Creating a diverse research leadership pathway

Excellent leadership is the bedrock of research culture, environments, performance, and development - yet many institutions lack a diverse pipeline of leadership talent. So let's build better leadership ladders.

We know that effective research leadership is critical for research performance and institutional success. There is also a wealth of research which demonstrates a clear relationship between leadership diversity and organisational success. The challenge is that, across the sector, there remains an imbalance in equality, diversity, and inclusion in research leadership.

Research leadership can feel like a near-impossible job, with the requirement to manage many different people and moving parts almost entirely through influence. Not to mention the additional challenge for research-active academics to maintain a high level of research quality in addition to their leadership responsibilities. This can be a particular issue for women in research.

Put like that, who on earth would want to apply for that Associate Dean or PVC role?

In this article I pull from my own experience in building diverse and supportive research leadership pipelines, explore how this could help solve a number of research leadership problems, and present options for implementing this more widely.

Why this is important

In this article I build on a discussion piece published in Times Higher Education Campus a couple of years ago with Peter Hogg on how to fill the leadership talent pool.

One challenge is that much of the information on academic leadership comes from studies at the senior executive level (vice-chancellor, pro vice-chancellor). Yet, at this level, the opportunities for change may be limited as there may not be a pipeline of diverse talent to take on these roles, or opportunities for intervention.

Within universities, the traditional hierarchical approach to leadership and strategic / decision-making committees may also "bake in" existing inequalities, and leave minoritised groups without role models or a voice at the top tables.

The good news is that there is a wealth of untapped leadership talent across the sector and at every level within institutions. Just imagine the possibilities for research performance, as well as culture and diversity, if we could harness all that expertise, innovation, and creativity in an inclusive and supportive way.

The challenge

At the risk of repeating myself, academic leadership positions may look pretty unattractive to potential candidates. As I mentioned in the last edition of this newsletter , academic leadership positions can appear overwhelming, especially with patchy training, responsibility, uncertain expectations, and nebulous role descriptions.

It can feel like a huge jump to move from an academic career to a leadership role such as Associate Dean. This is exacerbated by a lack of role models, or dedicated mentoring, for under-represented communities, leading to the risk that many potentially talented leaders simply won't apply for these roles

Which leads to difficulties with succession planning, recruitment, and the quality of research leadership.

A potential solution

A far more effective approach is to focus on creating diverse, inclusive and, above all, transparent leadership pathways - or ladders - supported by mentoring and development. When done in partnership with representatives of minoritised groups, and with school, college, or faculty leadership, these pathways and initiatives can be tailored to the needs of the organisation and individuals.

Why does this work?

Firstly it lowers the experience and commitment bar for entry to leadership, so makes it a far less intimidating prospect. Secondly it is a powerful way to harness individual researchers' passion and expertise in specific discipline or leadership areas. And thirdly it enables researchers to build, capability, reputation, and skills that will increase their confidence and eligibility for the next leadership opportunity when it presents itself.

There is a significant added benefit in that having a larger pool of leadership talent takes the pressure off existing leaders - making those roles more attractive and sustainable in the longer term.

So how could this work?

The main thing I want to emphasise is that this can be done relatively simply, without needing complex processes or a large workload requirement. Solutions can be tailored to fit within existing institutional structures, and could potentially grow organically based on need.

The key is to take action at every level of leadership, and to consult and provide support along the way to ensure diversity and inclusion.

Examples could include:

• Working groups: Addressing specific institutional needs, such as policy developments by creating pan-university, academic-led working groups (supported by professional services). Members are selected for their expertise and interest in a particular area, rather than their career level. Benefits: Rather than overwhelming existing leaders with yet another committee, members will be working in an area of particular interest - resulting in better quality outcomes. Members will also gain experience working on university-wide projects, potentially building their reputation and impact.
• Decision-making committees: In many institutions, membership of such committees is traditionally based on hierarchical roles - e.g. at Associate Dean or professorial level. Yet this can put overwhelming pressure on these leaders, as well as hard wiring existing inequalities. Instead, open membership to earlier career leaders - with appropriate mentorship and support. Benefits: Opening membership to earlier career leaders, and people from under-represented groups brings improved representation, and a greater diversity of thought and experience to decision-making committees. It also provides insight to and familiarity with more senior levels of research leadership.
• Secondments and intermediate roles: Creating a more granular leadership pathway within school, college, or faculty structures allows for researchers to experience leadership of specific areas of responsibility - such as #REF, researcher development, or bid development. Benefits: This can create a supportive culture in roles that can traditionally feel lonely or overwhelming. It spreads the leadership load, creates capacity in the system, and generates a pool of talent for more senior roles
• Open recruitment to earlier career stages: Challenging traditional hierarchies and assumptions that certain leadership roles must be filled by professors can make a significant difference to diversity and inclusion. Benefits: From my own experience, I have seen senior lecturers, readers, and lecturers appointed to school research leadership positions, and seen the significant changes in culture which can arise, as well as accelerated career progression for earlier career leaders appointed to these positions.

The potential impact

The proposed changes to #REF2029 provide a unique and powerful opportunity to re-think research leadership across the sector to support the changes in research culture and environment that are needed.

Greater diversity of leadership, harnessing the expertise found across universities, bringing diverse experience and voices to the leadership table, and creating more innovative conversations can only benefit the research endeavour.

These strategies are relatively simple to implement - with the engagement of all stakeholders, and with support at a senior level.

We have the opportunity to re-write the research leadership book - so let's open up the conversation and create genuine and lasting change.

Have your say

What have you done within your own universities to develop more diverse and inclusive leadership pathways? What has been the result? And, more importantly, what lessons have you learned to improve implementation in the future?

#ResearchLeadership #ResearchCulture #InclusionAndDiversity