsp;Everything you need to know about cyberattacks (but were afraid to ask)How to prepare and protect your institution against a future cybersecurity attackSupporting cybersecurity literacy for workforce-ready graduatesGetting to the stage where cybersecurity awareness is built into every level of an institution requires a major shift in organisational culture.&nbsp;In a connected community such as the UK higher education sector, everyone has a part to play in combating the growing threat. A failing at one establishment can have implications for many others, so it’s imperative that individual organisations account for the risks they face and the criticality of the functions for which they are responsible. The same applies to individuals: one mistake can massively affect the wider community.What’s needed is a willingness on the part of everyone – not just the IT department – to work together to do the right thing and make the sector safer.Institutions can put in place a few basic people-level habits that will help boost sector-level security.Avoiding acronyms is a good startCybersecurity starts at the top; securing commitment at the highest levels is key. Not only does it ensure that the risks and proposed solutions are clearly understood from the outset, but it also gives the right signals to the whole organisation, making it easier to convince others to collaborate in a concerted effort to defend as one.&nbsp;The best way to raise the issue of cybersecurity with senior management and staff is by speaking in terms of business rather than technology. No one on the leadership team wants to hear about RPZ feeds or port 3389, so avoid jargon and acronyms. It’s not other people’s job to understand them.What’s more important is understanding the institution’s needs, the business processes that need protecting, how they work and what their correct outcomes should be. It’s about taking a holistic view of the environment, knowing what data there is to protect and where it is.&nbsp;Clarify the risks&nbsp;The whole point of universities and research institutions is openness, and that’s not always conducive to effective cybersecurity. Any approach to cybersecurity therefore needs to balance the (often conflicting) demands of confidentiality, integrity and availability.&nbsp;Senior management should therefore clarify the organisation’s goals to ensure cybersecurity is supporting them. Cybersecurity exists to enable an institution to conduct its learning, teaching and research activities in a secure, safe manner based on an acceptable risk appetite – which, in this sector, is usually low.&nbsp;To really bring home the potential risks and the importance of being prepared, cyber exercises are a useful tool. These simulate the problems that occur during a real-life incident in a safe environment and can be delivered at different levels for management and IT staff. Afterwards, everyone in the organisation should be aware of exactly what they need to do in the event of an attack.Understanding the costs of a cyberattackOnce the risks and vision are clearly understood, the discussion inevitably moves to finance. Preventing cyberattacks costs money. It requires investment in cyber professional staff, in training, in technical solutions. And, while senior management might be worried about cyber risk, they may not fully appreciate the situation and will – understandably – be reluctant to throw money at a problem that might never happen.Prevention, however, is always better than cure – and usually less costly.Remember that a serious cyber incident has other impacts that go beyond the financial, such as the human cost incurred not only during an attack but during the recovery period as well. It’s important to factor these into any cost analysis.As part of their Joint Information Systems Committee (Jisc) membership, any UK research or education institution connected to the&nbsp;Janet Network can avail themselves of the accredited expertise of Jisc’s cyber-protection teams, along with essential core services to help maintain a safe digital environment.Demystifying cybersecurityBuilding a culture of cyber awareness throughout an entire institution and its staff and learners is an enormous task. But we are definitely seeing a change as cyber is demystified and integrated into the everyday use of technology in teaching and learning. Increasingly, cyber awareness is being included in student inductions and taught as part of non-IT-related courses.A valuable resource for awareness building is the&nbsp;Jisc cybersecurity community group. With 1,700 members, this fast-growing community provides an open forum where peers can exchange knowledge and best practice.By discussing and demystifying cybersecurity we can shift it from being a technology issue to being all about people. And that’s key to building a culture of collaboration and common purpose, which will make the sector safer for everyone.David Batho is the director of security at Jisc.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus&nbsp;newsletter.

Cybersecurity is not a technical issue

Discussing and demystifying cybersecurity can help us shift it from a technology issue to being all about people, even at the sector level, writes David Batho

There’s nothing technical about cybersecurity

As academics, we should always feel excited about our profession – these feelings are what keep us alive. However, fear of public speaking, when addressing conferences, symposia or as part of a panel, can make us so nervous that we can’t celebrate our achievement.Recently, I challenged myself to make an opening speech at a symposium. The experience taught me that public speaking is not as difficult as I thought. In fact, the positive feedback I received afterwards made me excited to take on future appointments and perform even better, now I know the recipe for successful public speaking. While many methods can be used to get rid of nerves and make public speaking fun, everyone needs to create their own customised blend.&nbsp;Know what you’re talking aboutBut when speaking to a large audience, set the boundaries of the speech at the start, focusing on the main topic and keeping the purpose of the speech in mind. For example, the symposium I recently spoke at was on women’s rights, a subject with many important issues to highlight. But I specifically wanted to talk about it in the context of constitutional rights. Setting boundaries helped me to keep to the presentation’s time limit. &nbsp;Conference presentations 101: master the art of speaking to an audienceTen smart ways to ace your next academic presentationConferences, TED talks and social media: the ultimate tools for academic profile buildingWhen public speaking, the audience’s attitude can affect our confidence. To keep them interested and engaged, give them a brief introduction about what you’re going to say at the beginning of the speech.&nbsp;Be organised&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Leaving everything to the last minute will create even more stress. In this case setting yourself a deadline before the actual date of the presentation and sticking to it would be very helpful. Forgetfulness can happen to anyone and having a written version of the speech will increase your confidence. While looking at your notes doesn’t make you a bad speaker, relying on them entirely should be avoided. Also, establishing eye contact will make the presentation more effective.&nbsp;When planning, know the audience. Will the people addressed only be students? Or will the academics and professionals also be in the audience? This is crucial to determining the scope of the speech and creating engaging content.Don’t be in a rush to convey everything in detail in a limited time. In your plan, focus on general lines and important points.More practice, more success&nbsp;Giving the speech more than once, as if you were in front of the audience, will be very helpful. Each speech will be better than the last one. It’s all about experience, so never give up. I even went to the symposium venue one hour before the start and practised my speech there, which increased my confidence. In addition to this, recording your speech and listening back to it is a useful method to prevent memory lapses. This is not only an opportunity to discover how you come across but also a chance to notice mistakes.When delivering a speech, being sincere will create a connection with the audience. Be understandable and clear.&nbsp;Get help from colleaguesFeedback from colleagues about public speeches is always helpful. Sometimes we concentrate on a subject so much that an outside eye can give us nuances that have passed us by. Different perspectives open new horizons. I sought help from a colleague, who listened to my entire speech and offered me some interesting ideas to develop it. Learning from the experience of others can be invaluable.Be flexibleBeing rigid can cause us to lose control when the unexpected arises. Instead, we need to be flexible and retain our ingenuity in the face of the unusual situations that can occur when we’re speaking. Maybe there’s a change in schedule, or an unexpected question asked by a member of the audience. Instead of letting this stress you out, the best way to handle this is to be yourself. What matters is that we do our best, rather than think about how others will evaluate us. &nbsp;We all have different personalities, so there is no one rule for overcoming fear of public speaking. But practising, planning and thinking positively, rather than escaping, is key.Ayten Erçoban Evren is a lecturer in the Faculty of Law at Near East University.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Five tips to tap into the excitement of public speaking 

Public speaking is a key part of academic life. But how to overcome your nerves and actually enjoy it? Ayten Erçoban Evren offers advice

Banish nerves and tap into the excitement of public speaking with these five tips

Rising living costs impact every aspect of student life, including studies, social lives, health and well-being. A 2023 survey of Russell Group students found that 94 per cent had concerns about the cost of living, one in four regularly went without food and other necessities and more than half had stopped participating in extracurricular activities.&nbsp;The challenges are compounded by the government’s failure to raise maintenance loans in line with inflation; students accessing the maximum loan are now almost £2,000 worse off than if loans had kept up with inflation since 2021.Universities are stepping up to help as much as they can, but it can look like an overwhelming problem to tackle. Drawing on some of the most impactful projects we have seen, here are some key principles for effective student support.Cash is often kingThere is a significant gap between the real cost of university and the government support available. And with parental earnings thresholds frozen since 2008, the assumption that parents can top up the difference simply isn’t feasible for many families. Direct cash assistance is one of the most effective ways to help people: it’s simple to implement, and students can choose how to spend it to meet their needs.&nbsp;&nbsp;Universities should therefore prioritise hardship funds and bursaries where they can and offer targeted support for their most vulnerable groups. But remember that this vulnerable group is growing as middle-income students also feel the squeeze. Some universities have responded by broadening the criteria for guaranteed support, which, at Queen Mary University of London, resulted in 39 per cent of undergraduates being automatically awarded the Queen Mary Bursary.It’s also beneficial to make hardship funds available throughout the academic year, not just when students enrol. Even a small grant can keep a student afloat if something unexpected happens – an accommodation problem, a broken laptop or an emergency dentist’s bill – so flexible financial support can make a big difference, preventing students from taking on unnecessary and dangerous debt.&nbsp;Look beyond the essentials&nbsp;Financially disadvantaged students can miss out on many aspects of the student experience, widening the existing disadvantage gap. If a student is worried about how to pay a gas bill, they’re probably not going to pay for a gym membership or upgrade their old laptop. Universities should think creatively about where they put funding to enhance different aspects of the student experience.A fantastic example of this is the University of Warwick’s long-running “Rock Up &amp; Play” programme, which offers free opportunities to get involved in sports and has welcomed more than 2,300 participants so far this academic year. Open to the university’s student and staff community and covering a wide range of sports including swimming, netball, dodgeball, squash, trampolining, ultimate frisbee and even esports, the programme removes the financial barriers to participating in organised sport, enabling all students to enjoy the associated health and social benefits. There are inclusive options, such as walking football, sensory-friendly table tennis and women-only sessions, and some are also open to the local community at a low cost.UCL and the University of Edinburgh also operate successful activity and participation grants which allow students to benefit from extracurricular activities, while the University of Southampton offers a technology grant and the University of Manchester provides a work experience bursary.Resource collection: Helping students through the cost-of-living crisisCreating safe spaces for students to talk about financial difficultiesMaking higher education accessible for students with unmet financial needTeam up with your studentsUniversities should not make these decisions at the senior level alone. Students give vital insights into where support is most needed, and how it can best be delivered.&nbsp;Some of the most successful schemes involve cooperation between universities and their student unions. When Queen’s University Belfast teamed up with its students’ union to mitigate the impact of the cost-of-living crisis, the result was a food pantry donating more than 50 types of food and other essential products, which so far has been accessed more than 11,000 times since September 2023, and given out more than 2,500kg of rice and 1,000kg of pasta. It includes a kitchen for students to cook meals on site to reduce spending on cooking equipment and energy, and has won praise from students for providing foodstuffs – “It’s great for things like spices so you can experiment with recipes without the expense,” said one student – as well as employment opportunities: “I work in the pantry so not only does it provide me with income, I also get my pasta and herbs every week!” said another.Don’t think you can solve all the problems on your ownRussell Group universities collectively spend tens of millions on additional support, and there is much that the sector can continue to do to help. However, this is a systemic issue, and not one that universities can solve alone.One of the strengths of UK universities is their ability to embed themselves into the local community, providing many opportunities for effective partnerships that deliver well-rounded support. This could be working with local allies on safe and affordable housing – like in Durham, where Durham University and its student union teamed up with their local MP, parish and county councils to lobby government for student housing support – negotiating meaningful student discounts on your city’s transport networks or ensuring students can access health and well-being services both on and off campus.Universities can also use their collective voices to push for wider systemic changes. We are urging government to not only reassess student maintenance loans, uplifting them in line with real and historic inflation rates, but to re-establish maintenance grants and review the parental earnings thresholds that determine loan amounts. Combining local university projects with a solid bedrock of government-backed support is the way to ensure effective, holistic support for students who have been a vulnerable but often overlooked casualty of the cost-of-living crisis.Maddy Godin is a policy researcher (higher education) at the Russell Group.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.

How to support your students while living costs remain high

As the cost of living remains high, universities are spending millions of pounds on additional support for students. Maddy Godin explores some key guiding principles for helping students to thrive in their studies amid financial pressures

Join three lifelong learning experts from Campus+ partner institutions in Singapore and Macau as they talk about how universities can address the skills demands of the 21st century. The discussion includes working with industry, building agility and flexibility into course design, recruiting non-traditional students, and the role of government support in developing a culture of continuous education.The webinar panellists are:Aliana Leong, professor and dean in the School of Liberal Arts and&nbsp;associate vice-president for international affairs,&nbsp;Macau University of Science and TechnologyGary Pan, professor of accounting,&nbsp;associate dean of undergraduate admissions and student development,&nbsp;academic director of lifelong learning and academic director of industry practice master’s, Singapore Management UniversityForest Tan, associate professor and assistant provost for continuous learning, Singapore Institute of TechnologyAll our speakers are from&nbsp;Campus+ partner institutions. Campus+ is a unique opportunity to become a contributing partner to the resources, tools and advice published on Campus.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Webinar: How universities can foster lifelong learning

Three lifelong learning experts from Campus+ partner institutions in Asia discuss how universities can embed a culture of continuous education beyond the traditional degree pathway

Campus webinar: How to make lifelong learning a strategic priority

For women, the “leaky pipeline” – the loss of female academics from STEM fields – has been known about for decades. The demands of caring for young children are at odds with the increasing demands of academia, resulting in poor work-life balance and decreasing well-being of parents. This can lead to parents being lost from academia.In the UK, the loss of female academics was one of the main driving forces behind the Athena Swan Charter to support gender equality.So it is perhaps surprising that progress to alleviate the stresses and challenges associated with return from parental leave continues to be variable. Support also needs to go beyond mothers. If we enable fathers to be more equal parents, we take the burden from mothers. This requires a cultural change in how family leave is viewed. Growing, giving birth to and raising the next generation is not a holiday, and no&nbsp;one chooses to have a baby to get out of doing work.Since the birth of a baby is rarely completely unexpected, this provides the opportunity for both employee and workplace to plan for the stages of family leave and to factor in support before, during and after return.Four ways to achieve a better work-life balance in academiaIs working from home going to solve your work-life balance problems?Gender equality is more than a box-ticking exercise – let’s champion itHuman resources and line management documentation should include guidelines supporting parental leave. Following a challenging return from my second maternity leave, in 2022 (after a lockdown pregnancy), I&nbsp;used funding from my faculty at the University of Southampton to run a project focused on support for returners. Originally, we planned to survey returners, but it proved difficult to get people together – perhaps unsurprisingly, because we were trying to engage an already overloaded community. We did find a huge appetite, however, when an event was run, including a workshop for parents and career coaching.The result was a framework of guidelines for departments to consider when a member of staff is planning to take family leave.Before family leaveConsider the workload of the person going on family leave and identify which tasks they perform that should take place during their planned parental leave. Then find out whether existing staff have workload capacity and expertise to take on these essential tasks or whether additional cover staff are required. Remember that on return, the person will likely be sleep deprived and will have been out of the workplace for several months. The following dos and don’ts may help in these decisions.Don’t:Don’t assume that you can allocate the work of the person going on leave to other staff members; you are increasing their workload, potentially beyond capacity.Don’t ask the person going on family leave to suggest which members of staff take on each task. They do not know the workloads of colleagues; they are not their managers.Don’t move tasks to a later or earlier date, so that the person going on family leave has more work before or after going on leave.Don’t front-load all the work required, hoping that the person going on leave will do as much as possible beforehand.Don’t expect them to simply pick up where they left off when they return.Do:Arrange cover for that person.Have a handover period of at least a month, in case family leave has to begin earlier than expected.Normalise that it might not be possible to cover absolutely everything that a person does (this is also useful to consider when academic staff are unavailable for other reasons, such as long-term sickness or sabbatical). For example, if someone is the main member of staff on a module and there is not appropriate cover, it might not be possible to run the module that year.Sit down with the person going on leave to make a plan for their final trimester and for the year after return. It is likely that the person will tell you about their pregnancy at the start of their second trimester, and they will be keen to gain assurances from you.Put in place a staggered work plan for the person’s return that considers cognitive overload. Annual leave is accrued during parental leave and can be used to gradually ease the return. It is also beneficial for the baby’s settling into their new routine with their childcare provider.Agree a communication plan during parental leave (for example, that email will be checked once a week). Any communications should consider this time plan. Some people may prefer a phone call or other forms of communication.Many universities have mentoring programmes that are topic-specific and that will include mentees with lived experience of parental leave, who can be valuable sources of information.During family leaveBefore the new parent returns from family leave, most university HR departments will ask their line manager to confirm whether the person will be returning on their expected date. This often happens eight weeks before return, which makes sense for the university but is too early for parents! My experience was that my line manager forwarded that email to me, but I&nbsp;was on maternity leave, not sitting at my desk reading emails. I fed back that people on leave should not be reading emails, and the process at the University of Southampton has changed; staff are now sent a letter.Don’t:Don’t expect people on leave to be constantly on email.Don’t expect new parents to have a crystal-clear idea of their work capacity. Babies have good and bad weeks, and what a parent can do will vary from week to week. It is less frustrating all round to have no expectations.Do:Respect the agreed communication plan.Ensure that line managers receive training in order to be able to support returners from family leave.After family leaveReturn to work is difficult for parents. They have been through something life-changing, and now have a small person’s needs and life to juggle everything else around. They may be leaving their baby for the first time on their first day back at work. There are likely to be tears, from both baby and parent.Don’t:Don’t expect the returner to start exactly where they left off, perhaps a year before.Don’t just leave them to it, with no acknowledgement.Don’t fill their first few days back with meetings and training.Do:Use a return-to-work induction checklist; we worked with Clara Wilcox at The Balance Collective to develop ours:Role-specific updates What is the status of the work covered while they were off? Ideally, this would be a meeting with their manager and job cover. A handover document is a great tool to use as a template for updates on progress and decisions made.Strategy What, if any, changes have been made to the strategy of the organisation, and how does that impact the team and the role itself?Staffing What key staffing changes have occurred? How does this impact their role?Funding/grants/income What, if anything has changed, and how would this impact their role, budgets, resources or timescales?Policies/processes Have there been changes to how things run? This can include operational (such as IT/approvals) as well as higher-level HR elements within the organisation.Training and opportunities This may be driven by earlier elements, such as changes in processes or staffing. Or it could be down to changes within the organisation or department. What training and opportunities are available? Over the initial return, it is useful to ask the individual what they want for their personal and professional development.Work-life balance What do they need to support their well-being?I have experienced two returns from maternity leave to the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Southampton. I&nbsp;found maternity leave a strange time, losing my own identity and the huge lifestyle change that comes with becoming a parent for the first time. With my second child, it was more difficult because I&nbsp;was juggling another person. It has been far from easy; my mental health has suffered. Two years from my return after my second child, I&nbsp;am still struggling but recognise that I&nbsp;am coping better. It has made me motivated to try to change the culture in academia (industry is ahead of us in supporting all parents), and to improve the experience of parental leave returners.Judith Lock is principal teaching fellow in ecology and evolution within biological sciences at the University of Southampton.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.

How to manage parental leave for university staff

Parental leave presents challenges for the parent and the workplace, writes Judith Lock. Here are some dos and don’ts for before, during and after the leave period that aim to smooth the return to work and fix academia’s leaky pipeline

Former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi once said, “Leadership is hard to define, and good leadership is even harder. But if you can get people to follow you to the ends of the earth, you are a great leader.” Here are some tips inspired by her wisdom.Communicate wellCommunication skills are critical in leadership. The ability to give honest and impartial feedback has helped me build relationships with staff, students and parents. To communicate efficiently, we must be able to listen actively, write well and use and interpret non-verbal language. Women are often more naturally inclined to have these abilities, making us more empathetic leaders and better equipped to create safe spaces that encourage important discussions and growth. You can develop these skills by observing others within and beyond your department and putting them into practice.Develop emotional intelligenceAnother essential quality women leaders should demonstrate is emotional intelligence: the ability to understand and manage your own and other people’s emotions. Key indicators of this are self-awareness, empathy, social skills and receptiveness to feedback. Ways to improve this skill involve keeping track of when you feel strongly about something and taking steps to figure out why, using empathy to adapt your communication based on who you are speaking to, being open to feedback and keeping an open mind.Be relatableI have gone through rough patches throughout my journey in academia, and I often use examples from my personal life – such as the challenges I faced as a researcher and a mother of two young children. Doing so gives my team members confidence that they too can achieve what they set their minds to, even in the face of obstacles.Empower your teamLeaders must recognise and acknowledge their employees’ strengths and allocate responsibilities accordingly. Encourage growth by delegating simple tasks to team members with clear instructions and by being there to answer any questions they might have. This will encourage task ownership and prepare them for bigger responsibilities later down the line.&nbsp;Resource collection: Wisdom from women leaders in higher educationWhen good enough is not enoughEmpowering ambition: student affairs’ role in supporting women studentsBe fearlessA leader must have passion, enthusiasm and fearlessness to forge ahead and create a path for her team. In the words of Oprah Winfrey,&nbsp;“Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.”&nbsp;I took her advice when I decided to start teaching online. I took the initiative to do it and trained all my staff members so that they had the confidence to follow in my footsteps.&nbsp;Strong women do not give up easily. Being brave enough to make decisions without worrying about failure is important. Lead the way and you can inspire and develop your team.&nbsp;Create healthy boundariesWomen leaders often have personal responsibilities at home. This makes it necessary for us to separate our personal and professional lives.&nbsp;You can do this by setting your limits and clearly articulating them. For example, if I must pick my children up from daycare in the afternoon, I plan my meetings for the morning and I communicate when I will be unavailable to my team.&nbsp;Advocate for equality and social changeEnsure that the workplace is an inclusive space for women and unrepresented groups by organising training via workshops on issues such as gender sensitivity. Grow a diverse staff and student community by taking steps to adapt your institution’s facilities and support services for people with disabilities, implementing flexible working and offering support services for those with responsibilities.Create future female leadersIt is essential to nurture the next generation of leaders, and organising and encouraging your team members to take part in leadership programmes helps them develop an understanding of long-term planning, skill building and effective communication. Effective leadership programmes help identify the strengths and weaknesses of those involved and tailor support. Through such training, you set your team members up for long-term success.To sum&nbsp;up what I believe defines effective leadership and what I hope I can teach my students, I refer to the words of Michelle Obama: “Success isn’t about how much money you make; it’s about the difference you make in people’s lives.”&nbsp;Padma Rani is a professor and the director of the Manipal Institute of Communication at Manipal Academy of Higher Education in India.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Being brave enough to make decisions without worrying about failure is important. Lead the way and you can inspire and develop your team, writes Padma Rani

