The increasing challenges brought by current financial pressues, meaningfully progressing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) particularly racism, and the need to ensure staff mental health and wellbeing demands good leadership at every level especially as expectations and scrutiny mount. The emerging ‘hybrid-higher’ student academic experience also continues to test those who lead, demanding effective decision-making and accountability. Higher education continues to deliver a set of complex challenges for its leaders and we can support your institution by equipping your leaders so they lead with an assured confidence, characterised by agility, innovation and inclusivity to meet these rising challenges.
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Over the past years, the sector has been experiencing change in a way not experienced before. At the time of designing the programme, the world of VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) seemed to be an appropriate backdrop to start the alignment of culture, process and systems with wellbeing and values in order to assist in creating an environment that staff and students would thrive in. Advance HE not only understands this ‘tapestry’ of inter-woven elements but also facilitates the design and delivery of discussion and understanding very effectively.”Dr Sally Jackson, Chief People Officer at Sheffield Hallam University
Our areas of work
Identifying your challenges
We understand that no two education systems or institutions are the same and that is why we use a partnership approach to our consultancy and enhancement services to understand your challenges and develop interventions tailored to your context and goals.
Providing strategic guidance and transforming culture
Advance HE has supported HE systems and institutions with their leadership and management for nearly 20 years’. We understand that in order to have real impact, initiatives need to be strategic and include considerations of culture. Using our experts and extensive resources we can support you to develop and implement sustainable and successful strategies and leadership practices.
Growing and enhancing leadership capacity
Through a rich history of development programmes and working with institutions around the world, we are able to deliver in-house development programmes which build both capability and capacity. Tailored to your context, themes of these programmes can include academic leadership, leading on EDI, research team leadership or other areas of HE leadership.
Diversifying leadership
Representation at the highest levels of institutions remains a challenge for ethnic minorities, women and other disadvantaged groups. There is also documented evidence of the poor experiences of many of these groups in HE including experiences related to leadership roles. Having delivered a multitude of cohorts through programmes such as Aurora and the Diversifying Leadership programme we are highly experienced in supporting these groups to succeed in their leadership journeys.
Supporting your sustainable transformation strategy
Advance HE in collaboration with Times Higher Consultancy have developed a range of products for institutions and governments to support the higher education sector to promote and utilise the SDGs to drive institutional change across research and culture, curricula and civic responsibility.
Global leadership survey and framework
Working with the sector, Advance HE plans to develop a global survey for leadership in higher education, research institutes and related organisations. The project will generate a unique evidence base for leadership in higher education, highlight contextual variations across the sector and around the world and explore the impact of leadership development. It will also inform the development of a sector-led global leadership framework for enhancement and recognition.
As the first step, Advance HE has commissioned a scoping study that will be undertaken by a research team led by the University of Bristol and involving colleagues from the University of the West of England and Swansea University. This research study consisting of a literature review and a series of ten roundtable discussions will inform the survey design.
Developing leaders through Advance HE programmes and events
Our wealth of experience, the quality of our delivery and distinctiveness is threaded through our portfolio of programmes and events in developing new and existing leaders. Using diverse and immersive experiential learning techniques our portfolio provides its participants with the opportunity to enhance their skills and become authentic leaders, delivered by facilitators from inside and outside HE with a deep and enduring knowledge of its wonders and challenges.
Reports and publications
With over 15 years of resources to access and as convener of current thinking, knowledge and insight into the key sector opportunities and challenges, Advance HE exists to help higher education shape its future. Examples of our publications to support leaders include: