HEDG Autumn Meeting 2024

9.30am – 3.00pm – online

This event is free and you can register on the HEDG Eventbrite page.

The theme will focus on Facing the Future in HE.

Mindful of current challenges and the prospect of positive change the new government represents, we aim to create time and space for colleagues to reflect on where we are as a sector, what is to come, and how we might strategise within our institutions and as a collective for a more hopeful future.

Please register via Eventbrite and we will send you the joining link within 48 hours of the meeting.

AGENDA

09.30 Welcome and introduction from the Chairs

Dr Paul Chin, University of Bath & Professor Isabel Lucas, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine

09.45 What’s on top?

Dr Paul Chin, University of Bath & Professor Isabel Lucas, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine

Our popular format of small group discussion and practice sharing on topical matters.

10.45 Comfort Break

11.00 The State of Play in UK HE: In conversation with Debbie McVitty, WonkHE

Debbie will offer a brief overview of the current state of play in HE, the direction of travel the new government is taking us in and the implications that has for the sector. This will be followed by a question and answer session. Submit any questions you have for Debbie here (open until Wednesday 6th November).

11.50 Australian Magic: A shot of restritto to expand our horizons

Prof. Leti Gramaglia PFHEA, NTF, University of Warwick

A brief insight on being seconded to an Australian HEI.

12.00 Lunch break and conversation

12:45 Strategising HEDG

Dr Claire Gordon PFHEA, London School of Economics and Political Science, Professor Leti Gramaglia PFHEA, NTF, University of Warwick, Professor Jenny Lawrence, PFHEA, NTF, Oxford Brookes

Focusing on what our members are hoping to get out of HEDG in the coming year (short-term) and years (medium-to-long term) we’ll consider current/recent initiatives (peer mentoring, HEDG growth series) as well as possible strategic priorities for HEDG (such as building international connections, influencing current policy debates, regional networks), the current state of play in HE and of course, the themes identified in ‘Whats on Top’.

In advance of the Strategising HEDG session, we would like to encourage you to reflect on your leadership capabilities using the following framework:

a) Strategic thinking and vision
b) Change management and innovation
c) Relationship building and networking
d) Strategy/Policy influence and advocacy

For each capability, we would like you to consider:

• What I know (current knowledge and skills)
• What I do/have done (experiences and achievements)
• What I need to be aware of (emerging trends and challenges)

and then to identify one strength and one area for improvement in terms of their leadership capabilities.

We understand that some of you may not have time to do this before our meeting on 15 November.

13:45 Comfort Break

14.00  Considering Educational Leadership through the lens of imposterism.

What doez it mean to be an Imposter?: Identity, belonging and representation

Professor Laura Kilby, University of West of Scotland

Leading educational change in the super elite environs of HE, where research might often trump education in prestige is complicated. Talk with any group of HE professionals about their workplace experiences and before long the topic of ‘Imposter Syndrome’ arises. The internet is awash with tests that classify and categorise the extent of our ‘problem’ and advise on how to fix ourselves. This increasingly popularised narrative is, in some respects helpful as we try to understand our relationship with our professional identity, and yet it is also problematic. After providing a brief overview of the basic concept, Laura will unpack and critique the individualised, deficit-based language of ‘Imposter Syndrome’ and instead explore socially derived feelings of Imposterism through the lens of belonging, identity, and representation. She will draw on examples from her own journey in academia, and from her research to highlight the significance of representation, and offer explanation as to why academics, and students, from minoritised groups and/or from non-traditional academic backgrounds are more likely to experience feelings of Imposterism. She hopes to provide space for the group to collectively consider the benefits for HE professionals when we claim more empowered ways of understanding feelings of Imposterism.

14.50 Looking ahead to 2025: HEDG 30th Anniversary

Dr Paul Chin, University of Bath & Professor Isabel Lucas, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine

15.00 Close