After six years of being part of Aurora, I have become accustomed to the growing buzz as participants arrive, and Edinburgh didn’t disappoint. This cohort certainly won the prize for punctuality and attendance - we were ready to start on time with a packed room of women, with a palpable sense of anticipation, a little apprehension, excitement, pleasure at seeing colleagues and old friends, and a feeling of awe at the sight of 250-plus professional women coming together to talk and share and learn about leadership in higher education.
And so our journey begins on the @AdvanceHE #IAmAurora Programme with fellow @ThinkUHI colleagues and 200 incredible women from across the UK @LTA_UHI #ThinkUHI pic.twitter.com/GaGtijzowP
— Katie Masheter (@KatieMasheter) November 5, 2019
#IAmAurora inspiring first day of the Aurora programme in Edinburgh pic.twitter.com/yCQhiwyrup
— sally waite (@sallywaite2) November 5, 2019
There is something totally uplifting about sitting in a room full of women (over 250!!) and talking all things leadership... @AdvanceHE #IAmAurora pic.twitter.com/MpQVwQelUN
— Evi Germeni (@evi_germeni) November 5, 2019
Walking into a room with hundreds of professional women is pretty powerful! Looking forward exploding my leadership through the Aurora Programme #IAmAurora pic.twitter.com/LouZYm0iKu
— Scotty (@ClaireScott86) November 5, 2019
Amanda Wilsher led the day with warmth, presence and great humour, encouraging participants to fully own their right and ability to see themselves as people who can increase their impact and get their voices heard within their institutions. Among the many insights she offers, my favourite was the idea of eye contact as the opportunity to make a generous and optimistic offer of yourself to a conversation.
Learning about status and authority - how to live the leadership role #iamaurora @dundeelecturer pic.twitter.com/FCPHv46AJk
— Linda Martindale (@drlmartindale) November 5, 2019
Reflecting on what 'Identity' means to all of us and how our individual identities are constructed... #IAmAurora @ScotFundCouncil @alliballibee21 @beingweelauz pic.twitter.com/MUUyfGoj2Z
— Pamela Forbes (@Pamela_Forbes91) November 5, 2019
Table 11 hard at work thinking about identity. Me, mother, wife, grandmother, sister, daughter, academic, teacher, thinker, leader #iamaurora pic.twitter.com/NlZoi1SG17
— Linda Martindale (@drlmartindale) November 5, 2019
Our speaker, Carron Shankland, has presented many times at Aurora about her experiences of dealing - or not dealing - with work overload, depression and the inability to feel on top of things. She is a thoughtful and utterly engaging communicator, inspiring the audience with her honesty and her heartfelt plea to colleagues to be kind to themselves and to others.
Highlight of my day was hearing @CarronShankland talk with absolute honesty and humility about her life and career #IAmAurora @AdvanceHE. Also 👊 to my 🌈 family, it still means a lot to see us represented.
— Hannah Grist (@hgloki) November 5, 2019
Thrilled to be in Edinburgh at Day 1 of the Aurora Programme - Women in Leadership with the rest of the @NorthumbriaUni ladies. The bravery of @CarronShankland to talk so honestly about the pressures of HE made us all think hard about our own work-life balance #IAmAurora
— Chelsea Brain (@Chelsea_Brain) November 5, 2019
There is a real pleasure in listening to the different sounds of the day - each time we go into an exercise or a conversation, the sound of the room changes. There is the hum of introduction as participants learn about each other, the thoughtful murmur of discussions about what leadership looks like, the joyful enthusiasm when people talk about the people who inspire them, and the glorious wall of sound that comes when a room full of women explore the extent of the power of their voices!
Aurora is Advance HE`s leadership development initiative for women and those who identify as a woman. Aurora runs in a number of locations across the UK and Ireland and consists of six interlinked days. To find a cohort search "Aurora" in our calendar.