Building Inclusive Leadership in Education in a Research Intensive University: Enabling Current and Future Generations

Lead: Leda Mirbahai

Team: Elisabeth Blagrove (co-lead), Nikola Chmel (co-lead), Naomi Chopra, Richard Clay, Isabel Fischer, John Kirkman

Year: 2024-2025

Summary

This project explored how educational leadership (EL) is understood, experienced, and developed within research-intensive universities. Through semi-structured staff interviews and student focus groups, we examined conceptualisations of leadership, institutional influences, barriers, and benefits.

Findings revealed that students often view EL through teaching and learning roles, valuing empathy, communication, and charisma. Staff conceptualisations were broader, encompassing change-making, influence, and responsibility, while consistently highlighting people-focused skills. Institutional culture showed mixed effects: research intensity was less influential than the broader purpose of higher education, yet disparities between teaching-focused and teaching-and-research colleagues persist. Diversity and visible role models emerged as critical to inclusive leadership development.

Barriers included workload, lack of recognition or reward, and limited awareness of institutional policies, though local practices and mentoring often had greater impact. Both students and staff saw benefits: students associated leadership with personal growth, role modelling, and aspiration, while staff reported intrinsic satisfaction and expanded opportunities.

To support EL, professional development, cross-institutional engagement, and structured training are essential. Recommendations focus on reducing barriers, enhancing mentorship, and building inclusive leadership pathways that align personal motivations with institutional expectations, ultimately fostering resilient systems that promote teaching quality, wellbeing, and institutional success.