Papers by paula Burkinshaw
Higher Education, Leadership and Women Vice Chancellors, 2015
This chapter explores the lived experiences of women vice chancellors in terms of negotiating and... more This chapter explores the lived experiences of women vice chancellors in terms of negotiating and navigating higher education gendered leadership cultures which we know are alive and well. Gendered leadership cultures are alive and well within higher education (Acker, 2010, Bagilhole, 2007, O’Connor, 2011). Not only that, so many people are studying the culture of higher education through a gender lens that it is surprising there is anything new to research (Morley, 2013b). Should we, once and for all, not only admit that the cultures are flawed but also work together to do something meaningful to address this damaging issue? Gendered leadership culture is the glue that holds academe together through its pores and mores (Benschop and Brouns, 2003), and it was common to find my participants talking about this: When you are group of leaders together leading a university there’s a fair amount of banter and social stuff that’s going on and that’s severely gendered, endless football and cricket discussions, partly I’m not interested in sport but they are male sports I can’t imagine them getting excited about women’s hockey or something, there’s a lot of being comfortable with each other that’s to do with gender, that’s not leadership but it’s part of bonding as a team that maybe you have to find ways that you can interact with them on a social level, to make the leadership bit work well rather than make yourself always look slightly odd. (1)
• Background This paper profiles research into the under-representation of women at Vice Chancell... more • Background This paper profiles research into the under-representation of women at Vice Chancellor level in UK Higher Education. Less than 15% of Vice Chancellors are women, whereas women make up 51% of the general population, 50% of early career academics and 60% of higher education students. The research presented in this thesis explores why so few women are Vice Chancellors, and whether anything can be done to increase the number. It also examines whether leadership development can make a difference to increasing women’s representation in senior academic leadership. • Research questions 1. To what extent is the under-representation of women in senior academic leadership a result of gendered senior leadership culture? 2. How can this culture be interpreted and understood in terms of Communities of Practice of Masculinities? 3. How well do women academics operate in UK Higher Education senior leadership Communities of Practice of Masculinities? 4. What is the value of leadership development in addressing the under-representation of women in senior academic leadership? • Research methods and mapping of the literature This paper addresses a gap in the literature by drawing on data generated by in-depth interviews with 20 women Vice Chancellors/Pro Vice Chancellors across the UK. Most of these interviews were conducted face-to-face, with a small number carried out over the telephone. • Analytical and theoretical framework Paechter’s concept of masculinities and femininities as Communities of Practice is being employed and explored through this project, because of the emphasis on the research on masculinities in higher education academic leadership circles. This theoretical framework will be critically examined, and possibly refined and reinterpreted as a result of this research. • Research findings and contribution to knowledge This research is examining the under-representation of women at VC level in the UK in order to: contribute to the on-going debate in this area across all sectors; explore the hypothesis around communities of practice of masculinities; and recommend leadership development interventions that will make a difference for women. Themes from the interview data include: value of confidence, resilience, and ambition; need for sponsorship and support; experience of ‘masculinities’ leadership behaviours; lack of career planning; impact of ‘critical mass’ of women at the top; navigating gendered leadership cultures by fitting in; the private space.
BMJ Open, 2022
ObjectivesThe UK National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) training programmes were created t... more ObjectivesThe UK National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) training programmes were created to build and sustain research capacity in healthcare. Following the training programme 10-year strategic review, this qualitative study aimed to deepen understanding of facilitators and barriers for those progressing through NIHR-supported research careers.DesignSemistructured qualitative study.Data collection and analysisTelephone interviews conducted between May and August 2017 were digitally recorded, transcribed and analysed using Framework Approach.SettingUK National Health Service (NHS) Trusts, university medical schools, District General Hospitals, Integrated Academic Training Programme centres and Research Design Services across the North East, North West, South East and South West of England, London and the Midlands.ParticipantsFourteen women and eight men, of whom, 14 were previous or current NIHR personal awardees (seven doctors and seven allied health professionals (AHPs) or n...
