Personal sacrifice and corporate cultures: career progression for disabled staff in higher education

Disabled people are under-represented in higher education (HE), especially in senior posts. This article reports research on the perspectives of career progression into leadership held by disabled staff in one post-1992 university. Findings indicated that some participants were already engaged in leadership or aspired to such roles, and reported positive experiences. However, participants also experienced barriers to progression, including a lack of awareness of equality and diversity among managers and colleagues, inadequate professional development opportunities and the competitive organisational culture of management that could impact on their health and work–life balance. We conclude that disabled staff in HE do not yet have equal opportunities for progression into leadership roles compared with their non-disabled peers. There is a need for realignment of the culture of leadership and management to make it more compatible with the full inclusion of disabled staff in HE such that their unique contributions are valued

Understanding leadership in higher education from a disability perspective

Conference paper, Presented at BELMAS conference in Reading, UK 12/07/2015. funded by the Leadership Foundation for Higher EducationThere is considerable evidence of widespread exclusion of disabled people from the labour market generally (Bebbington 2009); and in the lifelong learning sector Fullick described a situation of "widespread institutional discrimination against disabled staff" (2008:1). Furthermore, there is a lack of disabled people in senior and leadership positions in the sector. This research project explored how disabled staff in one University perceive leadership, the barriers preventing them from taking on leadership roles and how they could be supported to overcome these challenges. Many participants aspired to leadership and reported positive experiences. But many identified barriers such as the nature of their impairments, lack of appropriate support, inadequate training and development and the competitive organisational culture that could impact on their health and work-life balance. Participants felt that investment in supportive opportunities for professional development was needed, along with improved awareness of equality and diversity among managers and colleagues

Understanding Egyptian teachers' perspectives on 'teacher leadership' and its relationship with decision making

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Modelling and Simulation of a Three-Link Spatial Manipulator with One Flexible Link

This paper addresses a manipulator with rigid and flexible links and a payload at its tip. A model is developed that considers gravity and the coupling between the rigid body motion of the system and the bending detection of the flexible link. A simulation study is carried out where a joint proportional-derivative (PD) controller and a fuzzy logic controller (FLC) are applied to the manipulator. The objective is to drive the joints of the manipulator toward a desired destination starting from arbitrary initial conditions while reducing the payload vibrations. The simulation study shows that the FLC is superior to the PD controller in handling manipulators with rigid and flexible links

Male-specific DNA markers provide genetic evidence of an XY chromosome system, a recombination arrest and allow the tracing of paternal lineages in date palm

Whether sex chromosomes are differentiated is an important aspect of our knowledge of dioecious plants, such as date palm (Phoenix dactylifera). In this crop plant, the female individuals produce dates, and are thus the more valuable sex. However, there is no way to identify the sex of date palm plants before reproductive age, and the sex-determining mechanism is still unclear. To identify sex-linked microsatellite markers, we surveyed a set of 52 male and 55 female genotypes representing the geographical diversity of the species. We found three genetically linked loci that are heterozygous only in males. Male-specific alleles allowed us to identify the gender in 100% of individuals. These results confirm the existence of an XY chromosomal system with a nonrecombining XY-like region in the date palm genome. The distribution of Y haplotypes in western and eastern haplogroups allowed us to trace two male ancestral paternal lineages that account for all known Y diversity in date palm. The very low diversity associated with Y haplotypes is consistent with clonal paternal transmission of a nonrecombining male-determining region. Our results establish the date palm as a biological model with one of the most ancient sex chromosomes in flowering plants

I am more than just a TA!

This article is based on the findings of a funded research project. It examines the perspectives of teaching assistants (TAs) and higher-level teaching assistants (HLTAs) on their responsibilities and their views on leadership and management to see how they might have a role in leadership and management. The sample (N = 58) was drawn from schools in the English Midlands. The research followed a sequential mixed method approach which involved a survey and follow-up semi-structured interviews respectively. No major differences were found between the views of TAs and HLTAs. They believed leadership is centred on the support they get from their workplace/colleagues and their engagement in decision-making. They have a preference for the collaborative form of leadership. Although the findings show how TAs and HLTAs perceive leadership and management, which might illuminate some ideas about engaging them in this process, schools have to decide how to meet their own needs