Leadership in Academia

Recently I was fortunate to be selected to attend the UKRN Leadership Workshop at the 英国牛津大学 . Being relatively new to academia I was intrigued by how to best bring my prior professional experience as a school leader and EdTech executive into this new context and hoped that this experience would really help. My career transition has felt somewhat akin to the transition from junior school to senior school when you move from being the big fish in the pond to being a minnow once more. I am fortunate to work with an amazing team and an inspiring leader in the Department of Education, University of Oxford . I couldn’t have started my academic career in a better place. However, the nuanced way of working in academia is fundamentally different to anything I have experienced. I hoped that this workshop would help me harness my leadership skills to make a positive impact in my new career in academia.

The workshop began with the notion that in universities the concepts of leadership and management are often conflated. The facilitators defined leadership as ‘taking initiative and adding value’ which resonated well with me and felt achievable in my new context.

Our first syndicate session led to me meeting our facilitator, Nadia Soliman . As a former officer in the British Army who had made the successful transition to academia and was working as an early career researcher, there was serendipitous synergy with my own career journey. Listening to her experiences, insights on leadership and the journey she has travelled in academia to already make a big impact was very much what I needed to hear. Also a timely reminder, that the value of attending courses such as this is as much about the people we meet and the connections we make as it is about the course content.

Over the next two days I enjoyed countless interactions with people on different but analogous journeys to mine. Each passionately committed to their area of research but also eager to make a meaningful contribution to the future of academia too. There were three key takeaways from the workshop that still resonate with me one week later:

1. Know your ‘why’

2. Maximise your ‘how’

3. Be intentional about your ‘who’

The two days spent at Worcester College, Oxford surrounded by the autumnal coloured leaves falling gently on the pristine lawns, were incredibly worthwhile and I’d like to thank UKRN and the University of Oxford for the opportunity to take part. Thanks to the organisers, facilitators and all of the participants who made it such a positive experience.

Am off to lunch soon with two of the new connections I made at the workshop, a sure sign that the impact of these two days will extend far beyond the value of the initial workshop.

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