19 April 2023

Diversity, Difference and Distributive Justice in Academic

Leadership

Professor Louise MorleyCentre for Higher Education and Equity

Research (CHEER)University of Sussex, UK

http://www.sussex.ac.uk/education/cheer

19 April 2023

Why Diversify Academic Leadership?

Higher education a major site of:

Cultural practices/messages/ values

Identity formationKnowledge formation, capital &

dissemination Opportunity structures for

social mobilityWorker production for other

influential institutionsSymbolic control

(Holmwood, 2011; Morley, 2011)

19 April 2023

Snapshot Statistics: Absent Women

Hong Kong

• 13% professors/readers in 2009/10

• No female vice-chancellor (HKSAR, 2012).

Sweden

• 20% professors in 2010/11

• 43% vice-chancellors (SOS, 2012).

Turkey

• 28.5% professors in 2010/11

• 7% vice-chancellors (ÖSYM, 2012).

UK

• 21% professors in 2010/11

• 14% vice- chancellors (HEFCE, 2012).

19 April 2023

Consequences of Absence of Leadership Diversity

Employment/ Opportunity Structures

Distributive injustice/ Structural Prejudice.

Depressed career opportunities.

Misrecognition of leadership potential/ wasted talent.

Service Delivery

Knowledge Distortions, Cognitive/ Epistemic injustice (Fricker, 2007)

Reproduction of Institutional Norms and Practices.

Margins/ Mainstream hegemonies, with women, BME staff seen as Organisational ‘Other’.

19 April 2023

Impeding Diversity in Senior Leadership

• Who self-identifies/ is identified by existing power elites, as having leadership legitimacy? (Morley, 2012).

• Are certain groups, styles, talents and potential mis-recognised/ perceived as too risky? (Fitzgerald, 2011).

• Do dominant groups continue to appoint in own image/ clone themselves? (Gronn and Lacey, 2006).

• Is leadership still synonymous with structural positions and traditional types and displays of masculinity (Davies & Thomas, 2002).

• Do current leadership scripts offer creative or restrictive potential (identity cage) to under-represented groups? (Alvesson et al., 2008).

• Are informal practices e.g. networks, headhunters’ searches reproducing privilege? (Watson, 2008).

• Does decision-making lack transparency/ accountability? (Rees, 2011).

19 April 2023

Diversity = Representational Space?

Norm- saturated policy narratives

add more under-represented groups into current higher education systems

as students and academic leaders =

a form of distributive justice/ smart economics

organisational and epistemic transformation.

Development of a sociology of absences (Santos, 1999) (2007/8- ECU, 2009).

19 April 2023

Diversity in Academic Leadership is Not…

• Treating identity simply as a

demographic variable.

• Access to organisations

monopolised by the elite.

• Allowing women/ minorities in,

but ensuring that they continue

to lack capital (economic,

political, social and symbolic)

to redefine the requirements of

the field (Corsun & Costen, 2001).

19 April 2023

Action or Words?

• ‘Speech acts’– ‘saying it’ does

not bring about actions that ‘do

things’.

• Difference between higher

education being diverse and

‘doing diversity’ (Ahmed, 2006).

• Gulf between staff experiences

of diversity and equality and

organisational statements and

policies (Deem et al., 2005; ECU, 2011).

19 April 2023

Action for Change: Promoting Informed and Inclusive Practices

Structural Interventions

• Accountability and Transparency

• Data Collection and Diversity Monitoring

• Diversity Data in quality audits/ league tables.

• Equality Impact Assessments/ Mainstreaming

• Action on Bullying, Harassment and Discrimination

• Developmental Opportunities - Coaching, Mentoring and Networking.

19 April 2023

New Conceptual Grammars, Innovative Vocabularies and Leadership Styles

How can

• Leadership narratives,

technologies & practices be more:

than discursive performances

involving repetitions of the values/

beliefs of new public governance

than legitimating HE reform

narratives

more generative, inclusive and

diversity-sensitive?

19 April 2023

Follow Up?

Centre for Higher Education and

Equity Research (CHEER)

http://www.sussex.ac.uk/education/cheer/

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