Eight ways to be a better leader

The university is more – much more – than simply a transactional exchange: I pay you tuition, you certify my skills. In the German university as enacted by [Wilhelm] von Humboldt, one left the university a different person, transformed into a disciplined subject. The threat posed by the external environment in the German case was indeed an existential one: Could the university continue to exist in its present form given the changes occurring in the external environment?&nbsp;I would submit that truly disruptive innovation in higher education comes with changes in the nature and purpose of those transformative experiences. Too many examples of what passes for innovation in the 21st century – massive open online courses (Moocs) especially – focus on transactions, on questions of delivery. Anyone seeking innovation in higher education today should concentrate on the kind of transformational experience it enacts.The problem is not that universities are lacking in innovation, but rather that they suffer from a poverty of imagination of what that innovation might be. “This is an existential moment for universities,” writes the philosopher of higher education Ronald Barnett. “All systems of higher education across the world are moving inexorably in the direction of the marketised university. Consequently, the pool of ideas through which the university is comprehended is shrinking.” Indeed, the main existential crisis facing the university is a poverty of ideas about what universities can become. We must look elsewhere, more broadly and with greater imagination, for potential sources of innovation.&nbsp;Because you’re worth it: how universities can prove their value to prospective studentsLifelong learning resourcesThe campus is dead, long live the campusAgainst this background, the questions arise as to what, if any, are the prospects for imagining the university anew? What role might the imagination play here? What are its limits and what might be its potential for bringing forward new forms of the university? This, then, is the problem before us: the place of the imagination in developing the idea – and the institutional form – of the university.&nbsp;Part of the hopelessness about the future of universities is not only because of the paucity of fresh ideas, but because the ideas that are publicly discussed “are being driven forward with such determination that it may appear that ‘there is no alternative’”. For Barnett, there are indeed alternatives, if we only imagine the possibilities. He urges us to employ our imaginations productively to generate “a proliferation of ideas of the university”, as it “can show that the corporate university, the entrepreneurial university, the marketised and the bureaucratic university are not the only available representations of the university”. His observations highlight the degree to which the presumptive Moocification of higher education represents only one future path, one direction that disruptive innovation might – or must? – take. Barnett, instead, asks us to consider multiple possibilities. There is a wide variety of possible innovations, especially around reimagining the purpose of the university itself.&nbsp;In this book, I have taken up Barnett’s challenge and employed my imagination to generate ideas about future forms of the university, alternatives both to our current practices and to the narrowly defined, technologically delivered university. What follows are 10 feasible utopias; I believe that each has the potential to be enacted, and I fully expect to found all of these as fully realised, actual universities.Platform university: organised and managed organically through the unregulated interactions between teachers and studentsMicrocolleges: made up of one professor and 20 studentsThe humanities thinktank: scholars from humanities disciplines produce research to inform policymakingNomad university: a university that shifts location every year, offering a series of gap-year experiencesThe liberal arts college: instead of being based around subjects, learning is based around skills – for example, complex problem-solving, imagination, leadership and othersInterface university: students learn alongside artificial intelligence, rather than using it as a toolThe university of the body: information now arrives via all of the body’s senses – students will be given the literacy skills necessary to decode this dataThe institute for advanced play: generating new and novel knowledge through creativity and imaginationPolymath university: students major in three different disciplines – one of the sciences, one of the arts or humanities, and a professional discipline – in order to master the three main habits of mindFuture university: students are taught to visualise the future in order to better design and build that future.For these ideas to become reality, we would very likely need to create a new institution, rather than expect to redesign or reorganise an existing organisation, since resistance to change is endemic in higher education. Another obstacle in the realisation of these speculative designs is that there seems to be little appetite for developing universities that deviate so dramatically from the norm. Institutions of higher education are keen to benchmark other universities, emulate their peer institutions, and, as a result, all look alike. In such an environment, innovation that seeks to create new transformative experiences appears risky and quixotic. Barnett calls for nothing less than a new poetics of the university. Poets “imaginatively [bring] into being new worlds”, chiefly by employing metaphor. “The creation of new metaphors through which to comprehend universities, therefore, is one of the most powerful acts of the imagination.”He asks, “Can we develop a practical poetry…of the university?” I have taken up the challenge that Barnett has announced to university presidents, vice-chancellors and other higher education leaders: they “should become poets of the university, coming forward with new languages, new metaphors for understanding the possibilities”. Faculty are not excluded, of course, in as much as they are able to exercise some control and influence over the future direction of the university. But Simon Marginson, professor of higher education at the University of Oxford, raises the question of the locus of creativity. “Has it shifted from the academic disciplines to the institutional agency of the university, and from the research professorate to the university executives? Are very bright people increasingly drawn to quasi-entrepreneurial roles at the head of these organisations?” This book specifically addresses the “very bright people” engaged in university strategy, for that group is involved in what Marginson calls “university-making”. “University-making and space-making have become creative activities in their own right, practised by multi-performing university leaders who draw on a portfolio of qualities and roles, from business entrepreneur to scientific boffin to patron of the arts. Sometimes they are artists themselves of a kind. Most are timid. Some are bold. A few make changes that reverberate through the university world. These university leaders are supported by teams with an assemblage of specialised skills. Yet much rests on their own ‘animal spirits’ and visioning.”My sense is that Barnett’s call for more “practical poets” is aimed at the university presidents, higher education policy experts, corporate executives and entrepreneurs whose university-building has been imaginatively impoverished and imitative. The speculative designs presented here are in the spirit of the great university-makers of the past, such as Humboldt, John Andrew Rice (the founder of Black Mountain College), and Lucien L. Nunn (the founder of Deep Springs College). These 10 alternative universities might be understood as practical poems about the future of the university.David J. Staley is an associate professor in the department of history at Ohio State University.&nbsp;Adapted from Alternative Universities: Speculative Design for Innovation in Higher Education, by David Staley, copyright 2019. Published with permission of Johns Hopkins University Press.&nbsp;If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.

How can we imagine a new university?

In this existential moment for higher education, the corporate university is not the only end point possible – we can imagine so much more. David J. Staley offers 10 new ways of thinking about universities, in this excerpt from his book ‘Alternative Universities: Speculative Design for Innovation in Higher Education’

I am believed to be the first female of Indian heritage head of a school of management/business school at a university in the Russell Group. I&nbsp;am now the associate pro vice-chancellor for global civic engagement at the University of Bristol, a keen advocate for the progression of females and staff from under-represented backgrounds, chair of the university’s Athena Swan Committee, part of the Bristol Women’s Mentoring Network and I&nbsp;support the WHEN 100 Black Women Professors programme.

Making a meaningful difference that shifts the dial has always been a strong motivation for me. As a business school scholar, I&nbsp;was intrigued by the idea of putting management theory into practice in higher education leadership. Here are some pieces of advice I’ve learned along the way.

Come back stronger after setbacks

Everyone makes mistakes, and you will be no different. Don’t dwell too hard on what hasn’t quite gone the way you might have hoped, and think harder about your comeback. How will you recover and learn from what has happened? People can be forgiving, so show that you care enough to want to put things right; by doing so, you will demonstrate strong commitment and service to your staff and institution.

Seek out male mentors, too

I have been incredibly lucky to have been supported by the most senior women in my organisation, but there is no monopoly for women to mentor other women. Men have an important role to play in supporting us at work. I&nbsp;have worked closely with men who have wives holding senior leadership roles and ambitious daughters; they, too, are well placed to relate to your experiences and challenges. Be&nbsp;strategic in seeking out these men and their wisdom. Leadership often involves complex problem-solving, which requires diversity of thought, and men certainly can offer this, so be prepared to see value in harnessing gender and other differences.


	Resource collection: Wisdom from women leaders in higher education
	Leaving a legacy as a Black female leader in higher education
	Weaving gold from EDI straw: an intersectional approach


Channel your energy

It is vital to forge strong relationships with your staff, but don’t assume reciprocity. If you operate an open-door policy in the hope that people will knock on your door with only good-news stories, think again! I’m a people pleaser, so I&nbsp;take on the emotional burden of wanting to make things better for colleagues when they come with bad-news stories. It took me time to realise that sometimes people weren’t always seeking solutions, but just wanted someone who would listen to them.

In leadership, when you are managing significant cultural and structural changes, you can’t avoid a small group that strongly resists the unfamiliar. This may be because of people’s genuine anxieties or sometimes a need to protect vested interests. It is important to make efforts to engage with these colleagues and co-create alternative realities with them, but don’t allow yourself to be disproportionately distracted from the majority who are excited about a new vision.

Engage in self-discovery

You are likely to be confronted with unprecedented complex challenges and will not be able to rely on your previous experience at some point in your journey. As you engage in collaborative team learning working alongside your peers and superiors, you will also learn a lot about your strengths and weaknesses. Be attentive to how your colleagues interact with you to understand how you best “learn to learn”, so you can put this valuable knowledge to use for your next challenge. I&nbsp;strive to become a better version of myself, and self-discovery is an important part of this endeavour. This has helped me gain the respect of my closest colleagues and, dare I&nbsp;admit it, my children!

Blending in and standing out

As a female belonging to an ethnic minority, I&nbsp;have spent much of my professional life “blending in” and hoping not to be noticed against my usually male, white and middle-class counterparts. This level of naivety has somehow helped me to succeed in reaching the ranks of university senior management, but I&nbsp;realise it won’t serve me any further. My role draws attention, and so unlearning the lifelong lessons around blending in and embracing the idea of standing out is a new challenge, and my biggest so far, but one that will allow me to own my achievements and (hopefully) inspire others like me to step into leadership.

Feeling a sense of inclusion and belonging and that I can show up as myself begins by acknowledging the sheer hard work of the great women who have supported my personal and professional development. Our vice-chancellor, deputy vice-chancellor, head of EDI, chief people officer and executive dean of arts, social sciences and law are all women and unparalleled forces for positive change at my university. It is partially because of them that I&nbsp;have been willing to take opportunities in leadership that have challenged me, helped me to grow and, most importantly, I&nbsp;am inspired to support the next generation of female academic leaders.

Palie Smart is the associate pro-vice chancellor for global civic engagement at the University of Bristol. 

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The first woman of Indian heritage to head a Russell Group business school shares leadership insights for women in higher education, from mentorship and resilience to self-discovery and embracing your unique identity

Five leadership tips for women in higher education

Embarking on my academic journey as the lone female faculty member among nine male counterparts in a new university was both daunting and enlightening. However, as I learned and grew alongside my male colleagues and fellow educators, navigating a predominantly male environment became a source of valuable lessons. I owe much of my growth to the diverse array of role models who surrounded me – both female and male.&nbsp; 


	The three key ingredients to female success in academia
	Use teamwork to erode the glass cliff
	Empowering female students is essential for building an equitable future


What surprised me most was the discovery that, despite potential differences in interests, the core values we held in educating the next generation and the importance of family were remarkably similar across genders. It was a realisation that transcended any preconceived notions and highlighted certain fundamental beliefs.

Seek support and avoid self-sufficiency

In my leadership journey, I’ve shifted away from the notion of self-sufficiency. With each step up the leadership ladder, I’ve come to appreciate the increasing importance of seeking support and having reliable sounding boards. This stems from understanding the challenges that naturally accompany greater responsibility. Support like this serves as a robust defence against burnout, offering a crucial lifeline during challenging times. Having mentors from both genders proves immensely beneficial, providing access to a range of perspectives. Everyone brings their own insights and experiences to the table, enriching the guidance and advice received. During highs and lows, friends become a dependable support, offering a confidential listening ear.

Speak up respectfully

As a younger female leader in Asia, I hold a deep respect for the wisdom and experience of my seniors, recognising the invaluable insights they bring. While there are moments of disagreement with their views or directions, I understand the importance of expressing my thoughts respectfully rather than engaging in heated debates across a meeting table. This approach isn’t about avoiding argument, but about demonstrating respect. However, staying silent is not the solution, especially when advocating for those who lack representation at the table. The key is identifying the right moment and platform to voice our perspectives, ensuring stakeholders are receptive to our insights.

Stay grounded

In the dynamic landscape of higher education, positions and titles are transient. Emphasising the value and essence brought to the work is paramount. Staying down-to-earth means not just appreciating the contributions of colleagues but also understanding that everyone – tutors, staff and students – plays a vital role. This inclusive perspective helps us grasp the everyday challenges and reminds us that leaders have a big part to play in making the whole higher education experience better. It’s a simple truth: everyone matters, no matter where they are in the world of academia.

Seek out diversity

Diversifying leadership is like opening a window to fresh perspectives and ideas, crucial for any institution’s success. It’s tempting to mentor or notice potential only in those who are similar to us in background, gender, culture or wavelength. But that would be a mistake. Recognising and supporting potential leaders should transcend these similarities. Actively seeking out and sponsoring individuals with leadership potential, irrespective of their gender, not only fosters inclusivity but also strengthens the bonds within the university community. When these leaders succeed, even if their achievements surpass our own, it’s cause for celebration. This collective growth and success contribute to the thriving and evolving nature of our institution.

Female leaders bring strengths and perspectives that can propel higher education forward. By remaining authentic, focusing on the mission of improving the university experience and embracing a diverse leadership approach, women can make a positive impact. It’s time to break free from stereotypes and celebrate the multifaceted tapestry of female leaders in higher education.

May Lim is assistant provost (applied learning) at the Singapore Institute of Technology.

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Let’s build an environment that women can thrive in

To move up the ladder in academia, women need a strong community around them. May Lim recounts her experiences

Let’s work together to build an environment that women can thrive in

The challenges and opportunities that arise when you’re navigating academia as a woman of colour require courage, resilience, authenticity and strategic planning. You need to speak your mind, even if your voice shakes. For me, finding my voice was a long, transformative journey – and I’m happy to share some lessons learned along the way.

Be authentic&nbsp;

We need to acknowledge our unique perspectives and experiences. I am not just a woman but a Black woman. When I walk into a room, my identity walks into the room with me. People will make assumptions about me before I’ve said a word. 

I always seek to be true to myself in my career journey. Every day can feel like a battle for self-validation, legitimacy and empowerment. Authenticity is a powerful tool to wield. Don’t feel pressured to conform to norms. Instead, bring your genuine self to the table, allowing your authenticity to resonate with others. If you can recognise that your experiences and qualifications are genuine assets that legitimise your ability to lead effectively, you can cultivate the confidence you’ll need as you ascend in your organisation. 


	Resource collection:&nbsp;Being Black in the academy
	What we can learn from Black women academics in the UK
	Leaving a legacy as a Black female leader in higher education


Don’t shy away from advocating for yourself. Clearly communicate your achievements, skills and aspirations. This is a difficult but essential aspect of advancing your career and gaining recognition for your contributions.

Develop a strategy

I knew I’d need to invest in education and continual learning to forge my way. I learned from my parents’ example that education was a way out of limited circumstances. I had to pursue what I wanted on two tracks: personal and community. 

My personal track was through education – I obtained five degrees so my qualifications would be unquestioned. As a race, class, gender and critical race/critical race and feminism scholar, I needed the tools and knowledge to understand the history and experiences of marginalised groups.

My community track focused on social justice, working with those who are less privileged, less positioned and less prepared, but with tremendous potential and possibility. I tutored minority high school students through Upward Bound while at the University of Iowa, and I was director of an after-school programme for Black sixth-grade girls. When I moved to Nashville to do my doctorate in sociology at Vanderbilt, I taught college classes at women’s and men’s prisons, and at two small historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the area.

Ultimately, the two tracks merged into a life of service to humanity. This fits in perfectly with Virginia Tech’s motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve).

Build a community and personal board of directors&nbsp;

Although I have never had traditional mentors, I did have a few critical advocates at key points in my career. More importantly, I have seen the impact of networking, mentorship and sponsorship. It is my hope that I can facilitate connections and support other women in ascending to their rightful roles in higher education. I founded the Faculty Women of Color in the Academy national conference to support the success of other women of colour and to create a community in which they can leverage the experiences and perspectives of others on similar journeys.

Be courageous in difficult conversations&nbsp;

Use your voice to challenge inequities and advocate for diversity and inclusion within academic spaces. Addressing these issues contributes not only to your personal growth but to the advancement of the entire academic community. One of my greatest challenges, but also the most rewarding, was supporting Virginia Tech’s sesquicentennial through the Council on Virginia Tech History. The council was instrumental in renaming buildings, erecting historical markers, supporting public art and engaging the descendants of those who had been enslaved on property that is part of Virginia Tech. Many issues of social justice are controversial and contentious. Sometimes, you might be the only voice advocating for an issue in a meeting. It is essential in those moments to be courageous and speak up. 

Navigate challenges with persistence&nbsp;

Like so many of us, my life history is impacted by the history and journey of my relatives. My father is from Sierra Leone in West Africa and my mother is from ancestors who were enslaved in Alabama. Both lifted themselves out of their circumstances through education. My parents taught me that racism is real, sexism is undeniable, and that as a Black woman, I would need to work twice as hard and be twice as good. I knew I’d face formidable challenges. Recognising and addressing obstacles is a crucial step towards overcoming them. I have found that patience has never disappointed me and that sometimes closed doors and opportunities, although initially moments of discouragement, may be moments of protection. The critical lesson is to stay focused on your own “why” and allow that to push you forward.

Express your creativity&nbsp;

You can find your voice in public spaces by being creative in personal and private spaces. I enjoy playing and listening to music; I’m a classically trained pianist and violinist. I write blogs, books and poetry, and I am the creator of Menah’s Matinee, Music and Musings. Over many years, I have learned that finding ways of expressing myself when I’m in comfortable environments helps me feel more empowered to speak up in public environments. Creativity is a very important resource for our own personal power. 

I am grateful for the opportunity to serve at Virginia Tech. Learning when and how to use my voice and influence is a lifelong journey. It is very much an art and science. The power of not speaking, not filling a silence with words, and of engaging silence are also important strategies related to finding and using our voice. I hope that I can continue to use my voice and my research to shape a more inclusive, equitable and innovative academic landscape for future generations. Through my work, I hope to help other women of colour find their own voices – and use those voices to forge positive change in the world.

Menah Pratt is vice-president for strategic affairs and diversity and professor of education at Virginia Tech as well as chair-elect for the Council on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities. Her latest book, Blackwildgirl: A Writer’s Journey to Take Back Her Superpower, will be published by She Writes Press in April 2024.

If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus&nbsp;newsletter.

Using my voice as a Black female leader in HE

Women of colour face a formidable set of challenges in the quest to find their place and voice in higher education. Menah Pratt shares the lessons learned in her journey – from the power of persistence to harnessing her creativity 

Finding – and raising – my voice as a Black female leader in higher education

Addressing sexual misconduct in higher education is a multifaceted challenge that calls for the involvement of various aspects of the institution and the confrontation of deeply ingrained cultures. Nevertheless, taking certain measures can reduce the likelihood of staff/faculty sexual harassment and mitigate harm.

In this article, as co-director of The 1752 Group, an advocacy and research group dedicated to eradicating sexual misconduct in higher education, I&nbsp;explain how to respond to reports and the steps that institutions should take when they receive information about sexual harassment outside a formal report. If you haven’t read it already, part one of this series outlines how higher education institutions can prevent faculty/staff sexual harassment.

Responding to reports of faculty/staff sexual harassment

Acts of sexual harassment and violence take away choice and control from those targeted. Wherever possible, we must empower reporting parties by giving them choice and control over the actions taken. Trained, expert staff should provide support regardless of whether reporting parties choose a formal route.

It is important to implement precautionary measures to ensure that reporting parties are safe and that their work/studies are not interrupted because of their report. These might include agreements relating to authorship rights on planned publications, as well as ensuring that postgraduate researchers have access to the data and equipment they need to carry out their research. In some cases, suspension from work may be required, if (after a risk assessment) there is deemed to be a risk to the reporting party/ies or other staff/students.

Risk assessments should ascertain risk to the reporting party/ies, the wider student/staff body and the responding party, and they should have input from a specialist in gender-based violence. This follows recommendations from the Westmarland review, which was commissioned by the University of Sussex in 2016 to review the university’s response to a domestic violence case that had been widely reported and criticised.

If the sexual harassment constitutes a criminal offence, the institution should support the student if they choose to report it to the police. If they do not want to tell the police, they do not have to. Regardless of whether the police are involved, the institution can still investigate under its own internal policies, although the police may require the institution to pause its investigation while they carry out theirs.


	Resource collection:&nbsp;Well-being in higher education
	Five ways universities can protect faculty from online harassment
	Collective voices, zero tolerance


Don’t wait for formal reports to start an investigation

Where there are multiple informal or third-party reports (whether through anonymous reporting platforms or via other means) an employer may need to proactively open an investigation following The 1752 Group’s guidance. Where wider cultural issues exist, there needs to be an environmental investigation into the culture of a department (for example, see Howlett Brown’s investigation into the Bartlett School of Architecture). The University of Cambridge’s Dignity at Work policy now includes provision for “university-instigated investigations”. This example of good practice should be widely adopted.

Mandatory reporting of disclosures of sexual harassment or violence is not recommended as this may deter students from disclosing. Instead, institutions need to carefully balance the safety and wishes of reporting parties with their duty of care to other students and staff.

Follow specialised guidance on handling formal reports

For formal handling of reports, institutions should follow The 1752 Group and McAllister Olivarius’ guidance and disciplinary processes. The law firm Eversheds Sutherland has published similar guidance. Reporting parties should have equal access to information as the responding party during the disciplinary process. Institutions should share information on the outcome of the disciplinary process, including sanctions and other actions taken as a result of the process, with reporting parties wherever possible.

Investigators and disciplinary panel members must be trained, by external experts unless internal expertise is available, in recognising rape myths and assessing evidence in sexual misconduct cases. Rape myths are beliefs that serve to deny, downplay or justify sexual violence, such as “false allegations are common” and “any delay in reporting sexual violence or harassment is suspicious”. These false beliefs can cause investigators and disciplinary panel members to assess evidence inaccurately.

Most students report staff/faculty sexual misconduct to protect others, and the outcome that they are seeking is usually that others are not targeted for the same behaviour. As such, actions following a reporting process need to prioritise ensuring the ongoing safety of the wider community.

Support all students and staff at the end of a process

Students may need academic and other individual remedies such as funded extensions to PhD deadlines and academic mentoring to help them regain confidence, mitigate lost time and rebuild professional networks or longer-term specialist counselling.

Wider, community-based remedies to rebuild communities and ensure that other staff and students are safe are often overlooked but these are equally important. These could include:


	Survivors feeding into revisions of institutional policies or procedures
	Public events to raise awareness of sexual harassment and gender-based violence
	Training or facilitated discussions to rebuild a departmental culture
	Disciplinary culture and transparency around actions by the institution to address any issues revealed by the process.


The climate has changed in this area over the past few years. A recent independent investigation by Gemma White into Trinity Hall in Cambridge concluded that higher education institutions must take some form of action on receiving disclosures, rather than wait for someone willing to pursue a formal complaint. She observed that “many (if not all) higher education institutions have much work to do in this field”. Let’s stop putting all the responsibility and risk on survivors to report this issue and move towards proactive institutional responses.

Note: these recommendations draw on UK-based guidance, but the principles are applicable in many other jurisdictions.

Anna Bull is a senior lecturer at the University of York and co-director of The 1752 Group.

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Responding to sexual misconduct in higher education

Let’s stop putting all the responsibility and risk on survivors to report this issue and move towards proactive institutional responses, writes Anna Bull

Addressing staff/faculty-student sexual misconduct in higher education, part two: response

I find that reflecting on the choices I have made during my career strongly intersects with personal changes and professional opportunities. I see the next chapter of my scholarly journey as the moment to pause, to take stock of how far I have come and consider how far I still want or need or must go.

Early on, I chose to focus my teaching, scholarship, service and administrative work on issues related to Hispanic families and communities. Lately, I have begun to truly reflect on what I have accomplished in my chosen profession, and I am starting to ask myself important questions that will help to guide my remaining years in higher education. 

Until now, I never stopped to intentionally think about what it means to truly leave a legacy; I have been too busy doing the work to create the change I wanted to see for future generations. But while that work has been an important endeavour, it will not matter if I cannot answer “yes” to the questions I have been contemplating.


	Leaving a legacy as a Black female leader in higher education
	Three ways to support women’s career progression in higher education
	THE podcast: how to navigate HE as a woman of colour


Those are questions I’m asking myself as I enter this stage of my career. Hopefully, they can be used as part of a road map for other women who are at earlier stages of their journeys.

Question 1: Have I been a leader within my chosen path? 

People often equate “leadership” with being at the top of whatever organisation you work in. But to me, true leadership is making a difference within the space you occupy. No matter your title or your place within your institution, you can find ways to make a positive impact. I have shared my story, my mistakes and my triumphs, and I encourage the next generation to learn from them and create their own paths.

