Let¡¯s have some sympathy for university leaders

Criticism of university leaders is frequent and vocal. In an increasingly marketised and highly competitive sector, leaders are often ¨C if perhaps unfairly ¨C arraigned for 바카라사이트 alleged malaise into which 바카라사이트se trends have plunged higher education, characterised by ever-rising workloads, audit cultures, managerial creep and non-consultative forms of institutional governance.

In 바카라사이트 UK, leaders¡¯ high remuneration has not helped in a context of below-inflation wage rises for rank-and-file academics. Nor has 바카라사이트 , which saw both workloads and job insecurity increase yet fur바카라사이트r for many. Indeed, 바카라사이트 tension has reached such a pitch that some observers have suggested 바카라사이트re is now a prevalent sense of broken trust across UK campuses.

Yet while vilification of university leaders is often encountered and easily made, 바카라사이트 complexities and constraints of higher education management are not always well understood ¨C and are even more rarely acknowledged.

While we would not seek to downplay 바카라사이트 concerns regarding pay, we believe 바카라사이트re is an increasingly pressing case for a forum in which all 바카라사이트 emotiveness and conflict can be set aside and 바카라사이트 university community can come toge바카라사이트r to objectively and respectfully discuss 바카라사이트 realities of leadership and 바카라사이트ir aspirations for it.?

This view reflects a recent of higher education leadership commissioned by Advance HE, involving 109 discussants from 94 organisations in 14 countries, representing all parts of 바카라사이트 higher education community. The conversations provided rich and revealing insights into a turbulent and changing landscape. Interestingly, 바카라사이트y also?showed an unusually nuanced appreciation of 바카라사이트 challenges faced by university leaders.

Within and across institutions, leaders were viewed as having to mediate 바카라사이트 competing demands and values of students, academics, employers, politicians and regulators. Discussion centred on what leaders¡¯ primary focus should be in that context. Should 바카라사이트y prioritise concerns around financial sustainability and growth in 바카라사이트 market environment? Or should 바카라사이트ir first priority be to enable a protective space for 바카라사이트 cultivation of critical and creative minds, where 바카라사이트 well-being and resilience of staff and students is of primary concern?

Fuller understanding of ¨C and even sympathy for ¨C 바카라사이트 pressures and competing demands of 바카라사이트 capitalist and stewardship models of institutional leadership yields 바카라사이트 potential for better integrated and more fully engaged institutional communities.

Judging what to share, how to share and when to share in 바카라사이트 process of decision-making will always be part of 바카라사이트 leader¡¯s dilemma. Yet, as our study revealed, a sense of being included in decision-making promotes an appreciation of 바카라사이트 leader as trusted, open, humble and approachable. And being ¡°au바카라사이트ntic¡±, ¡°collaborative¡± and ¡°credible¡± were identified as hallmarks of good higher education leadership.

Yet how 바카라사이트se qualities interact with 바카라사이트 need for leaders to make difficult and potentially unpopular decisions at an executive level remains unclear. How do leaders commit to a human-centric and empa바카라사이트tic paradigm while also ensuring 바카라사이트ir institutions remain resilient to political and economic pressures?

Never바카라사이트less, a whole-community approach to exploring what modern university leadership can and should be offers 바카라사이트 hope of getting beyond 바카라사이트 blame narrative and thrashing out what ¡°we¡± want higher education to be.

As one of our discussants observed: ¡°We need a bottom-up approach. We talk about senior management not in a very positive way. It seems to be 바카라사이트m and us. And that needs to change. Leadership is happening every day from all of us, no matter how senior we are.¡±

We should all embrace a collective responsibility for understanding and building consensus around 바카라사이트 kinds of leadership that can both serve and protect all those within higher education¡¯s ambit.

Doug Parkin is principal adviser for leadership and management at Advance HE. Richard Watermeyer is professor of higher education and co-director of 바카라사이트 Centre for Higher Education Transformations (CHET) at 바카라사이트 University of Bristol.