Digital Commons Network^™

Leadership Challenges And Opportunities Experienced By International Women Academics: A Case Study In Australia, Jasvir Kaur Nachatar Singh

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

Scholarly articles on international academics have been weighted towards understanding their broad personal and professional challenges related to teaching. Limited research is conducted with international women academics in Australia in, especially, exploring their leadership-related challenges and opportunities. Using an intersectionality lens, this paper addresses this gap by exploring key related challenges and opportunities for international women academics in gaining leadership positions at Australian universities. It draws on qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with seven international women academics. The findings contribute to the body of knowledge in exploring two major challenges faced by international women academics in Australia: 1) administrative-related interruption …

University Leadership As Engaged Pedagogy: A Call For Governance Reform, Juliana Ryan, Sophie Goldingay

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

Responses to COVID-19 impacts have shown how quickly universities can change, given the impetus. However, global disruptions to university learning and teaching have not yet been matched by any significant change to university leadership. Taking gender equity as our focus, we argue that pedagogical disruption should extend beyond the classroom to reshape academic leadership. In this commentary we critically reflect on the question ‘How can university leaders share power to nurture caring and ethical academic leadership’? Taking some cues from disruptions to university learning and teaching, we call on the work of bell hooks to propose a holistic vision of …

Women’S Work: Women Leading Women In A Teaching-Focussed First Year College, Loretta Konjarski, Julie Fletcher, Maja Husaric, Kate Kelly, Natalie Konyu, Kathy Tangalakis

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

In 2018, a community of practice initiative was introduced to enhance the career opportunities for the 53 women academics in the First Year College (FYC) at Victoria University. The FYC is a teaching-oriented college and thus the traditional career advancement through research is largely not applicable to women in the college – many of whom are teaching-focussed academics. The Women in First Year (WiFY) executive developed and implemented workshops with the aim of aiding women on their career trajectory and in getting more women to senior levels and into leadership positions. In this article we will argue that the WiFY …

Are Women Nursing Academics Represented In University Leadership Positions?, Karen Livesay, Ruby Walter, Sacha Petersen, Lin Zhao

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

The nursing workforce constitutes the largest professional health workforce in Australia. Nursing is traditionally a female dominated profession. This study reviewed Australian universities that provide entry to practice nursing education. The study identified the distribution of females and males in leadership in nursing education, the positioning of the discipline in the university, and where nurses occupy leadership roles above the nursing discipline (faculty/college). Of the 37 universities that offered entry to practice nursing, more females were evident. However, more men were evident in academia than the proportion of men in nursing outside of the academic setting. Leadership nomenclature varied within …

Baked Beans On Toast And Beating The Gender Odds, Marcia Devlin

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

This invited Commentary examines responses to the book, Beating the Odds: A practical guide to navigating sexism in Australian universities. The book is relevant to the theme of the Special Issue, as women leading teaching and learning are doing so in a sexist environment that limits their opportunities to lead and that under-values their contributions when they do manage to achieve leadership roles. The editors invited me to write this Commentary, explaining that they were seeking “… a contemporary, thought-provoking piece by a leader in the topic of the Special Issue”. They suggested the Commentary might be “…an examination …

Editorial: Women And Leadership In Higher Education Learning And Teaching, Kerryn Butler-Henderson, Angela Carbone, Marcia Devlin, Rosalind Bull, Jo Coldwell-Neilson, Susan H. Fenton, Tanya Fitzgerald, Catherine Lang

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

In this Special Issue Harvey and Jones state “It is time for women academics to accept the challenge – to rightfully claim their leadership”. We recognise the many women who have challenged the system, and those whose efforts have been thwarted. We encourage women and men to work together to break down the barriers of gender, race, culture, and religion, so that our current and next generation of female academics can rightfully claim their leadership. This Special Issue is an important step to bringing to light these challenges for women and the changes required to grow and support women in …

Distributing Leadership For Sustainable Peer Feedback On Tertiary Teaching, Dallas Wingrove, Angela Clarke, Andrea Chester

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

A growing evidence-based literature supports the value of peer feedback as a positive professional learning activity that enhances confidence, builds collegial relationships and supports reflective practice. Less clear is how best to embed such programs in university practices. This paper describes a leadership approach developed to support the scalable and sustainable implementation of peer-based professional development in a large Australian university. Drawing on distributed leadership approaches, we locate responsibility for ongoing implementation at the local level. This approach and its effectiveness are evaluated by analysing the experiences of 10 leaders. Based on the leaders’ evaluations and our reflections our approach …

Writing The Book…Literally: The Convergence Of Authentic Intellectual Work (Aiw) And Project-Based Learning (Pbl), Tom M. Buckmiller, Jerrid W. Kruse

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

Using the Project-Based Learning (PBL) and Authentic Intellectual Work (AIW) models, we sought to create coursework that had value beyond the classroom. Refinements in the self-publishing book industry provide the opportunity to present student work to a larger audience and in a different, more engaging format. With the help of free software, our classes were able to publish professionally-finished books for sale on Amazon.com. This article shows how we designed, implemented, assessed and evaluated a book-writing project for graduate (leadership studies) and undergraduate (science education) students who wrote, edited, designed, and published it at the end of the course.

The Development Of Innovative Online Problem-Based Learning: A Leadership Course For Leaders In European Public Health, Nynke De Jong, Karen D. Könings, Katarzyna Czabanowska

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

The shift to a knowledge information society has given rise to a need for lifelong learning programmes. Such programmes are especially relevant for public health professionals, whose dynamic field of practice is subject to changes due to rapidly developing technologies, evolving expectations of the labour market and new health treats. Lifelong learning programmes for public health should address topics like planning, organisation, leadership, teamwork and research methods, and schools of public health should introduce innovative educational approaches that enable professionals to learn from the experiences of others.

This paper describes the rationale for the development of a European online problem-based …

Champions Or Helpers: Leadership In Curriculum Reform In Science, Elizabeth D. Johnson, Fiona L. Bird, Jeanette Fyffe, Emma Yench

Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice

This study describes the perceptions of embedded teaching and learning leadership teams working on curriculum reform in science teaching departments. The teams combined a formally recognised leader, School Director of Learning and Teaching, with a project-based, more junior academic, Curriculum Fellow, to better leverage support for curriculum reform. Teams were established on the principles of localizing support and maximising credibility with discipline staff. The core teams were supported by a larger Faculty team of Associate Dean Academic, academic developer, educational designer, first year coordinator and project manager. Key themes emerging from the collected data were the complementary roles of members …

Pass Student Leader And Mentor Roles: A Tertiary Leadership Pathway, Jane Skalicky, Annaliese Caney

Journal of Peer Learning

In relation to developing leadership skills during tertiary studies, this paper considers the leadership pathway afforded by a Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS) program which includes the traditional PASS Leader role and a more senior PASS Mentor role. Data was collected using a structured survey with open-ended questions designed to capture the personal experiences and self-reported learning outcomes of students undertaking leadership roles within the PASS program. Twelve aspects of leadership are presented from twenty-three Leaders and Mentors: organisation, facilitation, support, attitude, relationships, role model, collaboration, communication, responsibility, decision making, pedagogy, and session management. The qualitative differences between the comments …