As a leader, I have listened, connected, opened access, learned from everyone and helped others to reach their potential with respect and integrity by creating opportunities through such initiatives as our Fulbright HSI Leader designation.

Question 2: Have I done enough to be a steward of future female leaders? 

It’s one thing to lead others; it’s another to help foster the next generation of women who aspire to lead themselves. I have made it part of my mission to ensure we are reversing the negative trends surrounding Hispanic students attending college and becoming leaders in higher education.&nbsp;This work needs to be done at all levels. I am particularly proud of the work done by Latina doctoral students so they can lead by example in and outside academia.

For undergraduates, we are getting there. Hispanic student enrolment is reaching record highs, and Montclair State University is a federally designated Hispanic-serving institution (HSI) with 45 per cent of its most recent incoming class identifying as Hispanic. 

But numbers are not enough. We must develop opportunities to practise being leaders. For example, in our summer initiatives, including our Hispanic Student College Institute and our work with first-generation students, we have created leadership opportunities for mentorship, co-directing programming, visiting high schools and to actively serve as role models for the next generation.

Question 3: What is my legacy beyond my work? 

My business card might read “associate provost for Hispanic initiatives and international programs”, but that is not the whole of who I am. My professional accomplishments are things I am proud of, and I will carry them with me when my career comes to an end. But if I have not been the best with the people who I love most, then my professional legacy will have nowhere close to the same meaning.

Question 4: Will my work carry on after I am gone? 

It’s not enough to do important work while you have the time to do it. You must ensure the work you do – the programmes you help launch and the initiatives that change the trajectory of students’ lives – can carry on after you are no longer there to spearhead them. To me, this is the ultimate test of your legacy, and how I am judging my own journey. That is why, with each passing year, I am empowering those around me to take on leadership roles on the things I have usually overseen at Montclair. I am teaching them how to present a compelling case to ensure our work will live on. 

I want my legacy to be not only what I myself was able to accomplish – I want it to be about what lasts long after I have closed the professional chapter of my life and know that I have been an active agent in repairing the world.

To me, that is the mark of true impact. And I hope that we all take stock of what we have achieved and ensure we do all that we can to allow it to continue when we say goodbye.&nbsp; 

Katia Paz Goldfarb is the associate provost for Hispanic initiatives and international programmes at Montclair State University.

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Questions for the next stage of university leadership

What do I want my legacy as a woman leader to be? These questions can provide a road map for reflection on and planning an academic career, writes Katia Paz Goldfarb

Higher education has undergone significant transformation in the past several years and will continue to do so. Societal and technological disruptions as well as an evolving student demographic have compelled universities to respond rapidly and meaningfully. As a deputy vice-chancellor of a university that focuses on accessible, flexible and future-focused education, I&nbsp;see the ability to lead change as instrumental to my role.

Change can be invigorating, but too much change, especially if managed poorly, can leave people feeling overwhelmed and disempowered. I&nbsp;have key principles that I&nbsp;have used to navigate and lead change. They are not particularly special, but I&nbsp;remind myself of them as I&nbsp;embark on new projects, whether it be designing a curriculum or embracing digital transformation in teaching.

Leadership principle 1: know where you are going and recognise when you get there

The first principle is: understand your destination – and know when you have arrived. That means having a clear vision of the outcome. It requires articulating what accessible education looks like, for instance, and how is it different from what we have always done. For the University of Canterbury (UC), that means ensuring that students who have been traditionally underserved can participate and complete their qualifications successfully and that common, and often systemic, barriers to success are removed. We will know we have achieved that when we see more Indigenous and other underserved students succeeding at the same rate as others.


	Women’s leadership is vital in the evolving landscape of higher education
	Improve women’s accessibility to leadership by following these steps
	I found my voice as a woman in academia; here’s how you can do the same


While having a clear vision is crucial, it must also be shared and inclusive. A vision that does not reflect the values of others in the organisation will not be advanced.

Leadership principle 2: be present in your relationships with others

That leads to the second aspect critical to leadership: authentic relationships. Authentic relationships mean being inclusive and listening to and learning from diverse perspectives. Students, staff, alumni and the communities in which universities sit all bring varied perspectives. It is through relationships that those voices are heard and empowered and, in being so, they support the vision of the institution.

For instance, as our university has moved towards more technologically enhanced delivery, we must understand the needs of staff, students and the community. In doing this, we have created a new curriculum supported by industry and delivered online courses and programmes that meet the needs of the students and staff.

Changing the way things are done is never easy, but I have found that the strength of the interpersonal and working relationships across the university have been key to a strong network of support.

Leadership principle 3: be accountable for your decisions

My final reflection on leadership is also relates to authenticity, and that is to be accountable. I&nbsp;have found that through owning decisions – both the ones that go well and those that do&nbsp;not – integrity and trust are fostered. It gives room for others to be empowered to do the leading in their own sphere and to bring new ideas that might challenge the direction.

Taking responsibility is not always easy; however, much good can come from doing so. Being willing to be accountable gives room to make change and move in a different direction. It reduces the need for perfection and instead builds transparency and resilience.

International Women’s Day is the perfect opportunity to celebrate the achievements of women in academia while acknowledging the challenges many have faced. I&nbsp;have been lucky in my journey in higher education. I&nbsp;moved to New Zealand early in my academic career and found a country with an impressive history of women in leadership. They include Dame Whina Cooper, who led the fight for Māori land rights; Kate Sheppard, who came to Canterbury from the UK and led the movement for voting rights for women; and three female prime ministers, who now operate on a global stage. Since its founding in 1873, UC has welcomed women students as trailblazers – including Bessie Te Wenerau Grace, the first Māori woman to earn a degree.

My career also has no shortage of mentors and aspirational leaders in the present day. UC recently celebrated its 150th anniversary under the leadership of two women, chancellor Amy Adams and vice-chancellor Cheryl de la Rey.

Leadership is a privilege and, despite the challenges, incredibly rewarding. Leading with integrity, authenticity and a vision that is values based provides the foundation for leading change. I&nbsp;hope that by sharing my thoughts and experiences, I&nbsp;can inspire those who aspire to leadership roles in higher education or elsewhere. I&nbsp;would love to encourage more women to see their future without limits. Leadership is not a destination but a journey, and if we can share kindness along the way, we can build our own authentic culture of success for others to join, emulate and embrace.

Catherine Moran is deputy vice-chancellor (academic) at the University of Canterbury.

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Reflecting on her personal journey, Catherine Moran shares the key guidelines that have shaped her leadership as a woman in higher education in times of change

Three principles for leadership in academia

That women face gender-specific obstacles in higher education goes without saying; lack of access, gender stereotypes and limiting social expectations have played their part in disempowering them. It’s vital we undo the damage in order to encourage ambition and mould future leaders.

It is not just deeply rooted social expectations and academic pressure that disempower women; the fact they are often expected to balance multiple responsibilities and overperform in various areas can limit their capacity for ambition. To address this problem, institutions need to even the playing ground and nurture students’ diverse abilities and aspirations. Here are some practical strategies to inspire and prepare young women for life beyond graduation.

Mentoring by female leaders

Seeing other women being successful in prominent leadership roles can inspire students. Interaction with these kinds of role models can empower them. Structured mentoring can be a powerful tool here. Connecting students with female leaders in diverse disciplines will allow them to discuss their goals and challenges in safe environments. Mentors must foster environments that place an emphasis on learning through error, which encourages mentees to take risks safely and helps cultivate a competitive mindset that will serve them in their future careers. Through mentorship, students grow in confidence and go on to lead projects, express their opinions and participate in activities that push them outside their comfort zones. 


	Resources for women in higher education
	Boosting female representation in STEM is crucial to global innovation
	Gender equality is more than a box-ticking exercise – let’s champion it


Incorporating female role models into the curriculum

Institutions must review and update courses to incorporate narratives that highlight female achievements. A programme that shines a light on the contributions of outstanding women who have overcome obstacles and made contributions in their respective disciplines will inspire female students to pursue their ambitions and encourage them to strive for more. 

Overcoming gender stereotypes

Higher education institutions have a duty to promote equality, and one way they can do this is by challenging gender stereotypes in education. Encouraging young women to participate in STEAM activities such as robotics clubs, coding workshops and science fairs can promote interest and proficiency in traditionally male-dominated fields. Providing female artists with opportunities to exhibit their work allows them to make contributions to the arts. Ensuring equal access to sports facilities, coaching and competitive opportunities for girls and women at all levels fosters a culture of inclusivity and athleticism, breaking down barriers to sports.

Beyond the classroom

The impact of an empowering education should be able to transcend the classroom into women’s daily and professional lives, leading them to make informed decisions and giving them greater awareness of their rights and potential. This allows them to exercise their autonomy and make decisions that allow them to achieve their personal and professional goals.

Educational institutions play a crucial role in helping students prepare for their future careers. They can do this by facilitating connections with professionals through organising alumni networking events, career development workshops and internship and job fairs. Career development workshops equip students with essential skills for success in the job market. These should offer support with CV writing, interview techniques and personal branding, among others. Internship and job fairs offer students opportunities to explore potential career paths, interact with employers and secure internships or entry-level positions, thereby bridging the gap between academia and the professional world. 

Be an agent of change

Providing an education that inspires women to strive for more is not just the responsibility of educators but of society as a whole. We can all be agents of change in our daily lives by challenging gender stereotypes, supporting young women and promoting inclusive education within our communities.

Promoting gender equality requires a collaborative approach involving parents, businesses and local authorities. Parents can challenge gender stereotypes and provide equal opportunities for their children. Businesses can implement policies that promote diversity and inclusion. Local authorities can create supportive environments that address discrimination and provide resources for all genders. By working together, we can provoke lasting change and foster environments in which everyone can thrive.

We should all commit to being agents of change by helping to create an educational environment that encourages ambition in every young woman. Together, we can build a future where no dream is unattainable and all women have the means to reach their full potential.

Paulina Vargas is dean of the School of Business and Administration at the Mexicali Campus at CETYS University, Mexico.

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When we empower women in higher education, we advocate for social change, promote gender equality and enable them to play an active role in their communities

Empowering female students is essential for building an equitable future

THE podcast: Sian Beilock, president of Dartmouth

Sian Beilock, the first woman elected president of Dartmouth in the institution’s 250-year history, speaks about female leadership in higher education and performing under pressure

THE podcast: an interview with Sian Beilock, president of Dartmouth

As I sit in a room full of women and men focused on creating a democracy in higher education, I am reminded that women continue to face challenges to reach the head of the table – or even to have a seat.

In fact, during a recent conference, I heard a woman say: “If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.” 

Women are leading universities, governing boards, departments&nbsp;and academic programmes. Yet women, and specifically women of colour, struggle to stay in leadership positions and build momentum for the next generation to follow. Creating a foundation for future female leaders now will help to minimise these challenges and create a space of equality.


	The tough road to leadership as a woman in higher education
	To give female students an equal educational experience, we need to promote women
	Use teamwork to erode the glass cliff


According to the American Council on Education (ACE) American College Presidents report from 2018, 30 per cent of college presidents were women, with only 5 per cent women of colour. In the 2023 edition, the number of female presidents rose to 33 per cent. It is a positive progression, but there is a lot of work to be done for women to become equal with men in leadership roles. What are the secret ingredients for women to find success, a sense of purpose&nbsp;and equality in their leadership careers?

Celebrate your staff’s individual gifts

Women have unique gifts that should be celebrated. An article by the American Psychological Association (2023) noted that female leaders create a space of collaboration, increased productivity&nbsp;and inspiration. Women also offer a layer of personalisation to their leadership repertoire. Emphasising the talents each individual has enhances a team and helps to break &nbsp;the cycle of repetitive approaches. 

Women leaders are more likely to support their team and focus on their needs, demonstrating transformational and servant leadership styles. They showcase the talents of their teams and encourage progression, which supports the good within an organisation and inspires individual team members. 

Create mentorship programmes

Creating professional development opportunities like mentorship programmes, focused on connecting with other women, specifically women of colour, can build a foundation to encourage and influence all women. Particularly, programmes like this can support young female leaders on their path to senior leadership. 

In an article focused on Latina leadership in higher education, interviews with women in senior-level positions revealed that although they may have a seat at the leadership table, they struggle to connect with colleagues at their institution. Many of these women were the only Latina in a senior-level leadership position, saddling them with an unwanted role of tokenism. As one leader noted, being a mentor, a good role model and a Latina voice all fell on her shoulders. Having a group of like-minded women or a “posse” was essential to her in supporting the path to leadership. 

The support and allyship of male team members can also have a positive impact on the growth of female leadership. Men still make up the majority of leadership roles in higher education and are influential in campus and industry leadership. They can be a catalyst for women to obtain leadership positions. As a woman, tapping into male allyship or mentorship in your workplace can help carve out a networking path and support system. 

Instil a sense of belonging

Women thrive in a space where they have the opportunity to share emotions, ideas&nbsp;and individuality. Finding a sense of belonging can support women in their rise to leadership positions and influence positive retention of staff, faculty&nbsp;and students. Dr Terrell Strayhorn first examined the sense of belonging in a student context in a 2023 article titled, “Sense of belonging: changing the institution, not the individual”, noting that a “sense of belonging is a feeling, a sensation, an affective, emotional response that has cognitive triggers and behavioural manifestations”. As an institution, creating a community where women can develop and grow professionally helps them feel valued. 

Leadership skill development and practices focused on positions traditionally held by men can also help women enhance skills outside of their natural path. Professional development in the areas of entrepreneurial adventures, fundraising, budget and financial management, and crisis management surfaced in the 2023 American College Presidents Report as areas that women were not always leading but wanted to learn more about. 

Creating space for women to move into and thrive in leadership roles requires several ingredients. Celebrating female gifts and talents, encouraging mentorship and allyship, and developing a community that purposely promotes a sense of belonging can all support the growth of female leaders in higher education and make a successful recipe. 

Lisa Eiden-Dillow is director of faculty operations at CSU Global.

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&nbsp;




The three key ingredients to female success in academia

The number of female presidents in US institutions is rising, but there’s still work to do for women in leadership to achieve equality. Lisa Eiden-Dillow outlines three ways to empower women in academia

Higher education is often heralded as the great equaliser when it comes to opportunity. However, gender and race disparities persist in leadership roles within academic institutions, with women of colour significantly under-represented. While strides have been made in recent years to address these inequities, we still have a long way to go. 

I’ve had more than 30 years of administrative, academic, legal, fundraising, advancement and community engagement experience and, based on what I’ve learned and seen, I suggest several effective levers we can use to create a more inclusive and diverse academic landscape.

Transparent recruitment and promotion&nbsp;

Academic institutions should establish clear and equitable policies that promote fair evaluation and advancement opportunities. This includes openly addressing biases in hiring processes and securing diverse candidate pipelines. At Virginia Tech, our strategic plan Advancing Beyond Boundaries is our North Star. Transparency not only holds institutions accountable, but also serves as a powerful motivator for continuous improvement in fostering diversity.

Support for work-life balance

Balancing career aspirations with personal and family life is a challenge that typically affects women far more than men. Implementing policies that support work-life balance is critical for attracting and retaining women of colour to leadership positions. Essentially, academic institutions need to find a way to factor career breaks, changes and parenthood into professional career paths. This means offering a combination of flexible work schedules, generous faculty affairs parental/family leave policies, sabbaticals and/or childcare assistance or resources.


	Women’s leadership is vital in the evolving landscape of higher education
	Improve women’s accessibility to leadership by following these steps
	Difference matters – and embracing it can change the world for all women


By addressing these challenges, academic institutions can create an environment that allows women to pursue leadership roles without compromising their personal lives. 

Sometimes balancing family and work obligations means that career journeys are not always about ascension. Women are often the “sandwich”, caring for children and parents at the same time. Universities need individuals in supervisory leadership positions who have empathy and are willing to support women both personally and professionally at all stages.&nbsp; 

My own goal to balance being a mother, daughter and wife with my calling to serve has affected my journey in academia. At one point in my career, I took a significant salary cut, dropping several rungs on the career ladder. The move, however, allowed me to care for my mother in my home until she died.&nbsp; 

Continuing education and development

Giving women access to professional development and continuing education opportunities is crucial for their advancement in HE leadership. Institutions should offer training, workshops and leadership courses tailored to the challenges and skills required for leadership roles. 

They should also support women as they fortify their chosen educational backgrounds; this can be accomplished through tuition reimbursement, fellowships and paid time off. I am blessed to be a fellow with the American Council on Education this year. These experiences are transformational for understanding the challenges and opportunities around leadership.&nbsp; 

Mentorship and peer support

Finding support and mentorship can make an immense difference, especially for women and populations who experience marginalisation. To help women of colour support, connect and feel empowered, I founded the Faculty Women of Color in the Academy (FWCA) national conference. The FWCA is a unique educational and professional opportunity for Indigenous women and women of colour in HE to network, engage and learn with colleagues from around the country. It helps women heal and bond through sisterhood. The conference and its quarterly healing hours have been meeting for 12 years, affecting 1,000 women of colour annually. The conference is a place and space for women to think about leadership.

Allyship and advocacy

Allyship from both men and women is essential for creating an environment that supports women in leadership roles. The Virginia Tech community is undergirded by phenomenal Principles of Community, which encourage respect, civility, appreciation of differences and diversity. It is a community that, for several years, has been invested in InclusiveVT, the institutional and individual commitment to Ut Prosim (That I May Serve) in the spirit of community, diversity and excellence. InclusiveVT, as a framework, enables faculty, staff and students to advance the work of allyship and advocacy. Several of our programmes, through the Office for Inclusion and Diversity, offer education opportunities to enhance awareness of tools and strategies for advancing diversity, equity and inclusion. 

Gender equality is also an imperative from the United Nations in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5, which notes that “gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but also a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world”. The prevailing question is: if women have equal access to higher education, why are their career paths unequal in terms of achieving leadership academic positions when they graduate? 

Pulling multiple levers is essential to trying to level the playing field to ensure that women have the opportunity to ascend to the highest levels of universities. Achieving a critical mass of female leaders in higher education institutions helps to shift gender dynamics and power relations at decision-making levels. It changes the nature of the conversation; it affects outcomes; and it influences the future of society. It is not just about changing who is at the table. It is about changing what is discussed at the table; what happens when people leave the table; and what happens when they walk out of the room.&nbsp; 

Menah Pratt is vice-president for strategic affairs and diversity and professor of education at Virginia Tech, as well as chair-elect for the Council on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities. Her latest book, Blackwildgirl: A Writer’s Journey to Take Back Her Superpower, will be published by She Writes Press in April 2024.

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Levers to foster women into higher education leadership

Gender and race disparities persist in leadership roles within academic institutions. Here, Menah Pratt shares her advice on effective levers to foster women of colour into leadership roles

Effective levers to foster women – specifically women of colour – into leadership roles

What I’m about to say isn’t a secret: becoming a female higher education leader is hard. 

Data from the American College President Study bears this out: 


	33 per cent of college presidencies are held by women 
	women aspire to presidency, on average, 3.3 years later than men. 


While the number of women who hold graduate and doctoral degrees is increasing, the number of women leaders in higher education is not. This is especially troubling because most students at the undergraduate level are young women. 

Representation matters. Our female students, staff and faculty benefit from seeing women in prominent leadership positions. A recent study by the Rockefeller Foundation showed that 65 per cent of Americans feel it’s incredibly important that young women have women leaders to look to as role models within their organisations, and I would wholeheartedly agree. 


	To give female students an equal educational experience, we need to promote women
	Improve women’s accessibility to leadership by following these steps
	Leaving a legacy as a Black female leader in higher education


To create a culture at our institutions that will develop the next generation of diverse female leadership, I believe we must teach the young women in our universities vital life lessons. 

Teach young women to know their worth – and their value 

When women are presented with a job offer or the possibility of a promotion, they are more likely than men to simply accept the first offer without countering. It’s something I experienced myself as I advanced through the ranks; I was so excited about taking a step forward that I didn’t fight for everything I may have been able to receive. 

As administrators, we should be creating a culture of salary and negotiation transparency at our institutions, which is a method proven to be effective in closing the gender wage gap. This will allow women climbing the ladder to know what they should be asking for in a hiring process, and create an environment built on mutual respect between employee and organisation. 

Of equal importance is showing women the value they bring that goes beyond dollars and cents. Their life experiences, their decision-making and their voices bring strong and diverse perspectives to any situation, whether they are in a leadership position or not. 

We can do this by truly including our future female leaders – and all women wherever possible – in the conversations at every level of the institution that will move it forward and give them a true seat at the table long before they’re a dean, provost or president.

I do this in two ways: being an active mentor and a sponsor to women who want to advance in the academy and other areas of professional life. If there is a vacancy or position that I know will be a great fit for a colleague, I actively seek to ensure they are considered. 

Teach young female faculty and students that it’s OK to put themselves first 

I know this from personal experience. At times, women feel they need to be Superwoman: wife, mother, professional. And amid putting everything and everyone else first, we lose sight of our own well-being and our own ambitions. 

As I progressed in my career, I developed the ability to vocalise my goals when people would want me to serve on a committee or take on an initiative. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to help or wasn’t a true participant in the growth of my institution. I needed to find the proper balance that would keep me moving forward. 

The confidence to politely but firmly say: “No” in certain situations – and the ability to give a clear reason for doing so – will help anyone to keep their professional goals on track and send a clear signal about their aspirations. Over time, this produces a profile of a professional who is driven and has a clear plan for their future that others can visualise.

Teach future women leaders how to check all the boxes 

As we identify future women leaders, we need to show them how to take the professional steps necessary to continue on the path to leadership roles. But we also need to show them how to check all the boxes during an interview that will not show up on their résumé. 

We must teach them how to truly evaluate not just an institution they are interviewing with but also the people they will be speaking with during that process. They must learn how to size up an institution’s culture and whether it is truly a fit with their values. 

We must teach our future leaders, particularly women of colour, never to compromise their true, authentic selves to reach their leadership goals and to proudly express their identity in dress, hairstyle and accessories.

Teach men about the barriers that women face – and how to remove them 

Since they often do not experience it themselves, men are at times naive to the barriers women face in advancing to leadership positions. So, it is more important than ever for women to bring men into these tough conversations, and to give them insight into exactly what our journey on the path to leadership is like and the obstacles we face. 

When we do this, we engage in a dialogue that is educational, not adversarial. Many men are willing and able to be good allies and partners, like my colleague, Montclair State University president Jonathan Koppell. 

We can come together to ensure that women in higher education are developed at every stage of their careers in a culture that is inclusive and supportive of their aspirations. I’m living proof of what is possible when opportunity is given for women to realise their potential, and it is our duty, on International Women’s Day and all the days in between, to create an environment where a journey like mine is no longer the exception.

Marcheta Evans&nbsp;is chancellor of Bloomfield College of Montclair State University.&nbsp;

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The tough road to leadership as a woman in higher education

Representation matters, writes Marcheta Evans. Here, she offers advice for institutions and educators about the life lessons they need to pass to female scholars (and one for men, too)

Some years ago, I undertook a project to document the journeys of senior women academics in Singapore at a time when there was but one university and its mission was largely teaching-oriented. The stories they told were representative of a time nearly half a century ago. 

It was a world similar to and yet different from academia today. It was similar in that they had faced issues familiar to women academics today – juggling work and family demands – but also different in that some of the expectations of today had not been there at all, or at least not to the same extent. At a time when universities were principally teaching institutions, the expectations of research and cross-border interactions were absent or not onerous. 