• Background This paper profiles research into the under-representation of women at Vice Chancell... more • Background This paper profiles research into the under-representation of women at Vice Chancellor level in UK Higher Education. Less than 15% of Vice Chancellors are women, whereas women make up 51% of the general population, 50% of early career academics and 60% of higher education students. The research presented in this thesis explores why so few women are Vice Chancellors, and whether anything can be done to increase the number. It also examines whether leadership development can make a difference to increasing women’s representation in senior academic leadership. • Research questions 1. To what extent is the under-representation of women in senior academic leadership a result of gendered senior leadership culture? 2. How can this culture be interpreted and understood in terms of Communities of Practice of Masculinities? 3. How well do women academics operate in UK Higher Education senior leadership Communities of Practice of Masculinities? 4. What is the value of leadership development in addressing the under-representation of women in senior academic leadership? • Research methods and mapping of the literature This paper addresses a gap in the literature by drawing on data generated by in-depth interviews with 20 women Vice Chancellors/Pro Vice Chancellors across the UK. Most of these interviews were conducted face-to-face, with a small number carried out over the telephone. • Analytical and theoretical framework Paechter’s concept of masculinities and femininities as Communities of Practice is being employed and explored through this project, because of the emphasis on the research on masculinities in higher education academic leadership circles. This theoretical framework will be critically examined, and possibly refined and reinterpreted as a result of this research. • Research findings and contribution to knowledge This research is examining the under-representation of women at VC level in the UK in order to: contribute to the on-going debate in this area across all sectors; explore the hypothesis around communities of practice of masculinities; and recommend leadership development interventions that will make a difference for women. Themes from the interview data include: value of confidence, resilience, and ambition; need for sponsorship and support; experience of ‘masculinities’ leadership behaviours; lack of career planning; impact of ‘critical mass’ of women at the top; navigating gendered leadership cultures by fitting in; the private space.
Women, Business and Leadership, 2019
This paper discusses my research into the under-representation of women at Vice Chancellor level ... more This paper discusses my research into the under-representation of women at Vice Chancellor level (VC) in UK Higher Education. Less than 15% of VC’s are women (Breakwell, 2008 ), which is unrepresentative of them being around 51% of the UK population, almost 50% of early career academics and soon reaching 60% of higher education students (McTavish, 2009). I am enquiring into possible causes of this inequity and whether anything can be done to redress the balance.
Higher Education, Leadership and Women Vice Chancellors, 2015
BMJ Open, 2021
BackgroundMentoring is frequently suggested as an intervention to address gender inequalities in ... more BackgroundMentoring is frequently suggested as an intervention to address gender inequalities in the workplace.ObjectivesTo systematically review evidence published since a definitive review in 2006 on the effectiveness of mentoring interventions aimed at achieving gender equality in academic medicine.DesignSystematic Review, using the Template for Intervention Description and Replication as a template for data extraction and synthesis.SampleStudies were included if they described a specific mentoring intervention in a medical school or analogous academic healthcare organisation and included results from an evaluation of the intervention.Eligibility criteriaMentoring was defined as (1) a formally organised intervention entailing a supportive relationship between a mentor, defined as a more senior/experienced person and a mentee defined as a more junior/inexperienced person; (2) mentoring intervention involved academic career support (3) the mentoring relationship was outside line ma...
