The Irish sector has been challenged by higher education policy and frameworks to improve gender equity and provide more support for women to thrive in leadership roles at all levels.
Building on the huge success of the Aurora programme in Ireland, we’ve developed a contextualised Senior Women’s Leadership Development Programme for the nation.
Aimed at senior academic and professional services roles, the programme provides a safe space for women and equips them with the knowledge, skills and network necessary to succeed.
Upcoming Cohort:
Date: 26 January 2026
Who is the programme for?
This programme is designed for women in senior academic and professional services roles, such as professors, heads of department, deputy directors and directors. It’s suitable for those who are not yet at the executive level but may aspire to be executive team members, as well as those already working closely with their senior executive team. It is also suitable for those who are working at a senior level and want to expand their leadership horizontally, for example through influencing a wider arena of work.
I've contributed to the Senior Women's Leadership Development Programme as a speaker on a panel and I have a number of colleagues who have completed the programme this year; they've all been very positive about their experience.
“For us as a new university with multiple campuses, across a large geographic region, one of the great benefits for my colleagues doing the programme was simply to get to know each other and the strength of female leadership in the organisation.
“The programme offers formal learning about processes and the way organisations are structured, particularly around governance. Participants also had access to guest speakers from across the sector, excellent workshops and access to a network of peers which is such an important part of any leadership programme.
“My team in ATU have been positive about their experience. When people are busy and have multiple competing priorities, it can be hard to take the time to do a programme like that, but they have really enjoyed the programme.”Dr Orla Flynn, President of Atlantic Technological University (ATU)
Programme outcomes
By taking part in the programme, participants will:
- build momentum in their career progression through renewed commitment and a supportive network of senior women
- develop skills and confidence related to leadership, finance, governance, culture, politics, and influence
- understand the organisational and decision-making frameworks of Irish HEIs and their links to institutional purpose
- explore emergent leadership approaches in the current dynamic HE context
- better understand their unique leadership style, personal impact, and legacy
- enhance their abilities to engage in an organisational dialogue more effectively.
Explore two distinct programmes from Advance HE for HE leaders in Ireland
Find out more about our Strategic Leadership Programme Ireland here
How is the programme structured?
The programme provides a fertile ground for in-depth exploration of current leadership thinking, aligned with practical strategic leadership challenges that participants bring to the room. It provides a safe space to build a network of trusted allies.
Introduction – Orientation: 26 January 2026, 10:00 - 12:30, Online
Setting the scene for Senior Women’s leadership in the current HE context.
Leadership as an art of influence: 3 February 2026, 10:00 - 15:00, Online
Exploring leadership influence based on relationships, conversation and shared purpose.
Governance and Finance: 26 and 27 February 2026, 10:00 - 15:00, Dublin
Exploring frameworks and developing practical strategies for success, especially around funding and finance, accountability and governance.
Action learning sets: 19 and 20 March 2026, 10:00 - 15:00, Online
Smaller group work on practical leadership challenges pertinent to the participants’ leadership roles.
Leadership and legacy: 12 May 2026, 10:00 - 15:00, Online
Discussing current leadership trends and their impact on female leadership.
Price
The delegate price for the programme is:
Advance HE member: €3,965
Advance HE non-member: €5,275
How the programme complements Aurora
The Senior Women’s Leadership Development Programme provides a natural progression from Aurora for those with more leadership experience and exposure, to progress to senior executive roles of influence and leading.
This programme enables deep development and exploration of current leadership thinking alongside a significantly smaller cohort of 24 participants. Women can build close bonds and form alliances that support their career development and progression. The Senior Women’s Leadership Programme Ireland is a much more in-depth experience compared to Aurora.
Programme Director
Programme Facilitators
Professor Karise Hutchinson
Professor of Leadership and the founder of Illuminaire Leadership
,
Advance HE
Guest Speakers
Watch our videos about the Programme
Dr. Alison Keneally, Vice President for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at South East Technological University, shares her journey from legal academic to EDI leader. She discusses progress in gender equality across Irish higher education, ongoing challenges and the importance of mentorship and leadership programmes for women.
In this video, Professor Karise Hutchinson highlights the important threefold dimensions of learning, encompassing the knowing, doing and being of leadership in higher education; and she discusses how the programme will support participants as they develop their leadership skills, through experiential learning from expert facilitators imparting knowledge and insight, the peer-to-peer sharing of experiences and stories between women, and the opportunity to reflect and rethink practices.
In this video, Barbara Bassa, Programme Director and lead for women’s leadership development at Advance HE, talks about the Senior Women’s Leadership Development Programme Ireland. She explains why the Senior Women’s Leadership Development Programme is needed in higher education and how it is specifically designed for the unique context and challenges of being a woman in a senior leadership role in the higher education sector in Ireland.
Related
Your form submission could not be saved. Please try again.
Your form submission has been successful. We will contact you with updates about the programme in due course.