	How academics can ‘stay put’ without ‘staying still’
	Three ways to support women’s career progression in higher education
	Gender equality is more than a box-ticking exercise – let’s champion it


Today, academics live in a world of hypermobility and are expected to evidence that themselves. Comparing my own experience of academia over the past three decades with their experience some 20 years before me, one key point of differentiation was the contribution of geographical mobility to career advancement.&nbsp; 

Geographical mobility and career advancement

Regardless of geographical location, academics face pressures to meet “international” standards of scholastic excellence. There is, of course, a geography, sociology and politics of knowledge that is at play here, with gatekeepers principally located in the Global North determining international standards. Without getting into a discussion about the decolonisation of knowledge here, the reality is that the expectations of international standards and the geographical mobility that supports such achievement affects academics in so many parts of the world, and unevenly so.

Geographical mobility takes myriad forms. For aspiring academics in much of the Global South, a ticket to academia often entails securing a PhD from an esteemed university in the US or Europe or perhaps Australia. PhD in hand, an early-career academic needs to share their work at “international” conferences in order to gain visibility, the major association platforms often being held in the Global North. 

For more senior academics, a mark of recognition and standing is the invitation to speak in keynote or plenary sessions, again, in the major conferences often hosted in the Global North. For those whose research entails primary data collection in the field, or research in key archival holdings, travel is inevitable. Collaboration and co-authorship, positive in themselves for the cross-pollination of ideas, are also increasingly recognised as beneficial in utilitarian ways, in upping citation counts. Together, geographical mobility would seem to be a sine qua non for academic success.

Gendered challenges of mobility

For female academics, such mobilities are challenging. Our experiences are often shaped by a complex interplay of social and cultural factors, exacerbated by systemic barriers. In most, if not all situations, support structures such as childcare provisions are insufficient, and women might choose to defer or forgo such international opportunities. Elder care poses other challenges. For example, if childcare provisions could be made possible, it is not an option to bring frail elderly family members along to an international conference.

In a 2019 study of qualitative insights gleaned from interviews with Chinese women academics, the participants’ geographical mobility decisions made during their doctoral education phases were significantly influenced by gender norms within their cultural context. Despite recognising the benefits of international doctoral studies for their career trajectories, some participants felt compelled to prioritise familial obligations over professional aspirations. They willingly forfeited international opportunities to remain in proximity to their partners.

Relocation aspirations aside, female academics who are in situ must also contend with a host of challenges. Should they wish to travel more frequently or further for international conferences and collaborative projects, they might cause significant disruption to family life and schedules. Losing quality time with loved ones or missing out on developmental milestones for those with young children are very real sacrifices. 

Even within one’s own university settings, female academics can face logistical challenges. For instance, those working in universities with distributed campuses require travel time of several hours to attend face-to-face events such as meetings or professional development programmes. If scheduling is inflexible, this might conflict with carers’ responsibilities early or late in the day, or during school holidays. Such occasions require coordination and support mechanisms, including arrangements for carers and adjustment of family schedules, often with financial and emotional costs. 

Harnessing digital scholarship

Arguably, today’s hyper-connected world has bridged some of these gender inequities. Digital scholarship, through virtual and collaborative platforms, is available to help transcend traditional modes of knowledge dissemination and audience engagement. Innovative practices such as open-access publishing, data visualisation and online collaboration enable researchers to enhance their work and participate more extensively in knowledge creation and dissemination. Scholars can leverage digital platforms to disseminate their research findings to global audiences and enhance their visibility and impact within and beyond the academic community. In turn, further opportunities for collaboration with researchers from diverse backgrounds are generated.

However, as is so often also recognised, virtual platforms cannot fully replicate the networking opportunities, serendipitous encounters and collaborative dynamics inherent in face-to-face interactions. Female academics therefore face limitations in building successful careers if they are constrained in their ability to exercise similar degrees of geographical mobility as their male counterparts.

Fostering inclusive institutional cultures

Fostering inclusive institutional cultures is paramount in addressing the persistent gender disparities prevalent in academia. As underscored by the European Commission (2019), despite the growing number of women achieving PhDs and completing postdoctoral studies in the past two decades, the representation of women in senior academic and decision-making roles within European Union countries remains disproportionately low. This is true in other parts of the world, too.

Mitigating these disparities demands more than technological interventions. While virtual platforms and remote networking offer pragmatic solutions, they do not address underlying systemic inequalities. 

Instead, institutions must implement comprehensive support mechanisms that prioritise gender equity. Best practices range from implementing family-friendly policies such as flexible work arrangements and childcare support to cultivating mentorship networks that champion the advancement of women scholars.

A vibrant, diverse and impactful scholarly landscape is one where every voice is heard and every talent is nurtured, irrespective of gender or geography. Academia is a long way off from that utopia.

Lily Kong is president of Singapore Management University.

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Geographical mobility and the path to success in HE

Hypermobility has brought opportunities for career advancement in academia, but it comes with expectations and gender-based barriers, writes Lily Kong, especially when international events are focused on the Global North

Advancing women in academia: geographical mobility and the path to success

THE podcast: how to turn university students into voters

Political scientists, in the US and the UK, discuss how universities can support Generation Z to engage with the democratic process, how to foster safe and open political discussion and why voting is like bungee jumping

THE podcast: how to turn university students into engaged citizens – and voters

On a recent trip to Dublin, I experienced two unusual events. First, the timing of my flight coincided with the arrival of Storm Isha on the Irish Channel. The severe&nbsp;turbulence meant I had to remain in my seat with my seatbelt on throughout the flight. It reminded me that in uncertain times, we need to put our faith in those who have more expertise in such situations and work alongside them to reach the destination. 


	Let’s celebrate the qualities women bring to higher education leadership
	Mentoring and teaching women with disabilities in universities
	The challenges facing female leaders in higher education – and how to address them


The UK’s higher education sector is facing a perfect storm. Static home fees, rising costs and an uncertain global market have brought new challenges and exacerbated old ones. Leadership teams in universities across the UK will need to work with their university community to meet these obstacles head on. At Warwick, we’ll continue to reflect on our strategy to deliver a world-class education to our students, to undertake leading research that makes the world a better place for all, and deliver impact on a regional, national and international scale. 

Scaling the glass cliff




Reflections and commitments like these require collaboration, optimism, empathy, respect and responsibility. For some UK universities, the conversation will be more challenging, with resources channelled from some areas into others. The gloomy financial clouds hanging over the sector remind me of the Glass Cliff effect – where women are promoted to high positions at times of crisis, when the chances of reaching a perfect solution are more difficult and failure is a distinct possibility. 

I have seen representation at the executive level of the higher education sector change over the past two decades, with more people from traditionally under-represented groups leading institutions. Yet I also see the cycle of boom and bust across higher education, with many of these new leaders picking up the responsibility at a time when it is a perfect storm of national and international challenges.

Is this pattern random? Do more women choose to take the reins through challenging times or do circumstances force them to do so? I started my first executive-level position six months before the announcement of the first Covid-19 lockdowns. I didn’t choose to be part of a leadership team because there was a pandemic on the horizon, but I am very proud of how the team I worked with managed our institution, and I know many of us brought the skills I mentioned previously (collaboration, optimism, empathy, respect and responsibility) to the team. 

Create strong teams to support each other

The second unusual experience occurred on my return journey as I passed through Dublin airport, where I found myself surrounded by the Irish men’s rugby team. In their bright green uniform, you couldn’t miss them, and many passengers stopped for a chat or a selfie. The team members were polite, friendly and, despite their recent successes, quite unassuming. They behaved like a team I’d like to be a part of. This reminded me again that the higher education sector will need to work as a team to face the current challenges. 

Executive teams, university communities and the sector as a whole will all need to work with key stakeholders – including funders, policymakers, and local, national and international governments – not only to address the current challenges but so we can bring our expertise and resources to support our partners on the wider issues they are facing. 

I have seen the effect that strong teamwork and partnerships between universities, industry and regional and national governments can have on a place: creating new, better jobs, having a strong skills pipeline, and attracting investment into businesses but also in the arts and social spaces that a whole community can enjoy. 

My trip to Dublin, including weathering the storm and meeting an international sports team, reaffirmed for me that, though we’re faced with challenging circumstances that are sometimes beyond our control, we can work through these to build new, better solutions. 

To do this we must work as a team at many levels – a team with common values of collaboration, empathy, optimism, respect and responsibility; a team of diverse minds that can solve diverse problems and meet the needs of diverse communities. I don’t think teamwork is solely the realm of female leaders – just look at the Irish men’s rugby team – but I do think many women I know at many levels show the skills needed for teamwork in abundance. 

Emma Flynn is provost at the University of Warwick.

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Use teamwork to erode the glass cliff

As the UK higher education sector battles a perfect storm, Emma Flynn stresses the importance of building strong teams around female leaders

Change is a natural part of any organisation’s life cycle. Yet, today the shocks and chronic stressors seem to be pressure-testing the resilience of higher education communities. From 2020 to 2022, the pandemic, social justice concerns and economic downturn dominated our attention. 

The challenges include demands for greater efficiency and more personalised services for students without proportional increases in staffing or organisational capacity. Turnover at the top leads to chaos and uncertainty among middle managers and front-line contributors. Universities are not insulated from the trauma and violence plaguing their surrounding communities, and many face declining enrolments or find themselves scrambling to accommodate increased enrolments. Other daily stressors include having to make do with inadequate infrastructure, economic uncertainty, ideological polarisation, values incongruence, conflict and violence, curricular changes, automation and artificial intelligence. 


	Three ways to support women’s career progression in higher education
	The challenges facing female leaders in higher education – and how to address them
	How academics can ‘stay put’ without ‘staying still’


So, while we may not know exactly what is over the horizon, we can be certain that something will challenge our resilience. Forward-thinking organisations build an organisational resilience plan aimed at ensuring that their missions can be delivered in the face of potential challenges. Resilience plans can be at the individual, team, divisional or institutional level. At any level, leadership is key to the success of any resilience plan. At times of stress and uncertainty, leaders must model calmness, clarity and confidence in the ability to respond and recover from adversity.

Resilience is professional and personal

Resilience involves the application of skills, strategies and solutions to navigate adversity, challenge and change. For women like me, resilience is professional, and it is also personal. I have spent most of my 30-year career helping organisations manage change. During those years, I was on my own roller-coaster ride of life’s ups and downs. Personal challenges included job loss, widowhood, domestic violence, discrimination and family health issues. All these helped me become better at leading my teams through difficult times. It was my own hardship that provided insights I needed to help others in the organisation become more resilient themselves. 

Women in organisations, especially in leadership roles, can face greater challenges in harnessing their personal resilience. Research has shown that women can be harsher and more critical than men of their own capabilities and less compassionate with themselves. Moving through adversity often requires the confidence to face a challenge directly and to learn from mistakes without dwelling on them. I have seen many women give and do so much for others, at the expense of their own well-being. As leaders, we must be intentional and self-aware, so that we do not get stuck in a negative cycle of rumination that makes us emotionally depleted.

Five key elements for building resilience

In my course called Strategies for Building Individual and Organizational Resilience, at Georgia Tech, I developed a model for building resilience that has helped our students, faculty and staff to navigate adversity, challenge and change in healthy and productive ways. I find it particularly relevant in today’s higher education environment. It involves five key components (I call it the FIRST model).

1. Find your locus of control 

We must focus on and put our energy into what is within our control. For example, we can’t control the weather, but we can put systems in place to notify people when storms strike. As a leader, my job is to help my teams let go of worrying about things that are outside their control and engage them in planning concrete actions that address what they have the power to manage.

2. Investigate and manage your fear

Change and uncertainty can be scary. We are often afraid of the unknown, so we run from it rather than leaning into it. We must investigate how our fears drive our actions and decisions. Often, our minds conjure up the worst-case scenario and we spin ourselves into anxiety. For example, I worked with a woman who was anxious about a new boss. She let fear overtake her thinking and put all her energy into leaving the organisation, instead of preparing to show them what she could do. 

3. Reprogramme negative and defeatist thinking

For women, quieting the internal voices of self-criticism and learning constructive ways to cope with stress and anxiety can be a challenge. First, we must learn to be aware of how we are programmed and what our “go-to” thoughts are. Sometimes we are conditioned to believe that we are not good enough or capable of leading through difficult times. We must challenge that mind-set and develop self-compassion.

4. Seek healthy support

Leadership can be a lonely place, especially for women. None of us should have to navigate adversity alone, especially those of us who are responsible for the well-being of others. So find a coach, a counsellor, a member of the clergy, a friend or anyone who is neutral to the situation but cares about you. It is hard to ask for help, especially if you believe you have something to prove. Don’t let that stop you from making connections and getting the support you need. 

5. Take time for self-care

Leading others through difficult times can take a lot out of you. I use the “halt” method to take care of myself. When I am hungry, I eat. When I am angry, I calm myself through breathing techniques. When I am lonely, I call a friend. When I am tired, I take a nap. Resilience is built through rest, nutrition, connection, hydration and exercise.

While we can never be certain exactly what will happen next in the world, we can be sure that we have a role in building resilience as women, and leaders, within our organisations. The more we ready ourselves for adversity, the better that we can respond to, and recover from, these experiences. I have heard it said that “resilience is a state, not a trait”. Resilience is a skill that can be developed at the organisational and the individual levels. 

Sonia Alvarez-Robinson is associate vice-president (strategy and organisational effectiveness) at Georgia Tech. 

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How to face adversity in higher education with resilience

In times of stress and uncertainty, university leaders must model calmness, clarity and confidence in their ability to respond to and recover from challenges, writes Sonia Alvarez-Robinson. Here, she offers practical strategies based on her own experience 

How to face adversity and change in higher education with resilience 

This morning, a sign outside the local gym caught my eye. “If it is important to you,” it said, “you’ll find a way. If&nbsp;not, you’ll find an excuse.” For a moment those words were attractive, and then I&nbsp;felt my blood boil. Let me explain why, and what this feeling has to do with the legacy I&nbsp;want to leave as a woman in higher education leadership.

I grew up in a household that did not much recognise gender roles. No&nbsp;expectations were placed on me to behave in a certain way or to focus on certain things. My mother had experienced a successful career as a gardener before marriage and, when I&nbsp;knew her, was a poet and artist, writing and publishing all her life. I&nbsp;spent my childhood building dens, climbing trees, arguing my points. It was an unpleasant realisation, as I&nbsp;grew up and ventured outside the home, that not everyone felt similarly about gender expectations. My all-girls’ grammar school gave us posture ratings in our annual report, for heaven’s sake.


	Improve women’s accessibility to leadership by following these steps
	Why have higher education’s female leaders had to wait so long for equal pay?
	Difference matters – and embracing it can change the world for all women


Yet it was my mother who moved countries to be with my father, giving up her career in the process. It was my mother who stayed at home when my twin brother and I&nbsp;were born. Did that choice mean that my mother had decided that gardening wasn’t important to her any more? Of course not. “Didn’t she understand?” she wrote, in a late poem, “World is my passion.”

That was a long time ago. But it was these experiences – along with awareness of the injustice inherent in the expectations framing the choices of young women today – that underpinned my feelings about that sign on my commute this morning.

Social structures solidify in certain ways. They shape assumptions we internalise, expectations others have of us and choices we perceive. For my mother’s generation, this included the choice between marriage or career. Those structures and practices have scrolled on, persisting and changing through the decades, shaping the options presented to millions of young women in our universities today.

Let’s clear the path

The playing field in academia is far from level. Last year Times Higher Education reported: “As of February 2023, women held the position of vice-chancellor or the equivalent at&nbsp;48 of&nbsp;the top 200 universities [in the world]”. Less than a quarter. And the article points out that this is 21&nbsp;per cent better than five years ago. On a journey, for sure, but we still have a long way to go.

Asked about my own path to higher education leadership, I&nbsp;have been prone to say I&nbsp;didn’t have a plan, just followed the interesting opportunities that came along. This is problematic on two fronts. First, because the privilege I&nbsp;have as middle class and white shaped the opportunities that did appear. We are not one-dimensional as women, and intersections can determine opportunities. Second, this means I&nbsp;have reached my position largely without challenge, without breaking barriers. I&nbsp;took the easy path, the back door in. Available to me, but not to everyone.

So when I think about the legacy I&nbsp;could leave, I&nbsp;am fired by desire for it to be different for our students. I&nbsp;don’t want them to have to look for the easy ways in, slipping between the gaps in the fence; nor to have to batter down, or scale up, the barriers. I&nbsp;want the paths to be clear and the choices unconstrained.

Leave a legacy of change

Universities are in a powerful position when it comes to driving change. Like any other organisation, they can examine and change their employment practices – and must. But, as communities of educators and researchers, universities can do more: through what, and how, they teach; through research and knowledge exchange. Through our business, those of us working in universities can impact students, policymakers and the public.

The Universities UK/National Union of Students report Closing the Gap&nbsp;identifies strong leadership as one aspect of what works in tackling the inequalities that lead to ethnicity awarding gaps: leaders being accountable for a whole-university approach; developing their own deep understanding of the issues; enabling open and honest conversations in safe spaces; diversifying board and governance structures and agendas. These are things that will drive change for gender gaps, too.

The University of Westminster has sustainable development as one of its key priorities. We are in the top 200 of the global 2023 THE Impact Rankings for gender equality (SDG 5). We were 11th in a ranking of pay gaps in UK universities in 2022. While we’re proud of our progress, it can only be a start. The legacy I&nbsp;would like to leave is a culture that embeds gender equality in our teaching, research and knowledge exchange and in which assumptions and structures – and therefore choices – are regularly and honestly examined.

Sal Jarvis is deputy vice-chancellor for education at the University of Westminster.

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How to clear the path for the next generation of women 

The women who come next shouldn’t have to break down barriers or sneak in the back door to succeed in higher education. Sal Jarvis outlines what she wants her legacy to be

How to clear the path for the next generation of women in academia

I assumed the position of chancellor at the University of Adelaide in 2020, in the aftermath of a critical leadership failure, both at the senior management and governance level. My first role was to address the crisis promptly and take measures to ensure, so far as possible, that nothing similar could happen again. The first step towards this outcome was ensuring that every member of the university council and all members of the senior management team understood that they were respected and that their views mattered. It was essential that the two teams worked cooperatively together in the best interest of the university.

Now into my third term as chancellor, I&nbsp;am committed to creating a legacy of a well-functioning university, attracting the best students and the best talent from around the world because it’s recognised as a place that values diversity; where women as well as men, people of colour, people who are gender diverse, with different abilities, of different faiths, are all welcomed and encouraged to perform at their very best and for the betterment of our broader society. While this may seem a daunting task, I&nbsp;want to use the lessons of the past to help inform the future.


	I found my voice as a woman in academia; here’s how you can do the same
	Why have higher education’s female leaders had to wait so long for equal pay?
	Gender equality is more than a box-ticking exercise – let’s champion it


I see feminism as the most significant social revolution of the past millennia and, interestingly, it’s been achieved largely without violence. University campuses powerfully illustrate the impact of this revolution over the past 150 years. Campuses were once populated overwhelmingly by men; now, we are educating a higher proportion of women than men. The educational experience we offer our female students must allow them not only to envisage a future that is no less fulfilling than their male colleagues, but to actualise that in their lives.

See it to be it

The educational value of enhanced female representation in leadership roles is crucial – it enables and encourages young women to understand that leadership is within their grasp, and not the preserve of men. This is not only equitable, but also avoids the wasting of talent.

Women will not have an equal educational experience while they can see leadership positions disproportionately filled by men. In my view, one of the greatest impediments to the appointment of women to senior leadership roles is the tendency to confuse confidence with competence. No doubt this is reinforced by the internalised image that so many of us carry of what a successful leader looks like – that is, a suit-wearing, “heroic” and charismatic man.




How I developed resilience from a young age

I was raised on a farm near Hallett in the mid-north of South Australia. I&nbsp;think my parents welcomed the birth of a daughter – they already had a son, and would later have another – but it soon became clear that some life choices available to my brothers would not be open to me. From my very early days, it was made plain that when I&nbsp;reached a certain age, I&nbsp;could no&nbsp;longer expect to make my home on that property.

Of course, being thought of as “second-class” had its downsides, but it helped me to develop independence and resilience, later vital for my careers. As I&nbsp;grew older, this same feeling underpinned my commitment to human rights and equal opportunity.

I was disabused fairly early of the idea that simply being male gave you special capacities that females didn’t have. My experience showed that wasn’t&nbsp;so. Most women I&nbsp;know who have brothers would probably think the same.

At 35, I became crown solicitor of South Australia and chief executive officer of the Attorney-General’s Department, becoming the first woman to be permanent head of a government department in South Australia (and the first female crown solicitor in Australia). I&nbsp;served for more than 14 years as a judge of the Federal Court of Australia and as president of the Australian Human Rights Commission for four years.

I believe what helped me to overcome discrimination early in my career was that I&nbsp;was in a profession with recognised qualifications for entry and pretty good objective measures for success. It&nbsp;was probably my pride that pushed me to do what I&nbsp;could to perform as well as, if not better than, anyone else. At a time when female barristers were rare, I&nbsp;enjoyed the benefit of being noticed, and I&nbsp;found that client reluctance to be represented by a woman soon dissipated. My capacity to speak up with confidence got stronger as I&nbsp;developed greater professional competence and recognition. I&nbsp;also enjoyed the professional, if not the personal, advantage during my mid-career years of having neither a husband nor children so I&nbsp;could devote as much time to my work as I&nbsp;wanted.

My vision for the future of the University of Adelaide in particular, and universities in general, is clear:


	campuses should be safe and supportive for all who spend time on them
	the talents and ambitions of women and men should be equally recognised and nurtured
	female leaders are visible and effective
	appropriate measures are in place to address the social inequalities that continue to impact the ability of girls and women to provide the leadership of which they are capable.


Catherine Branson is chancellor of the University of Adelaide.

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Give female students an equal experience by promoting women

Female representation in leadership roles is crucial to show young women that success can be theirs too. Catherine Branson explains how her life and career have helped her succeed in a male-dominated world

To give female students an equal educational experience, we need to promote women

Following the technology-driven advances that resulted from the pandemic, all industries, including higher education, have evolved at faster rates than before. This trend will only gain momentum, particularly challenging colleges and universities. Their work is increasingly evaluated by industry leaders and learners for its applicability to meet workforce needs.

US institutions continue to face unprecedented challenges when it comes to potential learner perception of the value of higher education, which impacts enrolment and retention. Because of this, it is critical that we ensure that women not only have a seat at the table but are also at the helm, helping lead universities through dynamic times.


	We need to notice who is missing from the decision-making table – and act
	‘Resilience is grit amid uncertainty’
	Want to know what the future of HE looks like? Ask your students


Here, we explore the historical experiences, research findings and the broader advantages of placing women in leadership roles, especially during periods of dynamic change, to encourage institutional leaders and board members to give closer consideration to female candidates.

Leading in a turbulent landscape

After the Second World War, US higher education boomed. The GI&nbsp;Bill provided veterans with funds for higher education, and federal and state funding for institutions grew rapidly. Over the next 75 years, however, not much changed in the landscape. More recently, however, the US market and consumer behaviour has shifted the public perception of higher education’s value.




As we continue to work to face this new thinking head-on, it is imperative that college and university leaders:


	be strategic about the programmes they offer
	consider the return-on-investment that their programmes provide, such as the job-ready skills they teach and the professions they prepare learners to enter
	develop genuine partner relationships with industry leaders to ensure that what they are providing learners truly matches gaps in company, industry and workforce needs.


Gender diversity and institutional success

To address these changes, different types of higher education leaders may also be necessary. Yet when it comes to senior-level leadership roles, in recent years men have still outnumbered women two&nbsp;to&nbsp;one in the presidency, and women of colour accounted for a little more than one out of every 10 presidents.

