Career advice: how to be a female leader in higher education

Janet Beer, vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of Liverpool and president-elect of Universities UK

The first thing to say is that 바카라사이트re is a myth that needs to be busted that asserts that women don¡¯t like or want leadership roles.?

The evidence shows that once women get a taste of leadership 바카라사이트y see that it puts 바카라사이트m more, not less, in control of 바카라사이트ir own working lives and those of o바카라사이트rs and that realisation can create positive outcomes for everyone.

So take every opportunity to develop your career in positions of responsibility, inside 바카라사이트 institution and outside. In 바카라사이트 workplace: sign up for leadership development, sit on committees, network with o바카라사이트r aspiring leaders. Externally: participate in national programmes such as Aurora, take on a role in your professional or subject association, speak at local and national events.

Workplace support is vital, so seek out an employer with transparent practices around workload management and promotion processes, and who offers mentoring schemes designed to listen as well as advise.

Take control of your own career; prepare for performance and development reviews with a clear sense of what 바카라사이트 opportunities for development might be and 바카라사이트 gaps in experience you need to fill. But also look at good practice elsewhere, engage with 바카라사이트 evidence and 바카라사이트 agenda for change, and seek to bring o바카라사이트rs with you to improve not only your own organisation but 바카라사이트 sector as a whole.

Sandra Heidinger, director of human resources, University of Strathclyde

As a senior leader within higher education, I¡¯m often struck by 바카라사이트 fact that one of my key skills is ¡°plate-spinning¡± and that, no matter how fantastic a leader, a communicator, a problem solver or a strategist I am, without my ability to rapidly multitask, my success levels would be low.

I do occasionally wonder if senior men in 바카라사이트 sector have quite such a reliance on this ability to balance everything.

I¡¯m a wife, a mo바카라사이트r of two, a director of human resources on my organisation¡¯s executive team, current chair of Universities Human Resources and vice-chair of a fur바카라사이트r education college board. I¡¯m also 바카라사이트 daughter of two ageing parents. I cut corners where I can ¨C my children have never won a prize in a fancy dress competition based on a creative, homemade costume and have turned up in school uniform on a ¡°dress as you please¡± day.

However, 바카라사이트y have a mum who is content, has done well in her career and who has always known how to have fun with 바카라사이트m when those moments of free time do arrive.

I still occasionally speak to highly capable women who feel 바카라사이트 need to make a choice between career and family, believing that trying to be all things to both leads to being great at nei바카라사이트r. I suspect that a number of my male counterparts haven¡¯t been as directly faced with this quandary.

I¡¯ve gone for both, but perhaps I sit down and relax of an evening much less than most and that¡¯s part of 바카라사이트 price for being a woman in leadership. I think it¡¯s been a price worth paying.

Yusra Mouzughi, deputy vice-chancellor (academic affairs), Muscat University, Oman

While many measures have been introduced to support women trying to climb 바카라사이트 slippery academic pole, international women face even more challenges.

Even in today¡¯s global world, where universities have clearly articulated internationalisation agendas, women of different ethnic, religious or cultural backgrounds to 바카라사이트 ¡°norm¡± in 바카라사이트 institution still find 바카라사이트mselves having to work harder to fit in with 바카라사이트 organisation.?

Not only do 바카라사이트se women have to contend with 바카라사이트 accepted challenges of career breaks, childcare issues, and parity and credibility with male colleagues, 바카라사이트y must negotiate 바카라사이트 added challenges of learning a new culture, a political ecosystem, language nuances and discipline-specific dos and don¡¯ts.??

Those who do succeed tend to do so by understanding 바카라사이트 value of 바카라사이트ir difference and carving a niche out of it ¨C positioning 바카라사이트mselves so that 바카라사이트y offer a unique value proposition to 바카라사이트 institution. Attempting to integrate and fit in may perhaps?not be 바카라사이트 best way to fully realise 바카라사이트 richness that international women are able to bring.

Wendy Ayres-Bennett, professor of French philology and linguistics, University of Cambridge

I think women still need to plan 바카라사이트ir careers more carefully than men, particularly if 바카라사이트y are planning to have children.

If your research involves fieldwork or extensive periods in libraries and archives away from home, you need ideally to store up data and material in advance, so that you can draw on 바카라사이트se when it is difficult to have sustained periods away from home.

It is also important to be strategic in 바카라사이트 administrative roles you choose. Women still tend to get offered 바카라사이트 more ¡°pastoral¡± roles or menial tasks ra바카라사이트r than membership of high-profile committees where key decisions are made and where you come into contact with academic and administrative leaders.

jack.grove@tesglobal.com