This presentation paints a picture of the typical university leadership team in 2020. Who will they be? Where will they come from and what preparation will they have had for the role? It then explores the issues raised for leadership capacity building in the sector and highlights potential challenges for staff and organisational development professionals

Shepherd, Sue

English

Kent Academic Repository

HE in 2020: Will we have the leaders we need? Sue Shepherd, University of Kent  SDF Staff Developers Conference 2015 Presentation Outline • Current profile of typical HE ‘core’ leadership team • What might this team look like in 2020? • Why might this be the case? • Implications for HE leadership/management development: will we have the leaders we need? • Challenges for staff and organisational development professionals HE Leadership Teams: Who are they now? Current Profile of DPVCs Pre-1992 Universities  (Census 2013) All HEIs  (Equality Challenge Unit data 2013/4) White 96% 97% Male 76% 65% Professors 90% - No declared disability - 98% Age: 70% of senior academic staff are 51 and over Gender Balance:  • Registrars and Senior Directors: 67% and 70% male • VCs: 80% male (89% at pre-1992 universities) • Professors: 78% male HE Leadership Teams in 2020? Why So Little Change? • Exclusionary approach to senior appointments • Professional closure: posts framed in such a way that excludes non-academics/those from outside sector  • Homosociability: tendency to recruit ‘people like us’ • Conservatism: as importance of making good senior appointment increases, so HEIs become more risk averse, leading to appointment of ‘safer’ candidates • Fixation on experience, rather than achievement or potential • Re-circulation of existing post holders as part of a “self-perpetuating hierarchy” or leadership elite  Implications for the Sector • Quality of HE leadership is becoming more important than ever, so will we have the leaders we need?  • Hard to envisage increased leadership capacity • Despite social justice and business case for more inclusive leadership teams, failing to attract and appoint the ‘best’ candidates from widest possible talent pool  • Roles are more managerial and demanding, yet entry route/preparation remain largely unchanged  • Danger of buying in, rather than nurturing home-grown talent: a “sticking plaster” short-term solution that fails to address longer-term leadership development problem  Challenges for Staff/Organisational Developers • Overcoming scepticism from VCs and other senior staff about the value of training and development • Challenging the view that leadership/management skills can be taken for granted in academics • Ensuring that internal staff development and succession management remains a priority  • Retaining ambitious and talented professional services managers whose progression opportunities within HE are limited • Arguing the case for, and supporting, the development of a more diverse group of future leaders  Website:  sue-shepherd.co.uk  Twitter:  @sueshepherdHE Find out more 

HE in 2020: Will We Have the Leaders We Need?

http://kar.kent.ac.uk/52258/1/__bodiam_SPR_sjs62_My%20Files_phd%20dissemination_conferences_SDF%20nov%202015_SDF%20nov%202015.pdf

HE in 2020: Will We Have the Leaders We Need?

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