Fortunately, to help us navigate these unprecedented times in higher education, there are numerous studies that have found positive correlations between gender diversity in leadership and institutional success, including profitability and value creation. Interestingly, it has also been found that executive teams of outperforming companies have more women in executive line roles versus staff roles. According to the American Psychology Association, psychological research shows that female leaders help to increase productivity, enhance collaboration, inspire institutional dedication and improve fairness.

According to the National Institutes of Health and Stanford Medicine, researchers have found inherent variances in brain anatomy between genders, which impacts behaviours and cognitive task abilities. Their research uncovered that, adjusted for total brain size, a woman’s hippo­campus – the part of the brain critical to learning – is comparatively larger than a man’s, and women’s brains consistently showed more strongly coordinated activity between the right and left hemispheres. Additionally, they found that women excelled in several measures of verbal ability, reading comprehension and writing ability, perceptual speed, and in retrieving information from long-term memory.

In grappling with today’s new challenges, leadership teams can benefit from ensuring a diversity of thinking, behaviours and abilities, as such configurations can bring in myriad new perspectives, ideas and solutions. Institutions can create a foundation for success through team composition, providing higher levels of creativity, engagement, collaboration, clarity and productivity. In turn, they can help engage a broader population of potential students and better address their diverse needs, increasing retention and programme completion rates.

A platform to support new thinking

Leaders who bring a variety of skills, experiences and perspectives can also foster improved problem-solving and decision-making. Amid demands for faster change than the higher education sector has previously experienced, diverse leadership teams may also be better positioned to address the multifaceted needs of a diverse student body.

The American Council on Education highlights that female leaders in higher education often prioritise issues related to inclusivity, such as diversity in faculty and student bodies. This commitment to inclusivity can then enhance leadership team composition, leading to better outcomes and improved learner educational experiences. The presence of women at the top levels of leadership, particularly if institutions have not had them prior or recently, provides a platform that can support new ways of thinking and tackling problems. Universities will then be better prepared to face the challenges now and ahead.

The inclusion of women in leadership roles within the higher education industry is not merely a matter of achieving gender parity. It is a strategic decision for the advancement of academia. Historical experiences, coupled with compelling research findings, underscore the importance of diverse leadership in fostering innovation, inclusivity and success. Through a multifaceted approach to diverse leadership, institutions can play a vital role in shaping the future of the sector and its ability to evolve to meet the changing needs of learners in a technology-infused marketplace.

Becky Takeda-Tinker is president and CEO, and Jenna Tarleton is the associate director of communications and external relations, both at CSU Global.

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 Women’s leadership is vital in the evolving landscape of HE

The higher education sector is facing unprecedented changes since the pandemic, with technology evolving at a faster rate than ever. Becky Takeda-Tinker and Jenna Tarleton show that women can play a pivotal role in leading the way through this new normal

 Women’s leadership is vital in the evolving landscape of higher education

About 10 per cent of women postgraduate researchers (PGRs) and 2 per cent of undergraduate students are subjected to staff-to-student sexual harassment in higher education, and those with minoritised sexual and gender identities are more likely to be targeted. The impacts can be profound, including detriment to their studies, physical and mental health, finances and career. Despite student and survivor activism drawing attention to this issue, higher education institutions across the world have often struggled to address it.

Sexual misconduct in higher education is a complex issue to address as it spans different parts of the institution and challenges entrenched cultures. However, there are steps that can make staff/faculty sexual harassment less likely to occur and can prevent harm from being compounded by poor institutional responses. 

Part one of this series examines key steps for prevention, while part two outlines how institutions should respond to reports. 

Develop clear professional boundaries and shared standards of behaviour 

My research has shown that about 80 per cent of students are uncomfortable with policies that allow staff or faculty to have sexual or romantic relationships with students, with no difference in attitudes between PGRs and undergraduate students.

It is important to devise boundaries and shared standards of behaviour at a departmental or disciplinary level through bottom-up discussion. This process should start with carefully facilitated discussions within different groups in a department or discipline. PGRs and postdocs need to be allowed to discuss these issues in a separate forum from permanently employed staff/faculty to enable them to speak more openly. The 1752 Group, a research and lobby organisation working to end sexual misconduct in higher education, offers workshops for PGRs and supervisors on sexual harassment and professional boundaries. The aim is to develop a shared ethical awareness within academic communities, ultimately creating a safer space to have these discussions. 

Carry out institution-level surveys and include questions about specific sexual harassment behaviour

Surveys asking: “Have you been bullied or harassed?” without asking about specific behaviours can underestimate the prevalence of sexual harassment. Instead, draw on widely used surveys such as the Sexual Experiences Questionnaire or an adapted version relating to staff-student sexual harassment from The 1752 Group. An example question would be: “Has a supervisor/colleague ever attempted to draw you into a discussion about sex?”

Minimise gender and other inequalities and hierarchies 

Highly gender-unequal environments can create a culture where sexual harassment is normalised or invisibilised. Other inequalities relating to race, class, disability or sexuality can also create vulnerabilities.

Following guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission, departmental and disciplinary cultures should minimise power imbalances, including academic hierarchies. This could include minimising precarious employment, embedding 360-degree feedback (including from postgraduate researchers) in review or promotion criteria and ensuring all students and postgraduate researchers are meaningfully represented and remunerated for participation in departmental decision-making processes.

Implement safer recruitment processes 

Institutions should join the Misconduct Disclosure Scheme to ensure that perpetrators of sexual misconduct are not moving between organisations undetected. The scheme was set up in the humanitarian sector in 2018 and now has hundreds of members worldwide. It requires member organisations to commit to systematically checking with previous employers about any sexual harassment issues relating to potential new hires and to respond systematically to such checks from others. As such, it gives employers a common framework to share the relevant information they need to make better hiring decisions, reducing organisational risk. 


	Resource collection:&nbsp;Gender equality in higher education: how to overcome key challenges
	Embedding gender equality: building momentum for change
	We must dismantle the invisible career barriers in&nbsp;HE


Implement mechanisms that allow individuals to raise concerns about low-level incidents

Owing to the strongly hierarchical nature of academia, students rarely feel safe to raise concerns. However, ensuring staff with appropriate workload capacity and training are available to discuss options informally and confidentially is a crucial step in building trust. This allows individuals to raise concerns at an early stage. 

Seemingly minor incidents should not be dismissed as they may be part of a wider pattern of grooming or boundary-blurring behaviours. Examples of such behaviours include staff using social media platforms to send private messages to students, buying presents for a student, asking students intrusive personal questions, arranging meetings at weekends or late at night or singling out a student for special attention in other ways.

Even in the absence of a formal report, institutions can implement precautionary measures to ensure students’ safety and ability to continue their studies – for example, a no-contact agreement, where all parties voluntarily agree on how they will share space on campus. Institutions should also ensure all disclosures are documented, regardless of whether action is taken, and act on patterns of behaviour when identified. 

Handle informal responses carefully

Informal responses may be appropriate if the allegation is less severe, there have been no other formal or informal reports about the same person’s behaviour, and this is what the reporting party wants. However, they can be very harmful if not implemented carefully. Ensure trained staff with expertise in gender-based violence are responsible for handling and documenting these. 

Behavioural interventions can be put in place to ensure that, moving forward, the accused party’s behaviour is appropriate – for example, establishing agreed modes of communication. However, it’s important to be aware that this behaviour is unlikely to be a one-off; faculty/staff are likely to target multiple people.

The person who has been harassed should never be asked to directly approach the person responsible or to undergo mediation with them, and they should be offered specialist support from staff trained in sexual violence.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 

This work should be carried out alongside work with research funders, academic staff unions and disciplinary communities such as professional societies.

With these steps implemented, it is likely that institutions will start receiving increased numbers of reports of sexual harassment. Part two of this resource explores how institutions should respond to reports.

Anna Bull is a senior lecturer at the University of York and co-director of The 1752 Group.

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Addressing sexual misconduct in higher education, part one

Sexual harassment and violence perpetrated by academic faculty or staff towards students and early career researchers is a complex issue that requires a proactive institutional response, writes Anna Bull 

Addressing sexual misconduct in higher education, part one: prevention

Working in academia is a two-sided coin. Of course, it’s extremely satisfying, from sharing knowledge with students to researching interesting topics to contributing to the existing literature. But challenges are rife in today’s world of higher education, with research and teaching requiring a heavy workload of administrative tasks, pressure to publish research in journals and technological advancements that require constant adaptation.

Female leaders in higher education might approach balancing the two sides of the coin in a different way from men. Through their leadership styles, female leaders can bring a lot to institutions by creating more supportive, inclusive and conducive environments – ultimately making the academic world more resilient.


	Three ways to support women’s career progression in higher education
	Mentoring and teaching women with disabilities in universities
	Boosting female representation in STEM is crucial to global innovation


From my experiences as a female leader in higher education I can say the following: 

Female leaders tend to display a more collaborative approach to communication by encouraging participation and dialogue. I prefer to encourage members of my faculty to share their perspectives so they feel that they are being heard. This helps to bring a sense of being valued – especially important when there are quieter and more reserved members of staff.&nbsp; 

Maintaining relationships among faculty members is of concern for leaders, therefore the resolution of conflicts is a priority. For instance, I encourage open dialogue and constructive conversation, allowing for everyone involved in a conflict to reach a satisfactory compromise, as well as understanding the underlying causes of the conflict. This helps to build respect and trust among colleagues.&nbsp;

Female leaders might also prefer to reward performance through simple but influential methods. For instance, I appreciate my staff’s efforts with a simple “thank you” and “keep up the good work” – and this works wonders! It contributes to encouraging continuous improvement and indicates my support towards constant contribution, bringing a sense of recognition and engagement. 

Female leaders often prioritise supporting and mentoring efforts. I give importance to the supporting and mentoring of academics right at the beginning of their careers. New academics are enthusiastic and often want to bring new perspectives and innovative ideas to their fields – so, by supporting them, I am actually fostering their innovation and creativity.&nbsp;We’re in an era where the downsides of an academic career tend to outweigh the upsides. Supporting and mentoring can increase the likelihood of staff retention, especially among the newest academics. This brings a sense of belonging.

Finally, and probably one of the most important practices of female leaders, is the tendency to place great emphasis on achieving a satisfactory work-life balance. I tend to rearrange work schedules for academics with young children, male or female, giving them the flexibility to carry out personal as well as workplace commitments. This allows for a healthier balance between work and personal lives, enhancing satisfaction and staff retention – and, most importantly, a sense of well-being.

The higher education environment is continually evolving, mainly due to technological changes and advances, as well as societal and economic changes and challenges.&nbsp;Good leadership is crucial because it shapes the direction, strategies and culture of higher education institutions, which in turn affects faculty, students, research and society as a whole. We must recognise that effective leadership qualities are not dependent on one’s sex but rather are shaped by a combination of individual traits and skills, as well as experiences. 

Both men and women can be successful as leaders. However, the leadership approaches exercised by female leaders, having been socialised through traditional gender roles, equipping them with the transferable skills necessary for the above-mentioned practices, can make a difference and contribute immensely to the success and sustainability of higher educational institutions today.

Şerife Eyüpoğlu is the dean of the faculty&nbsp;of economics and administrative sciences and the chair of the department of business administration at Near East University.

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Let’s celebrate the qualities women bring to academia

Şerife Eyüpoğlu reflects on her experiences in higher education and the benefits women’s leadership styles can offer

Let’s celebrate the qualities women bring to higher education leadership 

Economic sustainability is high on universities’ priorities, so invoice challenges faced by finance departments can have a huge impact on their bottom line. However, according to research conducted by Quadient, universities in the UK process 50,000 invoices on average each year and risk losing £2 million a year in disputed invoices.

Quadient’s research found that almost half of all universities double-paid invoices in 2022-23, risking £140,000 per university on average. While every university in the UK has digitalised its accounts payable (AP) processes, many still face significant challenges. “It is encouraging to see that universities have digitalised invoice processing, but there is clearly still a lot of work needed to help finance teams work effectively,” says Karim Ben-Jaafar, senior vice-president of Quadient in an article published on Quadient’s website.

“The problem with just digitalising the process is that things can still fall into the cracks. Given the huge number of invoices and large sums that universities process each year, these findings are likely to be just the tip of the iceberg,” says Ben-Jaafar. “At a time of economic uncertainty and when many institutions are under pressure, these inefficient processes increase the risk of mistakes that could cripple the university’s finances.”

Quadient’s research revealed that despite digital developments, 69 per cent of universities paid an invoice late and a third had a supplier or customer dispute an invoice. This increases the risk of revenue loss, damaged relationships and poor payment terms. “Universities need a more intelligent way of dealing with invoices because the current process is inefficient,” says Ben-Jaafar. 

Despite digitalisation, invoice approval processes currently require many people hours across multiple departments Quadient’s research found. It was also revealed that a single invoice takes an average of 16 working days to process, and some may take as long as 42 days. According to the research, an average of 466 people are responsible for granting approvals at each university.

“When so many people are responsible for approvals and there is no clear audit trail, it’s easy to lose sight of who has ultimate responsibility,” adds Ben-Jaafar. “This creates a messy web of invoices, which can easily lead to invoices not getting paid or being paid twice.” 

Digitalisation is a good first step but insufficient on its own. Automated AP solutions such as Quadient’s AP automation software by Beanworks can help universities save time but also maintain supplier relationships and avoid processing errors and delays.

“We’ve been able to free up time from chasing for AP approvals to be able to dedicate time for additional tech developments that we’ve got going,” says Quadient AP automation software user Angela Thomas, who is deputy finance director at Liverpool Guild of Students. “We just wouldn’t have been able to do those without having that time back.”

Quadient AP by Beanworks provides a streamlined solution for finance operations. The ability to identify and resolve issues quickly saves time and resources, allowing staff to focus their attention on optimising the student experience.

Find out more about Quadient.

UK universities have digitalised their invoice systems but prevailing problems risk reputation and sustainability

Inefficient invoicing remains a risk for universities despite digital transformation

After a turbulent fall semester, students and administrators across the US are wary of what the new semester will bring. Administrators we spoke with said they spent as much as 75 per cent of their time during the last term managing conflicts about the war in Israel and Gaza. 

To prepare for this semester, many schools have developed forums in which students and faculty can talk about the issues. Will airing the grievances more civilly prevent further protests, rallies, graffiti, sit-ins and office occupations? We don’t think so.

As leadership consultants working in higher ed, we believe that many schools are missing an important opportunity in the recent instances of campus unrest, one that requires a different understanding of the protest themselves. Instead of seeing these protests simply as students expressing themselves – something to be endured and managed – we propose seeing them as significant educational openings for the entire campus to become a learning laboratory.

Protests are an important part of learning to participate in democracy. Students, in forming an opinion and standing up for their beliefs, are perhaps for the first time learning to use their voices and take a stand for change. And yet, while protests garner attention for people and causes, and offer students catharsis of self-expression and feelings of unity with like-minded classmates and faculty, they alone don’t teach students leadership or influence. 

Generic administrative responses to disruptive student protests start with addressing security concerns and providing adequate messaging to ensure that students, parents and university supporters feel safe. Attempts to create safety, while necessary, are likely to offend some constituencies and create backlash, as happened this fall at several east coast schools, with students perceiving safety measures as repression.

Meanwhile some administrations take a moral position and end up increasing polarisation between themselves and students. Wesleyan president Michael Roth, for example, was accused by Wesleyan Students for Justice in Palestine of “blatant disregard, placation and abstracting of atrocities” after he denounced the 7 October Hamas attacks.&nbsp;Meanwhile,&nbsp;others get caught in a self-perpetuating loop of responding to grievances only to provoke further grievances from other constituencies. 


	Resource collection:&nbsp;Encouraging behaviour change on campus and beyond
	Respectful provocation: the university skill for our times?
	More leadership and strategy advice&nbsp;


Alongside messaging to the community, presidents and student affairs staff will often meet with students to listen to their concerns and demands. These listening sessions might result in students feeling heard, but just as often they can leave them feeling amped up at the lack of immediate action and appealing to faculty to support them in their outrage.&nbsp;Regardless, the listening mostly ends there, with the students wondering if their administrators actually care about their concerns. This only furthers a classic generational divide.&nbsp;

Conversely, when higher ed administrators respond to student demonstrations in ways that assist them in becoming true leaders, it can help the entire institution move through and beyond&nbsp;the unrest. In addition to expressing their right of free speech, students who want to make a difference need to learn how to bridge to authority and engage in the laborious process of negotiating change with those who hold differing points of view. They need to familiarise themselves not only with administrative concerns that as students they might not be aware of, but also with the rigour of driving institutional change. 

We suggest an approach that changes the dynamics of student unrest. It begins with skilled staff and faculty members coaching students in a post-rally/protest/sit-in forum focusing on their next steps. The volunteer staff and faculty, who we’ll refer to as educators, would ideally coalesce in advance of and in preparation for activist activity, and must pledge to give up partisanship in order to be effective in their goals, which include: clarifying the student group goals, authorising assertive students into formal leadership roles, assisting in creating smaller teams and helping students communicate their points effectively. Instead of merely listening to or defending against student accusations, the educators need to remind students that true change — as opposed to riding an emotionally charged wave of discontent — requires successful interactions with university administrators and potentially members of the board of trustees. 

Since students’ list of demands put to institutions generally range from reasonable, such as acknowledging harm and pledging solidarity, to ungrounded, for example the immediate divestment of all funds loosely connected to a perceived aggressor, the educators could help student groups establish what they hope to accomplish and determine their negotiable and non-negotiable needs. They can also help them by role-playing negotiations and choreographing how to work as a small team when facing institutional leaders.

The educators also have learning tasks. From the beginning of the laboratory, they must&nbsp;create a safe holding environment for students to emote and learn. They need to work with the administration to determine who will negotiate with the students, develop a plan of engagement and clarify which forms of communication and address are acceptable, which are destructive and what the consequences will be when those boundaries are transgressed. This includes developing non-inflammatory responses to provocative behaviour and verbal attacks, and keeping negotiations on track. To master this ability to create and maintain a safe environment, we encourage the educators to role-play scenarios among themselves.&nbsp;

Institutional leaders should conceive of this laboratory as an iterative process that allows for taking small, satisfying steps for both sides, then regrouping to review progress. The educators’ most crucial role, in addition to holding the space for student frustration, hurt and misunderstanding, is to help them analyse what did and didn’t work in the engagement with leadership. More of the community can join in, including chaplains and student advisers, who can bring further coherence to student groups and help them plan for the next round of engagements.&nbsp;

Presidents have an important role to play, especially if they can avoid stepping into the role of chief negotiator. They can hold the radical position of insisting that students learn the skills and actions to be effective change agents. They can hold the students accountable to their own best ideals and aspirations. They can push activists to go beyond the satisfactions of expressing outrage and into a learning process that builds bridges to authority and those who think differently from them.

These recommendations are not just conceptual: they have been effective with a number of our clients, which range from small liberal arts colleges to large research-focused R1 universities. We can learn from the unrest. When students have a chance to advocate for their vision of change with college administrators, and to participate in a forum that helps them learn the difference between effective and destructive communication in a supportive environment, they gain skills that will be useful to them on a personal, professional and civic level. Presidents and student affairs administrators are freed of the burden of being on the same side or in opposition to the student body, as everyone is equally engaged in the tasks of learning.

Blair Glaser and Richard Nodell are independent higher education consultants.&nbsp;

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Campus protests can become learning opportunities

Higher education leaders should use student activism to develop leadership and negotiation skills, argue Blair Glaser and Richard Nodell

Changing campus protests from disruptions to learning opportunities

Given that women represent the vast majority of college graduates, are more likely to drive better business outcomes than their male counterparts and often have the emotional and social awareness needed to be successful in a high-level leadership role, it is surprising that women hold less than 40&nbsp;per cent of the executive leadership positions at colleges and universities. Here are three ways institutions can drive more women into leadership roles and create a healthier work environment in which employees with all gender identities thrive.

Be a great sponsor

We don’t need more data to know that men receive more pay and promotions than women do, but the reason for the disparity might surprise you. In a Harvard Business Review article, “Why men still get more promotions than women”, it is argued that women have enough mentors, but fewer sponsors who are championing them towards success in their next work opportunity or promotion.


	How can universities disrupt the gender investment gap?
	Childcare remains a barrier for too many learners. Here’s how institutions can remove it
	Intersectionality is the only way to nurture academics of colour


Do you have a star performer on your team who identifies as a woman and hasn’t applied to a leadership-level role in your department? Consider opening up a dialogue on her career goals, letting her know that her strong performance is noticed, and asking how you can support her in taking the next steps when she is ready. If she’s not ready, listen for possible barriers and offer ideas for professional development, staff support or other guidance to illustrate a pathway to promotion.

Given that&nbsp;women often self-rate their performance less favourably than men, external affirmation of high performance is key to building women’s confidence to apply for promotional roles. Almost every promotion I&nbsp;have received was a result of a campus leader directly asking me to apply. Early in my career, I&nbsp;was piled so high with work that I&nbsp;neither considered how it was helping or hurting my promotional possibilities, nor was I&nbsp;strategic about prioritising projects that would get me noticed.

Sponsorship doesn’t end there – sponsors also assume additional roles such as coaching their mentees through the application and interview process, networking with internal or external stakeholders to get information on the position, and serving as a reference if she advances to the final round. Leaders who hold a sponsor role for a woman (or many women!) in their office will see more confident and capable women candidates in their recruitment pools and, ultimately, the organisation will be stronger as a result.

Don’t let time away from the office hinder promotional opportunities

According to the American College President Study (2017) published by the American Council on Education, female college presidents were twice as likely to have altered their career to care for others when compared with their male counterparts in 2016. While there are plenty of great job opportunities in higher education that are not president-level, these data suggest that women might be bearing a disproportionate amount of care-related responsibilities outside work, hindering their career progression at colleges and universities.

Institutions seeking to improve promotional opportunities for women should consider developing leadership opportunities with options for majority- and part-time employment, support workplace acceptance of late arrivals or early departures for caretaking when needed and establish and promote the availability of dependant care programmes. Establish intentional promotion policies and practices that allow for flexibility for those employees seeking career advancement while also juggling a caretaking role at home.

Investigate and address issues for women who identify as BIPOC, women with a disability and/or LGBTQ+ women

According to a recent Inside Higher&nbsp;Ed article, women of colour experience more issues of bias and hostility as they move up through the ranks, which can negatively impact hiring decisions and retention for them in high-ranked leadership roles. Institutions can use staff engagement surveys to determine if organisation-wide efforts, or a focus to improve a department- or unit-level subculture, are needed.

Another key tactic is to go beyond online sexual harassment training and conduct department- or unit-level live training held by your institution’s Title&nbsp;IX officer, human resources leader, LGBTQ+ office leader, disability services office, and/or diversity officer(s) to ensure a diversity of lived experiences are top of mind among decision-makers at your place of work.

Last, dedicate a portion of your institution’s diversity, equality, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) plan to supporting women with diverse and intersecting identities, to have a positive impact on them as they climb up the career ladder.

Sandy Jones serves as vice-president of strategic engagement at Colorado State University Global, where she drives the university’s stakeholder partnerships, brand awareness and enrolment experience.

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Three ways to support women’s career progression

Women outnumber men among university graduates, yet female leaders are in the minority when it comes to leadership positions in higher education. Sandy Jones offers her advice on helping women climb the career ladder

Three ways to support women’s career progression in higher education

I had high marks. I&nbsp;had glowing reference letters. I&nbsp;believed that if I&nbsp;worked really hard, the right things would happen.

I was wrong.

Since I was 12, I&nbsp;had dreamed of becoming a paediatrician. I&nbsp;pursued this quest through high school, undergraduate studies and medical school until, finally, I&nbsp;could apply for paediatric residency positions. I&nbsp;was ready, I&nbsp;was qualified – and I&nbsp;wasn’t even offered an interview. Every single position went to a man. Being good enough wasn’t enough.