Frontiers in Education, 2020
This article explores the metaphors and images used by different generations of women to describe... more This article explores the metaphors and images used by different generations of women to describe women's leadership in higher education (HE) and the impact these perceptions have on their careers and career ambitions. It also explores how such metaphors and images can position them as "other," silence their voices in the dominant masculinist discourse, and marginalize them. The emphasis in the gender and higher education literature has been on identifying the barriers that impede women's progress in academic organizations, including images of continuing hegemonic masculine leadership, and their promotion to leadership positions. These models position women leaders who are assertive as troublemakers, and women as "the problem" either because of their attitudes or perceived domestic and family responsibilities. And while women leaders are often not gender conscious, they are frequently doing gender in their senior roles. The metaphors and images that portray women's leadership are often of hidden work, supporting more senior males, or "ivory basement" leadership. Combined, they suggest a deficit model that positions women as lacking for top jobs, and institutions therefore needing to "fix the women" generally through leadership development programmes, sponsorship and mentoring. The article examines the metaphors and images used to describe women's leadership across two generations. Older women often saw their leadership as conforming to male leadership models, as fitting in, and not challenging or unsettling their male colleagues. However, a younger generation of leaders or prospective leaders had a very different set of metaphors for their leadership. They saw themselves as unsupported by what they described as the current mediocre, institutional leaders, weighed down by inexorable organizational restructure, and merely in survival mode. Hence, they refused to accept the masculinist leadership model which they perceived as ineffectual, outdated and not meeting their needs. The article suggests that the prevailing culture in higher education leadership and the metaphors and images used to describe successful leadership narrows the options for women leaders. While older women were prepared to accept current masculinist leadership, younger women had contempt for the way it marginalized them while at the same time encouraging them to lift their game and had a different set of metaphors and images to portray what successful leadership should look like.
Education Sciences, 2018
Debates on the absence of women in senior organizational roles continue to proliferate but relati... more Debates on the absence of women in senior organizational roles continue to proliferate but relatively little attention is paid to the Higher Education (HE) context in which women in leadership roles are seriously under-represented. However, higher education is now central to UK political discourse given the growing controversy around student fees, vice chancellors' remuneration' and Brexit. This paper draws on a collaborative research study on the experiences of 105 senior women leaders across 3 UK Universities, which elicited accounts of constraints, successes and career highlights. Our research findings present empirical insights that expose the continuing gender inequalities most notable in senior Higher Education roles. Women's accounts include stories of diverse experiences, ongoing discriminatory practices and a failure to recognise the embedded gendered inequalities that continue to prevail in these institutions. Through a critical interrogation of the narratives of female professors and building on insights from a seminal paper by Broadbridge and Simpson a conceptual framework is offered as a heuristic device to capture critical and reflexive data in future studies of equality and inequality in leadership roles.
Academy of Management Proceedings, 2019
Social Sciences, 2019
This Special Issue focuses on women and leadership in higher education (HE) [...]
Administrative Sciences, 2017
The lack of women in leadership across higher education has been problemitised in the literature.... more The lack of women in leadership across higher education has been problemitised in the literature. Often contemporary discourses promote 'fixing the women' as a solution. Consequently, interventions aimed at helping women break through 'the glass ceiling' abound. This article argues that the gendered power relations at play in universities stubbornly maintain entrenched inequalities whereby, regardless of measures implemented for and by women, the problem remains. The precariousness for women of leadership careers is explored through two separate but complementary case studies (from different continents and different generations) each one illuminating gender power relations at work. The article concludes by arguing that it is universities themselves that need fixing, not the women, and that women's growing resistance, particularly of the younger generation, reflects their dissatisfaction with higher education leadership communities of practice of masculinities.
BMJ Open, 2017
ObjectivesThe number of women entering medicine has increased significantly, yet women are still ... more ObjectivesThe number of women entering medicine has increased significantly, yet women are still under-represented at senior levels in academic medicine. To support the gender equality action plan at one School of Medicine, this study sought to (1) identify the range of viewpoints held by staff on how to address gender inequality and (2) identify attitudinal barriers to change.DesignQ methodology. 50 potential interventions representing good practice or positive action, and addressing cultural, organisational and individual barriers to gender equality, were ranked by participants according to their perception of priority.SettingThe School of Medicine at the University of Leeds, UK.ParticipantsFifty-five staff members were purposively sampled to represent gender and academic pay grade.ResultsPrincipal components analysis identified six competing viewpoints on how to address gender inequality. Four viewpoints favoured positive action interventions: (1) support careers of women with ch...
Higher Education, Leadership and Women Vice Chancellors, 2015
Women's History Review, 2015
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Papers by paula Burkinshaw