	How academics can ‘stay put’ without ‘staying still’
	Strategies for higher education institutions to strengthen gender equality
	The power of gender-sensitive mentoring


While much has changed since then, women continue to experience the reality that gender equality remains elusive, particularly in executive leadership roles. In&nbsp;2023, Times Higher Education shared that women were serving as presidents or vice-chancellors in&nbsp;48 of the 200 highest-ranked post-secondary institutions – an increase of five women over the previous year. We know that we are seeing gender parity among PhD candidates. In Canada, about 46&nbsp;per cent of PhD graduates were female in 2019, according to Statistics Canada. But this abundance of talented and knowledgeable women is still not reflected in academic leadership ranks.

I’ve spent more than two decades holding executive roles, including at least one position as the first woman in my workplace. During my career, I&nbsp;have learned four core lessons that can help women advance.

Be visible

Gender or minority imbalance in leadership represents the “invisible minority”. Walk down the hallways of large institutions where legacy images of CEOs or presidents hang and, in many places, few women are represented, even among recent portraits.

When I applied for those paediatric residency positions, I&nbsp;wasn’t even seen as a possibility. While I&nbsp;went on to realise my dream of becoming a paediatrician – and have since held many leadership roles, from assistant dean to my current role as provost and vice-president, academic – I&nbsp;learned something important from that experience. I&nbsp;needed to be more visible.

That lesson was reinforced when I&nbsp;was at Boston Children’s Hospital as a paediatric nephrology fellow at Harvard University. A&nbsp;leader took me aside, advising me to be more verbal to compete with my more outgoing American colleagues. As an introvert, I&nbsp;needed to force myself to stand out. It wasn’t easy, but doing so is essential so people will remember you later when opportunities arise.

Tap a shoulder to support a colleague

One position that was integral to my leadership journey almost didn’t happen. When the position of assistant dean of student affairs in the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry became available, I&nbsp;barely glanced at the opportunity. I&nbsp;was a young Asian woman – not a profile typical among those who had historically held the role. Then, someone tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to consider the position. That changed the way I&nbsp;saw myself. Until then, I&nbsp;had never envisioned myself in a leadership role. Not only did I apply and go on to be the successful candidate, but I&nbsp;loved the role.

This advice goes both ways. Support a colleague with a tap on the shoulder – and if someone does that for you, embrace the recognition of your abilities.

Own your competence

To get the careers we deserve, we need to be more assertive in defining our career paths. We need to advocate for ourselves, sharing our skills and knowledge while remaining humble. Owning our competence isn’t boastful; it’s acknowledging what we’re good at and what we can bring to a position.

When I learned that I&nbsp;would be the assistant dean of student affairs, I&nbsp;immediately thanked the dean, noting: “How lucky am&nbsp;I?” I’ve never forgotten his response: “Good people make their own luck.” From then&nbsp;on, I&nbsp;no&nbsp;longer considered luck part of the reason for a promotion. My successes come from hard work and being good at what I&nbsp;do.

Don’t hold yourself back

Finally, recognise your potential. Do not restrict your goals or aspirations. Be open to opportunities that will expand your skill set and help you grow professionally.

That includes taking on interim roles, which can offer a wealth of advantages. It’s a chance to test a position to determine if it’s a fit for you. My two key executive positions – provost and vice-president, academic, and president and CEO for Alberta Health Services – began as interim roles. I&nbsp;was also interim dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry in 2011 – the first female and the first person from a visible minority to hold that position.

Every time I’ve held an interim title, I’ve fully committed my skills and energy to the position. Every time, it has been a beneficial experience and has assisted me in developing my leadership skills. Take opportunities when they arise. It&nbsp;takes courage and can be risky – but I&nbsp;have never regretted those decisions.

It is a privilege to serve as a leader. At the University of Alberta, I&nbsp;am fortunate to work alongside many women who have extraordinary abilities and potential. I&nbsp;seek them out for opportunities where they will thrive and excel. I&nbsp;am so proud that today, women – including myself – sit as three of the five vice-presidents at the University of Alberta, but I&nbsp;know more work needs to be done – here and elsewhere. On International Women’s Day and every day, I&nbsp;encourage women to be visible, tap a&nbsp;shoulder, seek opportunities and help each other succeed.

Verna Yiu is provost and vice-president (academic) at the University of Alberta.

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Back your own abilities and let your talents be seen, writes Verna Yiu. Here, she shares lessons from her own career journey on how women can increase opportunities for themselves and each other

When good enough is not enough

THE podcast: an interview with UAL president James Purnell

The president and vice-chancellor of the University of the Arts London talks about how AI will affect the creative sector, the connection between cities, commerce and creativity, and how UAL plans to pioneer online creative education

THE podcast: an interview with James Purnell, president and vice-chancellor of the University of the Arts London

At the University of Exeter, our vision is to be “the most accessible and connected university destination”. We know that technology can transform what we do and how we do it, so we are committed to investing in digital technologies and digital skills development to meet the needs of our people, to strengthen our research and education and to maximise our global impact.&nbsp;

Our digital strategy was co-created with our students, staff and the wider community. Since its launch, we have been engaging and communicating in as many ways, and through as many channels, as possible to reach across our communities in ways that suit them. We’ve used creative storytelling techniques, employed student interns to help communicate across the student cohort and even tried TikTok. In our 2030 digital strategy, we have committed to being agile, user- and data-led, to using design thinking principles and to involving our students and staff in every step of our digital transformation.&nbsp;

One of our first user-led initiatives has been to recruit an in-house design team consisting of user researchers and content, user experience and visual designers. Led by me, as head of design, the team is starting to use human-centred design and design thinking principles to understand and solve our more complicated problems, as well as improve our user journeys and experiences. Design thinking is a methodology used to solve complex problems. It’s an iterative, non-linear process that often involves the following stages:


	Empathise: understand your users
	Define: frame the problem
	Ideate: generate ideas
	Prototype: make quick and cheap versions of your ideas
	Test: test your prototypes with users


This is still a new approach for us and the higher education sector more generally, so I’m going to explain how we are using creative problem-solving methods to help us bring our digital strategy to life.&nbsp;&nbsp;


	Why is digital transformation such a challenge for HE?
	Six ingredients for successful digital transformation
	Universities must put people at the centre of strategy to support financial sustainability


Problem 1: we don’t really understand our users

The first design thinking step, “empathy”, can help here. We have brought staff and students from around the university into our user research and workshops to do things such as empathy mapping (visualising user attitudes and behaviours), which helps us understand the user, enables colleagues to put themselves in their users’ shoes and to connect with how they might be feeling about their problem, circumstance or situation. Our aim here is to build cohesion and community, create joint value for colleagues and the strategy team, and generate buy-in.

Problem 2: there’s a perception that someone else is deciding the future and staff feel they’re being ‘done to’

Ideation can help here, and this is the fun part! If you haven’t done it before, we set rules such as:


	No idea is a bad idea
	Defer judgement
	Encourage wild ideas
	Be visual.



It’s about generating lots of ideas; we bring together colleagues from relevant departments for a single ideation session that can be anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours long. There are lots of ideation techniques out there and we pick the right one for the situation, but the rule at this stage is that it’s about quantity over quality. We then cluster, group and merge ideas, analyse them against criteria such as feasibility, viability, desirability or a complexity v impact matrix. Our aim here is to allow staff and students to shape the future themselves and we want them to be invested right at the start and to talk confidently about the ideas, why they are right and what problems they solve or needs they meet.

Problem 3: colleagues are finding it hard to visualise what the strategy means for them and their users

We have started to evolve our vision and the themes from our digital strategy into specific concepts that bring them to life. These can be high fidelity on-screen designs or lower fidelity sketches illustrating what the future might look like. The important thing is that they give colleagues examples of what their experiences and interactions could be and help them to visualise the future. At this stage, we don’t know if the ideas and concepts are feasible or viable yet, but the aim here is that they provide inspiration and bridge the gap between a vision and reality.

Problem 4: some people can have a siloed view without the wider context &nbsp;

When we share our concepts, we show them from the beginning of an interaction to its completion so that the full context of the experience is visible. Inevitably, people focus on their area of interest but this allows them to see the whole picture and, most importantly, to see it from the user’s perspective.

By applying design thinking methodology and creative storytelling techniques from the outset of our digital transformation journey, we aim to bring our digital strategy to life and take our staff and students along on the journey with us.&nbsp;

Joe Holland is the digital team’s head of design at the University of Exeter.

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Use design thinking to create an effective digital strategy

Creating a user-focused digital strategy requires the use of various channels, the adoption of design thinking principles and the involvement of students and staff from the outset

Use design thinking principles to create a human-centred digital strategy

In the early 1990s, I left my career in banking to become a shift manager at a pet food manufacturer. I was a young woman in charge of an all-male team, who were older than me. Back then, it was common to find many workplaces where women had never worked&nbsp;– much more so than now. But it was a rich learning experience that I enjoyed and benefited from hugely.

When I embarked on my portfolio career 30 years later, I did not expect to find myself in a similar situation. I was the first female on the board of the company I joined. It highlighted to me that for all the progress made in diversity, there is still a long way to go. It’s why the higher education sector is so important – we help fuel that diversity and help talented women break through glass ceilings. 


	Empowering women leaders in fighting climate change: a call to action
	How academics can ‘stay put’ without ‘staying still’
	How can universities disrupt the gender investment gap?


To mark International Women’s Day, I wanted to share my reflections: why it matters, why we should not take progress for granted and the vital role we play in championing talented women in the higher education sector and beyond. 

Gender balance is not a box-ticking exercise

The push for gender balance exists because extremely talented women exist, but we’re not seeing that talent represented. Take cybersecurity as an example. It’s a sector that is typically associated with men. But this can be addressed, in part, by encouraging more women to consider this as a viable career path. 

There are examples in other sectors too: just 3 per cent of music producers in the UK are female. I find this staggering given the prominence and visibility of female artists. Why is that not reflected on the production side? At the University of the West of Scotland, our commercial music courses have seen an upswing in female students looking to pursue behind-the-scenes roles, thanks largely to the work undertaken by our academics to encourage change and ensure that female students feel it’s a role for them. There is a natural human tendency to recruit in your own image, but in my experience, the most effective teams are diverse in culture, gender, personality and thought. If you can lead a diverse team to believe anything is possible, they will make it happen.

This brings me back to higher education and the important role the sector plays inspiring and encouraging talented women, helping them diversify and enhance workplaces, while also addressing skills gaps and acting as positive role models for other women. 

Create a culture of belonging

Throughout my career, I’ve seen examples of women trying to adapt who they are as they try to integrate into a male-dominated workplace. While I completely understand why someone might want to do this – we all want to fit in – we need to be true to ourselves and see others doing the same. When someone looks at a work environment, it’s important they feel they belong and can succeed. Do not underestimate the power of “to be it, you’ve got to feel it.”

As a sector, we are a driving force behind change in this area. We provide the workforce but also the research that demonstrates the benefits a diverse workforce brings to an organisation – and it is important that we continue to pursue this mission. 

Find a way to generate self-belief

There is a distinct difference between self-belief and self-confidence. If you believe something is possible, you are much more likely to make it happen. You can feel confident in your ability, but if you don’t believe that something can be achieved, you are far less likely to achieve it. 

In higher education, the attributes we instil in students can be every bit as important as the knowledge they leave with. It is important that we develop graduates who not only have the skills to succeed, but the belief that they can. If a talented female graduate aspires to be a leader in an industry currently dominated by men, we must ensure the culture we create leaves them in no doubt that they can achieve that goal. 

Ensure female role models are aspirational, as well as inspirational

Female role models are a source of inspiration for students – but we must ensure that they are also a source of aspiration. We must generate a belief of “one day, that could be me”, and nurture that feeling.

Don’t underestimate the impact higher education has made

I came into the world of higher education from the world of business – I was an outsider, looking in. I admired the work being done to ensure gender diversity and now, as the chair of a university court, I feel proud of it. I think it’s important to acknowledge how far as a sector we’ve travelled on this road, as well as being open to how far we’ve got to go. There is still room for further progress – but work done by universities and colleges means there is also room for significant optimism.&nbsp; 

Kate Allum is chair of court for the University of the West of Scotland.

If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus&nbsp;newsletter.

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&nbsp;

Gender equality is more than a box-ticking exercise 

The higher education sector is ideally placed to inspire talented women and improve the gender balance in the workplace. Kate Allum advocates for the power of self-belief

Gender equality is more than a box-ticking exercise – let’s champion it

One might assume that senior leaders at universities spend most of their time developing and implementing strategies. As a senior technical leader in higher ed, my experience is that most of our time is spent on people issues. That’s what being a leader is all about – the people. The job means you spend your time developing, coaching and supporting people.  &nbsp;

But here I’d like to focus on something we don’t often talk about: how to effectively support your people during personal crises. This is of interest to me because throughout my career, I’ve had my own personal crises and seen how my leaders have dealt with it, in good and bad ways. I’ve also managed hundreds of people over the years and have supported people through all sorts of crises – family tragedies, devastating illnesses, mental health challenges and divorces. I’ve dealt with this issue as a first-time supervisor and as a senior leader and everything in between.

So, I’ve outlined my tips for supporting your people through a crisis, which I hope will be valuable for everyone, but especially for those new to leadership. &nbsp;

Be genuine in listening and expressing empathy &nbsp;

When someone shares a personal struggle with you, take the time to genuinely listen to them. Express sympathy for their situation and offer help and support. I once had a colleague write an email to her boss asking for a day off, sharing that she would be attending the funeral of a family member. Her boss’ one-word reply was: “Approved!” It would have taken another 30 seconds for her boss to add: “I am so sorry for your loss. Please let me know if we can help.” &nbsp;


	How academics can ‘stay put’ without ‘staying still’
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Whether it’s in person or via email, communication must be genuine, which of course reflects the critical leadership quality of truly caring about your people. So, be attentive and genuine when they come to you and follow up with them to ensure that they are doing well. Simply reaching out, even via email, to ask how someone is doing goes a long way to making someone feel cared for. &nbsp;

Provide space&nbsp;

When a person is in crisis, they will often need space to take care of that crisis, especially if they have to step away from their work. Leaders can take practical actions to make that happen. It’s easy to say: “Take the time you need”, but true support is when you as a leader have designated the appropriate resources to cover the work that must get done in their absence.&nbsp;&nbsp;

You can also provide space by enabling appropriate flexibility where it works in the environment and helps the employee through a difficult time. This is easier if you already have a culture in place that allows for flexibility, whether it’s the ability to work remotely or to adjust work schedules to accommodate a special situation. So, creating a culture that balances the employee’s needs with the needs of the organisation can make a difference.&nbsp;

Accountability and clarity &nbsp;

Not everyone will need or want time off to deal with a crisis; others may prefer to continue working. In the second case, it is vital to be crystal clear about expectations. A good leader makes sure that they and their employee understand what’s expected in terms of attendance and workload.&nbsp;&nbsp;

A lack of clear communication can frustrate everyone involved. I recall a situation where I had a person on my team who was going through a divorce. I gave him a vague response to “take the time you need”. That resulted in frustration for me, him and his colleagues. It diminished his reputation with his peers at a time when experiencing success in the workplace would have been good for his own self-confidence. A clear conversation to set boundaries and manage expectations would have been a better way to go. &nbsp;

Respect confidentiality &nbsp;

Finally, people have a right to privacy. So, when someone shares a struggle with you, treat it as confidential unless they tell you otherwise.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Also, if the issue requires a person to be absent or change their work schedule, discuss how you will present that information to their colleagues.&nbsp;&nbsp;

When an individual is more high profile and visible, more transparency might be required. The more high profile the person, the more visible any change in availability will be. For example, several years ago, I suffered a sudden and devastating loss in my family. I decided to share that information widely. As a CIO, I was engaged in many highly visible initiatives across the campus. I needed to take care of the surviving family members, so I knew that my availability and my responsiveness would be severely impacted for a period of time. I also knew that people were worried about me, and that the absence of information was a distraction for my team and my colleagues, so transparency was the best approach.  &nbsp;

In summary, supporting staff through a personal crisis is all about communication and empathy, and works better when you’ve already built an authentic and caring relationship with the individual. With that in place, you can support a staff member through a tough situation in a way that shows caring for them and minimises impact on the organisation. &nbsp;

Helen Norris is vice-president and chief information officer at Chapman University. &nbsp;

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A little-discussed aspect of leadership is how to support faculty and staff during times of trouble. Here, Helen Norris offers advice for making space and effective communication

How to support your staff during personal crises 

More women have stepped into leadership roles in prestigious higher education institutions in recent years, demonstrating the empowering role of education. These leaders have not only achieved remarkable success in their fields but also played a pivotal role in promoting gender equality and educational reform. But career-hindering challenges remain.

Conflict between family responsibilities and career development

In many cultures, traditional views still influence social expectations and women’s self-perceptions. Studies indicate that, due to overwhelming family responsibilities, up to 83 per cent of women struggle to fully commit to careers, often finding themselves torn between home and the workplace. I can personally relate to this. Having grown up in a traditional Chinese family, I faced the deep cultural influence of a&nbsp;“male outside, female inside”  mindset. Despite receiving higher education, these views impacted my career development. 


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Fortunately, the advancement of global gender equality education and awareness, particularly during my master’s studies from 1997 to 1999, led to my involvement in an international research project, “Education and development of Asian female university students”. My understanding of how women’s roles are invisibly shaped deepened and I realised that women could attain higher positions and more societal involvement. 

Nonetheless, in balancing my family and career, I often had to take on all the household duties, manage my children’s homework, and juggle my studies and work. This often led to feelings of guilt towards my family, thoughts of quitting my job and challenges in realising my dreams.

Fear of failure and indecision

In the workplace, women’s voices and perspectives are frequently overlooked and they can hesitate to express ideas, fearing failure and tending to avoid risks. Surrounded by such external environments, many women impose self-limitations, depriving them of opportunities to express themselves and be recognised.

Difficulty integrating into male-dominated social circles

Underrepresentation means that leadership and social settings are predominantly male. In some societies and cultures, there is a general expectation for women to be gentle, compliant and sensitive. Consequently, female leaders find it challenging to integrate into male-dominated social circles, struggling to access higher-level information, networks and resources.

Peripheral environments biased against women

In the workplace, women are often affected by unconscious biases and negative stereotypes. There is a common belief that women lack decisiveness and this limits women’s development and their progression to higher positions. Often, they must significantly exceed their male counterparts’ performance to be considered for promotion.

Lack of gender equality education

Even today, gender education courses are seldom included in higher education curricula and training programmes are limited. Many women lack the necessary psychological preparation and coping strategies when entering the workforce or aspiring to advance to leadership positions.

Country-specific challenges 

In China, my native country, women’s chances of reaching senior management positions are significantly lower than those of their male counterparts and women in other countries. Most female executives in China hold middle management or deputy positions. In China, women executives make up only about 19 per cent of the total, which is lower than the global average of around 25 per cent.

How to enhance women’s leadership

Promoting women’s career opportunities and leadership requires significant societal effort, involving policy and action plan formulation, educational development, social environment improvement, media advocacy and mindset change. 


	Broad action plans:&nbsp;The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women calls for action plans that encompass ideology, systems and organisational cultural development to foster an environment conducive to the growth and development of female leaders. This includes providing gender equality education, creating gender equality plans and developing succession and leadership roles for outstanding women.
	Organisational priorities:&nbsp;Institutions should prioritise gender equality in their cultural strategy and consider:&nbsp;conducting gender analysis of employee data to ensure equal treatment in the workplace, personnel selection and performance evaluation; creating support systems for gender equality, offering family support measures or flexible work schemes, particularly to nursing mothers; deliberately helping women in the workplace build social networks; fostering an inclusive corporate culture; and providing diversity training.
	Gender equality education:&nbsp;In education, gender equality should be emphasised from the elementary stages, breaking traditional biases in professional choices and social roles. Globally, while the proportion of female university students is slightly higher than that of males, there’s a gender bias in major selection – women predominantly study humanities, whereas in engineering, sciences and agriculture&nbsp;they represent only about one-third. 
	Workplace equality:&nbsp;A more equal competitive environment should be created in the workplace. In some countries, including China, women must answer personal questions about marriage and childbearing during job interviews and experience career disruptions, reduced promotion opportunities&nbsp;and lower income after becoming mothers. Additionally, China’s gender-specific retirement age policy forces women to retire five to 10 years earlier than men, limiting their career development. Considering women’s longer lifespan and increasing professional aspirations, this policy should be re-examined to allow equal retirement age for both genders.
	Media responsibility:&nbsp;The media should strive to portray the diversity and multidimensionality of women in the workplace, breaking away from stereotypes and highlighting their value and individuality. Let’s move towards&nbsp;“de-labelling”, avoiding stereotypical characterisations when evaluating professional women, thereby depicting their growth and experiences in both family life and career development authentically.


We need to make women aware of the unique management styles and leadership strengths that female leaders often exhibit. These include a focus on communication, thorough information gathering and integration, as well as enhanced resilience, empathy and a sense of responsibility. Most importantly, women should learn to recognise their own abilities and aspirations. This will enable them to make effective career plans and maintain a commitment to lifelong learning.

Promoting gender equality and women’s leadership requires a collective effort from institutions, the educational sector, media and society at large. Meanwhile, women themselves must navigate multiple barriers, continually seek self-improvement, leverage their unique strengths and potential and push towards a more equitable and inclusive future in the workplace.

Qiuling Chao is vice president for student affairs and information and a professor and doctoral supervisor in the Institute of Leadership and Education Advanced Development at XJTLU.

The challenges facing female leaders in higher education 

Women still face many hurdles on the road to leadership in higher education. Qiuling Chao outlines how we can overcome them

The challenges facing female leaders in higher education – and how to address them

Moving universities to take on new roles for career advancement is a common – and increasingly expected – practice. I&nbsp;have not done this. Rather, I&nbsp;have “stayed put” at a large research-intensive university. However, “staying put” does not necessarily mean “staying still” in terms of roles and responsibilities.

Across 36 years, I&nbsp;have been a teaching and research academic (promoted through five levels), a head of school (known to some as dean), a research network coordinator, director of a teaching and learning institute, a pro vice-chancellor and an acting deputy vice-chancellor.


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Like many women, I have felt tied to living in my home city for different reasons at various life stages, so seeking other roles within the one institution was important to “compensate” for what could be misread as a lack of ambition, energy, curiosity or commitment. Indeed, in many respects, moving institutions, and usually cities, is an easier path for career advancement, but it can come at a cost that might not be right for you. For the many women who want to “accelerate progress” – borrowed from the 2024 International Women’s Day (IWD) theme – regardless of their institutional affiliations, I&nbsp;offer the following reflections from someone who has stayed put.

1. Stay stimulated

Universities are exciting places, located within ever-changing social, economic, technological and policy contexts. We all need to keep abreast of these. As contexts change, so do the priorities universities manifest in aspects such as their strategic plans, internal structures or criteria for performance and promotion. It is the responsibility of all university staff to invest time in understanding what your university values and why. What are the spoken and unspoken rules of your university? Without these contextual insights, you can become adrift from, and alienated by, what is expected of your contribution.

2. Say ‘yes’

My advice to colleagues has been to say “yes” to tasks or roles suggested to them. Say “yes” to joining a committee, “yes” to lecturing in a new course, “yes” to speaking at a community event. My most difficult “yes” option was an offer to write a national curriculum document at a time when I&nbsp;was a head of school, our school’s buildings (and our home) were flooded, and my father had received a cancer diagnosis. Agreeing to take on the curriculum-writing task, despite the difficult circumstances, proved to be a positive career legacy in ways that solving the immediate crises could not.

That said, there are caveats, as are so clearly articulated by Linda Babcock, Brenda Peyser, Lise Vesterlund and Laurie Weingart in their 2022 book, The No&nbsp;Club: Putting a&nbsp;Stop to&nbsp;Women’s Dead-End Work. Their argument is that women say “yes” too often to non-promotable tasks that eat into their time, leading to “career stagnation, questioning your professional identity and competence, emotional exhaustion”, job dissatisfaction and, I&nbsp;would add, an undermining of personal health. I&nbsp;enjoyed their quote from Elizabeth Blackburn’s interview that “a&nbsp;ton of feathers still weighs a&nbsp;ton”. Strategic “yeses” are where we agree.

3. Reflect regularly on your work

While formal annual reviews can seem laborious, they can prompt critical reflection on what you’ve achieved, enjoyed and learned as a basis for what you would like to undertake next. Leadership expert Kirstin Ferguson, in her 2023 book Head and Heart: The Art of Modern Leadership, writes about the four Ls: What did I&nbsp;love? What do I&nbsp;long for? What did I&nbsp;loathe? What did I&nbsp;learn? As the demands of your work and non-work contexts change, so too might your priorities and what makes you satisfied at work. Subtle and not-so-subtle transitions in roles/contexts occur constantly (such as the arrival of a new vice-chancellor or president, a promotion, the transition of a solo project to a team, moving from committee member to chair), and all warrant reflection on the implications and time to adjust.

4. Empty the dishwasher

Who empties the dishwasher in your unit’s kitchen tells a story. Professional and academic staff? All genders? All levels of seniority? Too frequently, it is only professional and junior academic women who are the good citizens, and in my view, this pattern reflects a work culture that needs attention. Is emptying the dishwasher – metaphorically – a non-promotable task, following Babcock&nbsp;et&nbsp;al? “Yes” if this is what you do repeatedly. “No” if it’s a contribution to a team that is mutually respectful, non-hierarchical, non-gendered, collaborative and affable – a workplace that can be enjoyed by all.

“Staying put” means your skills, strengths and ways of working (emptying the dishwasher?) are largely known to the organisation as you seek different roles. That makes it particularly important to undertake professional learning opportunities that are valued by your university to grow, shift and reinvent. Returning to the IWD 2024 theme, to be “counted in” at a university where you’ve been a longstanding staff member, invest in your health, look for and accept new challenges and remain collegial and curious.

Doune Macdonald is professor and pro vice-chancellor (teaching and learning) at the University of Queensland.

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How academics can ‘stay put’ without ‘staying still’

Moving universities for career advancement is a common practice in academia. But what happens if you want to remain in the same institution? Here, Doune Macdonald shares how to keep progressing into new roles and responsibilities

Stepping into an administrative role at a university is a privilege, but it can also present challenges. But by improving your skills and awareness, these challenges can become easier to tackle. 

I was appointed to a deanship at the age of 37 and have spent several years as head of department. Here, I’ll share six tips and strategies to help young administrators navigate their new roles.

Learn policies and procedures

The first thing to do is to review all written regulations and procedures, and make sure to follow them. Understanding your institution’s potentially complex web of policies and procedures is crucial to effective management and will help things proceed more smoothly. When you are unsure, do not hesitate to ask for help from more experienced administrators. Remember that protecting your institution’s reputation by ensuring that all activities comply with the university’s code of ethics and legal requirements is your duty.


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Be accessible

Once you become an administrator, avoid behaving in a way that prevents your employees or students from reaching you.

They will be more productive when they feel that your presence as a manager is for them to work in a peaceful and comfortable environment. For example, make an effort to return phone calls or reply to emails from faculty members or students. Just simply acknowledging the contact and stating that you will get back to them will demonstrate they can reach you and will make them feel valued. 

Delegate effectively

Good management does not involve doing everything yourself, but instead being able to determine who can carry out a particular task best and assigning that role to them. Learning to delegate is a skill that can significantly impact a team’s efficiency and productivity. Understanding your team members’ strengths and expertise and assigning tasks accordingly is an important part of your role. Trust your colleagues to carry out their responsibilities while being available for guidance and support. Otherwise, you may find yourself trying to do all the work and risk experiencing burnout. 

Maintain a balance of authority and camaraderie

As a young administrator, finding the right balance between asserting authority and establishing rapport with your employees is a delicate but important task. On the one hand, you need to be approachable and support open communication, but on the other hand, you need to maintain your authority. Strike a balance by assuming your management role during working hours and your role as a friend outside of working hours. 

Nip conflict in the bud

Conflicts are inevitable in every workplace, and universities are no exception. There will always be situations where you must use your ability to overcome challenges and make informed decisions. As a new administrator, you must develop strong conflict resolution skills and handle problems quickly and constructively. Encouraging open communication and using mediation, when necessary, can help you maintain a positive work environment. The most important point here is to ensure that every issue, no matter how challenging or small it seems, is addressed and resolved. Nipping it in the bud will prevent problems from accumulating. 

Maintain work-life balance

As a young administrator, you may find yourself spending most of your time dealing with work-related matters while trying to make sure everything is running smoothly. But maintaining a healthy work-life balance is not a luxury but a necessity for your well-being and that of your team. Promoting well-being involves paying attention to workload and stress levels, encouraging downtime when necessary and fostering a culture that values both professional and personal fulfilment. Reserve time for yourself and encourage your team to do the same. This way, you will not only enhance your productivity but also help to create a more resilient and contented work environment for everyone.

Although starting your role as an administrator in a university environment can be challenging, it is something to be proud of. You’ve been entrusted with a multi-faceted role, requiring a nuanced approach to management. By learning policies and procedures well, being accessible, delegating effectively and considering the other tips discussed, you can confidently fulfil your roles and contribute to the success of your department and institution.

Yağmur Çerkez is the dean of the Faculty of Education at Near East University.

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Six tips for when you’re moving up into management

Making the leap into administration can feel daunting, but Yağmur Çerkez’s advice will help you to develop the skills and strategies you need to thrive

Many areas of science have been facing difficulties in credibility with a sense that the scientific process is not as healthy as it could be. One argument is that this is because science has increasingly taken place in a culture of careerism, as if scientists were employees whose first duty was to progress up the career ladder, and by so doing further the reputation of the institution of which they are a part. And when enhancement of individual and institutional reputation becomes the driving motive, given the reward structures we have in place, it seems that scientific rigour goes out the window. If a researcher is interested in getting a job or being promoted in a highly competitive environment, they need to stand out on the metrics that managers have sought to maximise in the past couple of decades. And that is often best done by cutting corners.

These issues are being addressed. But this needs to happen at multiple levels. For example, the open science movement urges that data, materials, codes and hardware be publicly available, so anyone can check all aspects of a study. 

But this leaves in place the dysfunctional system by which science is governed, including a top-down hierarchy that seeks to maximise metrics. These metrics are simplistic measures of research quality (such as the formal prestige of a journal) that turn out to have a negative-to-zero correlation with research rigour or even have a negative relation, such as the amount of grant income generated. 


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Science is likely to flourish when embedded in a culture that mirrors its own values. Science is essentially open, with (ideally) anyone able to contribute ideas, dependent only on the quality of their contribution. The community as a whole criticises ideas. This democratic decision-making process has produced many of the most impressive breakthroughs in human history. Indeed, historically, democracy and science have gone together, not absolutely but they appear to work synergistically. 

How could universities be governed in a way that matched the way science itself works? Might this work better than treating scientists as workers who have to impress their manager? Might a culture of democratically criticising ideas as a way of governing a research institution facilitate a culture of democratically criticising ideas as a way to progress science? (Might, for example, the principal investigator of a large lab be more likely accept constructive criticism, and the refusal to p-hack, from a postdoc if that lab were situated in an institutional culture that encouraged respect of many voices?)

The past few decades have seen fascinating experiments in open democracy, such as the Citizens’ Assembly. These social experiments may be regarded as roughly based on how classical&nbsp;Athens was governed around 400BC. In classical Athens, new laws, for example, had to be ratified by a committee, whose members were randomly selected from the citizenship to spend time considering each new proposed law before it was adopted. At that time, those Greek states that adopted such a democracy economically out-performed those that adopted hierarchical, top-down control. And knowledge flourished in an unprecedented way. 

Fast-forward a couple of thousand years. We are now experimenting with similar ideas to meet the challenges of politically engaging and thus educating citizens. Open democracy engages workers and allows them to bring to bear all the information they have – just as (should) happen in science; a good example is the deliberative poll, developed in 1988 by James Fishkin at Stanford University, where randomly selected groups debate and make their decision in a couple of days. Democracy can act quickly.

The governance of science could, by the use of open democracy, reflect the very decision-making process at the heart of science. Open democracy could make all information embedded in nooks and crannies of a university maximally available to decision-making, thereby making the institution transparent to itself in a way that cannot happen with pure top-down control. 

Here, one of us makes suggestions as to how to implement open democracy, where a random selection of people at the institution could form working groups to make major decisions. Could a university vice-chancellor be persuaded to give up at least one decision that is important for people to a deliberative poll (or similar procedure)? 

It is sometimes in a leader’s interest to hand over difficult decisions to a public body, such as the Citizens’ Assemblies considering abortion or marriage equality in Ireland. Or, in another example, if a vice-chancellor genuinely considers that a pension deal is the best one for the university – and they trust that fully informed rational discussion will lead to the same conclusion – why not decide through a deliberative poll and boost goodwill for the rest of their term? Or why not start with a decision in which they have no axe to grind but that staff care about (such as how departments or faculties are organised)? Might that not help staff morale? Might not a university that started along this path be the one to stand out from the rest? &nbsp;

Who knows whether this would work in running a university. But the first university to try open democratic practices, in small steps, gradually building up, may become a beacon to us all.

Zoltan Dienes is a professor in experimental psychology at the University of Sussex. Jörg Huber is a professor of health sciences in the School of Sport and Health Sciences at the University of Brighton.

If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus&nbsp;newsletter.

Could Athenian democracy improve the quality of science?

What if universities were governed according to the open culture that drives scientific research itself? Zoltan Dienes and Jörg Huber look at an ancient model for decision-making

Academics make excellent administrators. They understand the intricacies of an academic environment, which enables them to make informed decisions that align with institutional goals. Their experience in curriculum development, faculty management and student affairs equip them with the skills they need to navigate the complexities of leadership and administration. Additionally, academic administrators often showcase a strong commitment to the larger mission of education which is key to steering universities towards success. 

Making the move from academia to academic administration requires adaptability, an understanding of organisational dynamics and the ability to build collaborative relationships and offers academics a more comprehensive view of the institution’s financial and operational aspects. Those wishing to take this path must capitalise on their transferable skills and seize a variety of learning opportunities. 

The main differences between academia and academic administration

While academia focuses on specialised research and teaching within specific fields, influencing policy and creating impact beyond the classroom or research lab, administration oversees broader institutional objectives, requiring collaborative leadership and strategic planning skills across departments and general resource allocation. Academia values publications and student outcomes, while administration emphasises institutional growth and programme efficacy. Academia often offers more structural flexibility, while administration operates within hierarchical frameworks, focusing on operational and policy innovations for institutional progress.

Skills that academics bring to academic administration roles


	Critical analysis and problem-solving: these aid in strategic decision-making 
	Communication: these enable effective collaboration with diverse teams in administrative settings
	Project management: expertise in managing projects of varied natures in academia translates well to administration roles
	Analytical thinking: an analytical mindset helps generate practical administrative solutions
	Teaching and mentoring: classroom engagement, academic delivery and mentoring skills gained over years in academia are useful for developing administrative staff
	Time management: being a multitasker and managing time effectively is crucial when handling diverse and complex administrative tasks efficiently.


Improve your chances of promotion to administrative roles

There are several actions you can take that will add a catalogue of skills and experiences to your academic CV. Begin with a meticulous skills appraisal to identify any gaps. To fill them, actively look for opportunities to gain administration or institutional leadership experience. Start in entry-level positions and progress, using each stage as a learning tool. 

Highlight all experiences and skills applicable to administrative roles on digital profiles such as LinkedIn as well as on your CV. Accentuate any noteworthy leadership experiences. 


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Stay ahead of trends and innovation 

Subscribe to reputable academic journals, attend conferences and participate in online platforms and forums. Follow scholars and institutions on social media, join professional associations and use resources such as Google Scholar Alerts, open-access repositories and library databases. Engaging with podcasts, webinars, newsletters, blogs and conferences will help you stay informed about the latest research, trends and discussions within your academic field. 

Enhance and develop your skills

To equip yourself with the tools you need to address complex academic administrative challenges, look for opportunities for professional development. Try data analysis and conduct root cause analyses of problems your faculty are facing, seek opportunities to collaborate across teams, request feedback from your colleagues, and reflect on decisions made within your department and institution to enhance your analytical skills. 

Be proactive in identifying mentors and opportunities

Find mentors that add value and help you in early decision-making as you prepare for transition. Forge connections with administrators by seeking them out and asking them about the tasks involved in their day-to-day jobs. Gain practical experience by volunteering to take on some administrative tasks to build your experience. Complete training certifications in management, finance or leadership and demonstrate enthusiasm and proactiveness by getting involved with committee leadership.

Transitioning from academia to academic administration requires a combination of learning, skills development and strategic preparation. It is vital to embrace transferable abilities, gain administrative experience and keep pace with the latest trends in the higher education space. Taking a steadfast approach and adapting to challenges will foster a successful transition from academia to academic administration, widen your professional horizons and bring value to your institution.

N. N. Sharma is the pro vice-chancellor (strategy and planning) at Manipal Academy of Higher Education.

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How to move from academia to academic administration

Transitioning from academia to academic administration requires proactivity and a desire to learn. Here are some tips to help you prepare

How to make the move from academia to academic administration

Universities have always been cosmopolitan places, and this is something that we need to preserve. I was an international student myself decades ago. I came over from Canada as a graduate student in the 1990s. There is nothing new about student immigration.

The increase in the flow of international students is something we must embrace. Over the past few years it is certainly true in various jurisdictions, and it is not unique to the UK, that international student fees have effectively supplanted or supplemented the spending that compensated for the domestic spending constraints. In this article, I will share some of my observations and tips on increasing international student recruitment, based on my experience as a former international student, a current academic leader and an international researcher.

How international students contribute to our labour market and society

A reason that is often understated or mischaracterised in the UK debate is the economic benefits and graduate outcomes of international students. The data suggests that international students do a very good job of getting into the labour market and getting well-paid jobs. And I think London has a particular role to play in that outcome. Most international students are MSC or MBA graduates. Many of them have done undergraduate degrees and then got a more specialist master’s degrees at institutions such as King’s College London or the University of Sussex. Most of them study business subjects, engineering or computer science. 


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Tips on recruiting more international students 

Here are some of the activities that we have found effective in enhancing international student recruitment at the University of Sussex Business School.

1. Organise visits for senior faculty: we regularly visit partner institutions and potential markets to meet prospective students and alumni. We also promote our visits through social media, webinars and local media outlets. This helps us to raise our profile, showcase our expertise and build relationships with key influencers.

2. Build partnerships with overseas institutions: we have established important partnerships and have long-standing research links with several reputable institutions around the world, such as Tsinghua University and Renmin University of China in Beijing, Seoul National University (SNU) in South Korea and the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). These partnerships enable us to offer study visits, exchange programmes, research collaborations and other educational opportunities. They also enhance our reputation and visibility in the global market.

3. Publish international students and alumni interviews and success stories: we regularly feature the stories and achievements of our international students and alumni on our website, newsletter and social media platforms. We also invite them to share their experiences and insights with prospective students through online events, blogs and podcasts. This helps showcase the diversity, quality and impact of our international community, and to inspire and attract more applicants.

4. Organise summer schools and tailored programmes: we offer a range of summer schools and tailored programmes for overseas students who want to experience studying and living in the UK. These programmes cover various business, management and economics topics, including academic, cultural and social activities. They also provide an opportunity for students to network with our faculty, students and alumni and to learn more about our programmes and facilities. This summer we hosted the second bespoke summer school with SNU faculty and students with our science policy research unit.&nbsp;

5. Offer scholarships for international students: we offer several scholarships and bursaries for international students who demonstrate academic excellence, leadership potential and social impact. These scholarships range from partial to full tuition fee waivers and we award them competitively. They help us to attract and support talented and deserving students from different backgrounds and regions. We host many international Chevening scholars who share their stories about studying at the business school.

6. Use collaborative online international learning (COIL): our use of this pioneering interactive learning methodology enables us to interact with other international universities and professional institutions online. For example, our COIL partnership with UNAM was based on a simulation game in which international business students competed in groups of five or six as they made decisions about their respective companies. Students from UNAM joined teams as consultants to offer guidance and strategic advice. The great thing about COIL is that you can facilitate international collaboration by using platforms that students are already familiar with such as WhatsApp, Facebook or Viber.

The Financial Times recently reported on the UK’s skills shortage, which is currently being addressed, at least partially, by highly qualified international students who do well in our labour market. I am in favour of international students, and encouraging them to apply to study at our institutions is even more important in today’s political climate. 

Steven McGuire is the dean of the University of Sussex Business School.

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Six ways to boost international student recruitment 

International students bring diversity, talent and economic value to our universities and society. Here are some ways to encourage them to apply to your institution

“Lean” as a concept originated within the manufacturing sector, with Toyota an early pioneer, before a continuous improvement culture rippled across the public, health and well-being sectors and higher education. 

The concept’s name originated from John Krafcik through his work with the MIT’s International Motor Vehicle Program from 1986 to 1990. He visited 20 countries and studied 90 manufacturing plants. His influential paper “Triumph of the lean production system” linked performance, corporate parenting and management philosophies. James Womack, Daniel Jones and Daniel Roos supercharged the concept in their 1991 book, The Machine that Changed the World, which presented the lean philosophies of respect for people, continuous improvement and the eradication of waste.


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We in the iSolutions continuous improvement (CI) team at the University of Southampton have been working hard to embed the core principles of this approach through lean thinking, leadership and toolkits. Projects to date have included improving the reference process for applicants, mobile-phone usage and carbon footprints, and developing awareness of sustainability in human resources and customer experience impact for welcome week and halls.

We are a small team within the university’s IT support service, iSolutions, and are part of the professional services community. Our ethos is to build capability for continuous improvement through our people, linking organisational excellence and sustainability and enabling individuals and teams to take a new look at “the way they do things around here” through workshops and projects. 

How does our continuous improvement process work?

As lean practitioners, we follow a process called R-DMAIC. 


	Recognise: First, we recognise the opportunities for improvement in&nbsp;ways of working that&nbsp;no longer serve&nbsp;us.
	Define: We choose our challenge and define the scope of our intervention. 
	Measures: We work through a series of tools that help us to understand what is working well&nbsp;and is not working, typically through a process map, measures&nbsp;and other tools. 
	Analyse: We analyse the current state to identify what is waste (anything that is not adding value to the end user), where we are&nbsp;overburdened and what we could change to improve the situation. 
	Improve: We create ideas to improve the current state and run experiments to test our solutions.
	Control: When our experiments are successful, we embed the changes within the university, where we embed the gains through dashboards, reviews&nbsp;and celebrations.


Leadership or culture, figureheads or movements?

We take a “viral change” approach. That is, we are not implementing a lean programme that has central backing; we are not engaged in rapid improvement events and we are not leveraging budgets to drive transformational change. We also use strategic lean tools such as hoshin kanri (which is also called policy deployment) to link our improvement projects with university and department strategy.

We have seen charismatic leaders drive lean programmes through an organisation only to move on and leave their efforts to dissipate under the direction of the next charismatic leader. We don’t undervalue the impact that this approach can bring, but we found ourselves looking to improve on what we’d been a part of previously, pondering the difference between leadership and culture, between figureheads and movements.

Our approach was inspired by a lunchtime chat early in 2022 about how Covid had changed the way we delivered improvement workshops, and how MS Teams and Miro had allowed the same capability. Before the end of that week, we had co-opted three other local universities into plans for a “process palooza” conference (four days virtual and one day face-to-face). 

These two experiences came together, and in July 2022 we started to design a programme of materials, workshops and one-to-one coaching sessions that would: empower people to change the way they did their day jobs and improve their workspaces; and encourage them to give themselves permission to step back and ask if this was what the customer wanted or what the planet needed.

Using experiential learning techniques to embed continuous improvement

We developed our approach to building continuous improvement/lean capability using experiential learning techniques. Our lean programme was open to all colleagues at the University of Southampton. We felt this was a good way of building capability and supporting the university. 

Our one-day lean foundations workshop introduces colleagues to the concepts of lean and sustainability: respect for people, continuous improvement, eradication of waste and understanding the needs of the planet. 

We show how lean and continuous improvement&nbsp;is applied in higher education, enabling colleagues to experience lean principles through hands-on activities. Workshops illustrate the viewpoints of customer, planet and provider. 

We developed a Gemba game, where colleagues build five products associated with higher education, such as a final-year project, steps to success, nature and graduation using Lego blocks. This game enables colleagues to apply nested cycles of plan-do-check-act (PDCA) to improve their lead times, quality and teamwork.



  
      
  
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Photo courtesy of the University of Southampton



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Our lean foundations workshop is accredited by the Lean Competency System, which is recognised as a global professional qualification. On completion of an online multiple-choice exam, colleagues can participate in the lean practitioner programme, which is a two-day workshop and a 12-week mentored continuous improvement project.

Our lean practitioner two-day workshop is based around the R-DMAIC cycle. The workshops have been developed with a clear experiential learning pedagogy in mind. Our colleagues can see what works for them and they can use all their senses in the training so they see it, they hear it and they do it. 

We use visualisation, storytelling and action-based learning. This is also linked to the Kolb learning cycle, where we introduce the theories and provide opportunities for action and reflection linked to pragmatism. The workshops are designed to deliver deep learning. Approaches such as Lego Serious play allow colleagues to build models that tell the story of how lean is embedded within the university. 

At the end of the two days, colleagues develop their own ideas for a continuous improvement project. Each colleague is appointed a mentor with whom they work over 10 to 12 weeks to develop a portfolio showing how they have applied this learning in their workplace, which is submitted to the CI team for review. The professional qualification of lean practitioner is then awarded if all learning outcomes have been met.

The team was shortlisted for the 2023 Lean Diamond Award linking lean to sustainability. It is wonderful to see how lean thinking and the toolkits are being applied across the university to help us on our mission to inspire excellence, achieve the remarkable and build an inclusive world.

Tammi Sinha, Pete Rykowski and Michael Shaw are members of the iSolutions continuous improvement team at the University of Southampton.

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Embedding lean practices in higher education

How can university processes be more efficient and sustainable? Here’s how one continuous improvement team took a viral approach to efficiency through lean thinking, lean leadership and lean toolkits

As students engage in digital interactions across their academic journey, conducting market research in higher education has become more challenging. “Traditional approaches such as focus groups and surveys may now feel outdated, as younger generations use technology in a different way,” explained Ray Davies, client services manager at Qualzy, during a session at the 2023 THE University Market Insight Conference. Davies shared that only 56 per cent of Generation Z and millennials now use email to talk to friends and family. Many have more than 1,000 unread emails, which renders email surveys less effective for gathering feedback.&nbsp;

The market research and insight team at the University of Warwick formed a partnership with Qualzy in 2022. Jess O’Brien, market research manager at the university, said the pandemic had accelerated a number of existing market trends. “Since the Covid-19 pandemic, we’ve seen a number of things. People no longer come to focus groups in person, even if incentivised. It’s a digital and mobile-first world,” she said. 

Further, students receive a large number of surveys, which leads to survey fatigue and a drop in response rates, said O’Brien. The University of Warwick needed a way to deal with its “analysis paralysis”, and set the foundations for a new student panel that would provide insights into student life at the university.&nbsp;The team piloted Qualzy’s web-based qualitative research platform in spring 2023 and launched the university’s virtual student panel the following September.

The Warwick Student Panel is a community-based platform that invites students to participate in online focus groups and activities to share their feedback and opinions on their student experience at the university. “It almost went too well as everyone wanted to use it,” said O’Brien. As with any extensive market research, a large amount of resources were needed for the initial set-up and to plan how the findings would be used. “We realised that by taking it on ourselves we would also be upskilling our staff,” she said.

The platform has a chat area allowing students to ask questions and share feedback. The team regularly runs research activities such as polls and focus groups on the platform. Panel entries and posts earn students points, which generate prize draw entries for Amazon vouchers. 

In the first academic term of 2023/24, students collectively engaged with the platform for 99.5 hours. Data generated from the platform is held in a secure database, and researchers can analyse this data using AI tools and generate insights much quicker than before.&nbsp;

Looking forward, O’Brien hopes the University of Warwick can offer the platform to prospective students and add activities on topics such as student accommodation and the cost of living. The university has already recruited 145 team members for an upcoming research project called Campus 2025, which will look at how to shape the future campus experience.

The panel:


	Ray Davies, client services manager, Qualzy
	Paul Kingsley-Smith, commercial director, Qualzy
	Jess O’Brien, market research manager, University of Warwick


Find out more about Qualzy.

The University of Warwick has partnered with Qualzy to utilise technology to gather market insights from younger student demographics

Extracting market insights from the TikTok generation

A growing body of research suggests that first-generation students face a unique set of challenges when it comes to applying to, enrolling in and persisting through college. Students who are the first in their families to attend college are often more likely to lack support and guidance during the application process. Perhaps, as a result, they are more likely to graduate at lower rates than their peers. The increasing attention to the challenges faced by first-generation students has fuelled a growing, and important, set of policies and initiatives in the US aimed at supporting them during their higher education journeys.

Given the abundance of studies and policies designed around this student population, it would stand to reason that everyone in the US has a shared understanding of what first-generation actually means and who these students are. But that’s unfortunately not the case.

Despite growing awareness of the unique circumstances that first-generation students face, there remain significant variations between how the term is defined, including between federal and state governments and colleges themselves. And those differences continue to impact how first-generation students are (or are not) supported in the college admissions, enrolment and retention processes.

In a set of new reports from Common App, we found that seemingly small definitional changes can cause major differences in whether students are considered first-generation. For instance, not every school sets their degree attainment threshold at the same place. Are you a first-generation student if a parent attended college but didn’t earn a degree? What if they earned an associate degree, but not a bachelor’s? A sizeable share of students in the study – almost 11 per cent (or roughly 127,000) of all US domestic college applicants on our platform in the 2022 season – switched out of first-generation status depending on where the degree attainment threshold was set (whether that was at some college, associate degree or bachelor’s degree). Beyond the level of degree, there are also questions such as whether degrees obtained from non-US institutions should be considered if we’re focusing on family experience in the US higher education context.

In addition to the lack of clarity around which degrees are relevant, there also isn’t widespread agreement about whose degrees matter. Nearly a third of students report not living with both of their biological parents, so are both parents’ degrees relevant for thinking about their first-generation status? What about other adults in their household, such as step-parents, or the college experiences of older siblings? Additionally, more than one in 10 applicants indicated limited or no information available for one of their parents, making it challenging for institutions to make any informed determination about first-generation status in the first place. 


	Resource collection:&nbsp;Embracing diversity in higher education
	Leaks and holes: beyond the pipeline versus process debate on diversity
	How to attract and support non-traditional students in higher education


The implications of these seemingly small shifts are, in the aggregate, fairly striking. Depending on the definitions used for first-generation status, the number of domestic first-generation applicants on the Common App in 2022 could be anywhere from 304,338 to as high as 709,850. Put another way, using a different definition for this seemingly straightforward concept can more than double the size of the student population considered first-generation.

Of course, a distinction that dramatic has significant impacts not just on first-generation students themselves but the entire college-going population. Consider that according to one definition, less than half of first-generation students are eligible for a Common App fee waiver (our proxy for low-income status), while just over two-thirds would be eligible under another definition. Does that mean that a large minority, or a substantial majority, of first-generation students come from low-income households? Without a shared definition, it’s hard to know — and, as a result, it’s hard to put protocols and processes in place to provide these students with the right kind and cadence of support.

Addressing this challenge isn’t likely to be as simple as coming up with a single shared definition that everyone agrees on. Colleges have their own reasons for using various definitions of first-generation, often rooted in the experiences of their own unique student populations, specific contexts and programme goals. And while a universal definition may take hold thanks to the work of organisations such as NASPA’s Center for First-Generation Student Success, it may not do so in time to support the many thousands of first-generation students (no matter how you define them) who are navigating the higher education system today.

The first step towards providing better support for first-generation students, then, should be to acknowledge the variety of definitions that exist and develop a better shared understanding of how those definitions affect students across the country. The disparities uncovered in this recent research reflect, to put it bluntly, living proof that words matter. The lives and experiences of hundreds of thousands of students can change based on the way a term is defined. Understanding that problem isn’t enough to solve it. But it’s a critical starting point if higher education institutions, policymakers and others involved want to identify the best way to serve a growing population of students that, no matter how you slice it, faces persistent barriers to access and opportunity in higher education.

Brian Heseung Kim is director of data science at Common App.

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Defining first-generation is harder than you think

The first step towards providing better support for first-generation students should be to acknowledge the variety of definitions that exist and develop a better shared understanding of how those definitions affect students

Lifelong learning is essential for addressing global issues of employment and employability, but continuing education also facilitates personal growth for the individual student. The Unesco Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) states that universities “ have a unique capacity to develop skills and foster knowledge, and the potential to mobilise educational resources and provide learning opportunities for diverse populations”.Higher education institutions can take actions to ensure an environment that supports lifelong learning. So this article proposes its key components and&nbsp;how these could be put in place.1. Put a high value on learningThe lifelong-learning model goes beyond knowledge and skills acquired through formal learning, extending to competencies obtained through non-formal and informal education. In addition to those skills gained through work experience, education or training, lifelong learning can also cover personal skills and competencies such as language skills (mother tongue and other languages), social skills, organisational skills and qualifications, and technical and artistic skills.How to coach in-employment lifelong learners for successHow we can use AI to power career-driven lifelong learningTHE podcast: the big ideas behind microcredentialsThis model for individual learning requires an increase in public and private investment. However, unless the government takes more direct action to assist citizenship education, education will continue to support inequality. Emphasis is also placed on two other aspects: the initiative of local government and on-the-job learning opportunities promoted by universities (for example, evening degree programmes).Macau’s Continuing Education Development Plan, which is in its fifth phase (in place until 2026), provides a subsidy of MOP6,000 (£605) every three years for each Macau resident aged 15 or above,&nbsp;which can be used on local or overseas continuing education programmes, tertiary education or certificate examinations. The School of Continuing Studies at the Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST) offers microcredentials and courses for non-traditional students or professional development courses (such as non-degree courses).2. Make information, guidance and advice accessibleInformation, guidance and counselling systems facilitate access to learning and promote equal opportunities. In addition, they can motivate potential students who are interested in non-degree courses to upskill or learn something new.Universities can promote the information on their websites to attract potential students. For example, universities can build internet portals or apps that will offer information on lifelong learning to partners (such as external providers in business and industry) to recruit potential local students through induction.3. Bring learning opportunities closer to studentsMaking education easy to access is the only way to guarantee equal opportunities and access to learning for all people (for example, through shifting government funding or using new teaching methods). Part-time study, online learning, microcredentials, flexible pathways and community outreach are among the ways that universities can offer accessible lifelong education, writes Edith Hammer in UIL’s Only Connect blog.For example, proximity to learning is particularly important if the aim is to increase workforce participation for women and may include providing means and resources for them to reconcile professional and family life, especially if they are caring for children or dependent older people.Universities can also tie their provision to local needs. The research of Daniela Pașnicu, from Spiru Haret University, for instance, focuses on learning in the workplace, with an emphasis on the specific circumstances of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and how lifelong learning is linked to innovation.4. Consider what core competencies to offerIn-demand skills, such as qualifications in information technology, foreign languages, technological culture, entrepreneurship and social skills, can drive a lifelong-learning programme. Learning to learn has also become a focus due to the rise of artificial intelligence. Through offering a continuation of educational opportunities, universities give citizens a pathway for achieving their learning and career objectives and facing the challenges of the knowledge society. In Macau, universities can decide what skills to offer in a lifelong-learning programme based on the local introduction and legislation of the Talent Recruitment System. For example, the special administrative region needs to develop its talent in health, technology, finance, culture and sports, MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) and trade. Accordingly, many campuses have started to promote related lifelong-learning programmes.5. Develop incentives to engage in lifelong learningUniversities can apply strategies to promote lifelong learning that can in turn address skills shortages: a) assess and reward learning (for example, giving excellent students certificates of honour); b) promote a more positive perception of learning and increase awareness of the rights and benefits of learning (through training or education); c) use specific funds and promotional activities (promote the programme on the campus website or application); d) promote the role of information, guidance and advice providers (provide the channel for enquires); or e) facilitate companies to become learning organisations (establish partnerships with SMEs, public service providers, voluntary and community groups, employers and trade unions to develop and promote learning opportunities).In this way, institutions can create a culture of learning that facilitates participation and motivates all those involved in the educational process.Cheong Fan is a lecturer in the School of Liberal Arts at the Macau University of Science and Technology.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus newsletter.

What makes an effective lifelong-learning culture?

Continuing engagement with education doesn’t just happen. Universities need to put the right elements in place to support a culture of lifelong learning, writes Cheong Fan

What are the key components of an effective lifelong-learning culture?

Every campus has a story. The narratives we use reveal what our culture embodies and who we are. We evolve over time and so do our narratives to better capture our thinking. We used to say at University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC): “It is cool to be smart.” We wanted our community members and our public to know that we were not just intelligent but proud to be “nerdy”. Over time, we grew concerned about the focus on “being smart” because being smart is often perceived as a fixed state: people often think either you are smart or you are not. We replaced this notion with a focus on “high expectations” and “grit”.

With this subtle change, we make it clear that, with high expectations, hard work and appropriate support, any student at UMBC can succeed. Since the 1990s, long before Angela Duckworth’s book Grit focused our attention on passion and perseverance, we talked about the need for grit. (In fact, our original mascot at UMBC in 1987 was a Chesapeake Bay retriever called True Grit, a statue of whom is located in front of our administration building.) With this change from “being smart” to “having grit”, we were signalling that we encouraged passion and hard work and were shifting from a “fixed mindset” to what Carol Dweck and others would later call a “growth mindset”.


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	Adaptability is different from resilience – and here’s how to nurture it
	Resilience and empowerment: reframing the narrative for first-gen students


The idea of grit applies not just to our students but to all members of our campus community. This grit is “perseverance of effort combined with the passion for a particular long-term goal”. This notion has been central to our success, as we have grown from a new campus in the Baltimore area in the 1960s into the research university we are today with partnerships across the Baltimore-Washington region, the nation and the globe. 

In an April&nbsp;2020 interview with The Chronicle of Higher Education, Leon Botstein, president of Bard College, likened planning for fall 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic to “driving a car in a thick fog. You go very slowly.” In a December&nbsp;2021 interview with Harvard Magazine, Lawrence Bacow, then president of Harvard, said: “My crystal ball is no better than yours,” and “All plans are subject to change.” These quotes remind us of a notion with the somewhat whimsical name of “coddiwomple”, which means to travel purposefully towards a vague or an as-yet-unknown destination. Although hikers in England coined this slang term to describe wandering in the hills, it nonetheless conveys the sort of grit and resilience that we, and others in higher education institutions, have used to navigate the Covid-19 pandemic. We moved slowly, but deliberately and purposefully, through a dense fog towards an unknown destination, getting up again each time we were knocked down. This is grit amid uncertainty. This is resilience. 

When we looked back at 2020 and the combination of a Covid-19 pandemic, economic recession, racial unrest and political division, the first metaphor that came to mind was “the perfect storm”. This much-used metaphor seemed to fit. Yet, when we took a second look at what we went through, we realised that it did not fully capture the situation. When a storm hits, even a perfect one, you hunker down and wait it out until life returns to normal. If the power is out, you wait until the lights come back on, breathe a sigh of relief and go back to what you were doing. 

Since early 2020, however, we in US higher education have not been in one passing storm but an unending series of intense storms, and we are not going back to what we were doing before. The storms have changed us – our campuses, business operations and work. A more apt metaphor for what we are going through might be that of “climate change”. As with global warming, our environment has changed. We are addressing both the causes and effects of this change. We are reacting and adapting, but also working to shape proactively the future we will live in, even if that world is “an as-yet-unknown destination”.

We vividly recall the shock and fear that we all felt in 2020. We faced a deadly pandemic, political chaos that only increased uncertainty and undermined an effective response, and a looming financial disaster. At one point, our vice-president for administration and finance described our budget situation, as we were closing dorms and facilities, reimbursing fees and receiving word from the state that their revenues were eroding. She said we could see a budget shortfall of as much as $80 million (£69 million) out of an overall annual budget of about $500 million. 

Our serious situation required a community response. We acknowledged that we not only had to respond to the health threat posed by Covid-19 but also had a serious budget problem. We reminded ourselves that we had found our way through hard times before and that we would get through this as well. We had to keep hope alive, work on encouraging positive attitudes and think calmly and carefully about our strategies as we “drove through a thick fog” of uncertainty. Eventually we found our way through the budget nightmare with a combination of short-term choices, drawdowns from our reserves and federal stimulus funding. We did not lay off any staff and sustained our academic programme. 

The voyage through uncertainty and crisis requires resilience, courage, purpose and optimism. Resilience is critical and has three dimensions:


	Institutional resilience involves creating an organisational structure and the human, financial&nbsp;and digital resources that sustain the institution both during normal operations and during a crisis or challenging operational environment.
	Community resilience involves cultivating other key resources – including shared values, a sense of community, mutual trust, grit&nbsp;and optimism – necessary to sustain ourselves during challenging or uncertain times.
	Personal resilience is built on hope, purpose, strong relationships&nbsp;and a sense of physical and emotional security. 


All these are much more effective if built over time, ideally when we are not in the midst of crisis so that we can be ready when we are.

Freeman A. Hrabowski is president emeritus of the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), where he served as president from 1992 to 2022. Peter H. Henderson is senior policy adviser to the president at&nbsp;the&nbsp;University of Maryland, Baltimore. He previously served as senior adviser to the president at UMBC and director of the board on higher education and workforce at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.&nbsp;Lynne C. Schaefer was vice-president for administration and finance at UMBC and is the past president of the National Association of College and University Business Officers. Philip J. Rous is provost, senior vice-president for academic affairs and a professor of physics at UMBC.

This is an edited extract from The Resilient University: How Purpose and Inclusion Drive Student Success by Freeman A. Hrabowski III, with Peter H. Henderson, Lynne C. Schaefer and Philip J. Rous (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2024).

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Three levels of resilience for higher education institutions

In this extract from ‘The Resilient University’, Freeman Hrabowski and co-authors offer the resources and mindset that higher education institutions need to develop to sustain themselves through challenges and crises

‘Resilience is grit amid uncertainty’

I remember when it first dawned on me that teachers’ expectations of me did not match up to my own. Statistically, first-generation British Bangladeshis didn’t do so well in education. I couldn’t fathom it. It felt unjust that, because of my background, teachers didn’t expect me to do well. In fact, my efforts surprised them. When thinking about first-generation students, the sector must recognise and remember that they are people, not just statistics, and that their experiences and perceptions of themselves might differ from the sector rhetoric.

When planning widening participation activities that speak to prospective first-generation students, we first need to ensure that we do not fall into the deficit model trap that focuses on the have-nots (parent/carer expertise and access to certain resources) rather than the haves (familial support, determination and resilience). So, what are some tangible takeaways?

Intersectionality is important

It’s wrong to consider first-generation status in a vacuum. Prospective first-generation students have other characteristics that combine to make them who they are. So it’s important, when planning a widening participation activity, to consider other elements when assessing someone’s suitability. At the University of Bristol, we are transparent about the criteria we use when selecting participants for outreach activities and the reasons behind them. This might include whether a student is or has been eligible for free school meals, is from an area of low progression to higher education, is from an ethnic background that is under-represented at our institution as well as if they are a prospective first-generation student. It is important to consider the whole student and their experiences and expectations.


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Include key influencers 

Family members have a huge influence on prospective first-generation students’ decisions on whether to apply to university. We can separate these key influencers into two camps: those who question the need for higher education and those who instil the expectation of attending university without any first-hand experience of it themselves. Both groups benefit from receiving information and guidance. This might look like:


	A widening participation activity such as an introductory session on a summer school programme that puts parents or carers at ease with the application process and higher education terminology.
	Adding parents or carers to communication lists so they are kept updated by the university at key moments during the year.


These present opportunities to empower key influencers to support their children and to learn more about the benefits of university.

Factors to consider when planning a widening participation activity

An effective widening participation activity should give prospective students a real feel for life at university through a combination of academic sessions and social activities. When deciding what social activities to include, it’s important to think about what would make students feel most at ease and foster a sense of belonging. It can be useful to consider the following questions:


	Does your activity showcase societies or student groups that are reflective of what’s often available at (state) schools? Are they financially accessible? Think lacrosse versus netball, for example.
	Does your activity reflect the lived experience of your students? For example, is a gowned, formal dinner representative, or might it alienate prospective students?
	Has your activity been co-created or led by current students who identify similarly to the cohort you’re trying to engage with? This will make your activity more authentic and empower current students to lead on positive change.


Champion accessible and transparent communications 

Communications between prospective students and their supporters need to be as accessible as possible to ensure that prospective students can make informed decisions.

Knowledge should not be assumed. The sector is full of acronyms (Ucas, BA, BSc, EFL, to name just a&nbsp;few). Let’s not alienate the audiences that we want to engage.

Be transparent. Honesty plays a huge role in helping prospective students make informed decisions about whether to apply. At Bristol, we’re aware we are not where we want to be in terms of the proportion of new intakes who identify as black and Asian. We’re honest about this and share real accounts from current students, while highlighting where we want to be in the future and how we aim to get there.

Through considered communications and widening participation activities, we can build belonging and demystify university study among prospective first-generation students. The key to this is to be conscious of intersectionality and to be aware of the tenacity that these students bring to our institutions.

Raeesah Ellis-Haque is the widening participation manager at the University of Bristol. 

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Speaking to prospective first-generation students

Reflecting on her experiences as a first-generation student and widening participation practitioner, Raeesah Ellis-Haque shares insight into how universities can ensure communications and outreach activities speak to prospective first-generation students

How can we encourage more prospective first-generation students to apply to university?

In 2023, I accomplished a rare feat: I&nbsp;was promoted to professor on the education pathway. Although easier to do now than, say, 10&nbsp;years ago, rising up the ranks through one’s teaching practice is still less common than through one’s research. For those of us on an education career route, our strengths don’t always map on to institutions’ hiring and promotion criteria. This means if we want to progress in our careers, we must learn how to communicate our capabilities effectively.

My own journey would have merited a bit of help from Kirstie and Phil of British property reality show Location, Location, Location fame. I&nbsp;imagine them sitting down with me, a prospective professor, and working out what kind of candidate I&nbsp;was: country or city, a “doer-upper” or a ready to move in.

Actually, I had (much more relevant) help, several years ago, from higher education consultant Jon Scott, with whom I&nbsp;was matched when I&nbsp;joined Profs in&nbsp;Prep&nbsp;– a group for all those, wherever they are on the journey, considering promotion on the education or professional practice pathway. Jon mentored me through providing evidence of my “impact, impact, impact!” We sat down and discussed what I&nbsp;wanted to do and we worked out a plan.

One of the first tips that Profs in Prep founders Julie Hulme and Deborah Lock gave me was to consider my “shop window”. What did I&nbsp;want to be known for, and how should I&nbsp;sell myself? Or, as Kirstie and Phil would counsel: get your house sale-ready by clearing away the clutter and showcasing the best selling points of the asset.


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Jon and I talked about my selling points and what was still needed for a strong application for consideration for a personal chair position (a&nbsp;UK role awarded for individual excellence) according to my institution’s criteria at that time. I&nbsp;was&nbsp;not exactly a “doer-upper”, but I&nbsp;did need to fill a few gaps in my CV to ensure that everyone considering my application at every stage in the promotion process felt that I&nbsp;had fully responded to the criteria. I&nbsp;had plenty to work with. The trick was to clearly state what my impact had been and to provide evidence of&nbsp;it.

 

“Easy,” you might say. Well, yes, if one is selling a house. An estate agent can easily put together a lovely brochure showcasing your property. An application for professorship, however, must comply with word counts, criteria and templates; rules about who to put as referees and who to suggest as external assessors that one must not have worked with (and the panel might not choose them as assessors anyway); and make your case without necessarily being there to make it yourself in person. Some institutions do&nbsp;not interview their aspiring professors. Phew!

Some institutions are strict on word count or the template for the application, the CV and the referees; others are more laissez-faire. But they all want to know about your substantial impact and to see evidence of it. Kirstie (or Phil) shouting: “Impact, impact, impact!” was the soundtrack to my promotion journey – and it should be the soundtrack to yours.

Most importantly, don’t give up! I&nbsp;got knocked back, and many professors in your institutions will have been, too. Ask for feedback when it happens to you. It will help you to reorient your application and ensure that you hit the “buyers” with the “selling points”.

Sometimes, feedback can be disappointing. Use it as an opportunity to deepen the promotion panel’s understanding of what you do. For example, one feedback point to me said: “For someone applying through the education route, you don’t do much teaching.” I&nbsp;addressed this in my next application, making it clear that as dean of learning and teaching, it was not my role to undertake teaching but to ensure the implementation of policies and frameworks to support the enhancement of learning and teaching across the institution. I&nbsp;helped them to understand the context of my application and how my work had impact.

I am aware of individuals on panels commenting on how difficult it is for those of us with a slightly different profile, a slightly different route, a slightly different role to address the university criteria. Be aware that the assessors, the panel or the referees might not readily see your experience as relevant to the general criteria, and be prepared to show them how your selling points are indeed related to them. Think back to the property brochure that will always detail how far away the nearest schools and train stations are – key criteria for prospective home buyers. In your application, you need to tell the reader equally as clearly why you should be promoted on the education pathway.

The education pathway is much wider than simply teaching. It is about providing support for an enhanced student experience – the reason why universities are here in the first place. Many people in universities might be seeking promotion on the education route, including education/academic developers, technology-enhanced specialists, learning designers, librarians, information service specialists, quality assurance and enhancement specialists, or careers and employability specialists. One cannot teach if all the bases are not there, and students are not successful if there are not good outcomes that are supported by many of these very key staff.

To return to my house-selling metaphor – one cannot sell a house if there is a frontage but no foundation. The education pathway has many floors, and too many institutions forget that when it comes to promotion. Some institutions don’t even allow some of the staff mentioned above to apply for promotion on the education route. Let’s work together to ensure that we all focus on the impact of anyone who supports student learning and reward them appropriately in our promotion processes.

Harriet Dunbar-Morris is pro vice-chancellor academic and professor of higher education at the University of Buckingham.

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It’s time to support promotions on the education pathway

Specialist teaching roles such as librarians and learning designers may not map perfectly on to criteria for professorial posts, but they make significant contributions to the student experience and should be rewarded as such, argues Harriet Dunbar-Morris

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