Job Shadowing HE

My guest in this episode is Gemma Kenyon, Director of Careers and Employability at City St George’s University of London. Gemma shares more about her role and how she has successfully directed and embedded a student employability and career focus into institutional life. We talk about how she and her team have gone about collaborating successfully with academic colleagues to achieve this goal, how work is prioritised to best support student success and what the future focus of careers and employability might hold. We also discuss Gemma’s career to date – including navigating being a young leader – and the skills she has developed along the way.

This episode is kindly sponsored by Unitemps – a University-owned, campus-based recruitment service which allows universities to streamline their internal departmental recruitment whilst addressing key HE challenges. By partnering with Unitemps, Universities can offer students and graduates a range of job opportunities both on campus and with local businesses. The Unitemps service allows students to secure meaningful part-time work alongside their studies, provides financial support during the cost of living crisis, enhances their overall student experience and improves graduate employability. 

This episode is kindly sponsored by Gatenby Sanderson, the UK’s leadership expert. We partner with universities to find and place exceptional HE leaders and develop their teams – improving leadership performance, inclusivity and accelerating change.

This Leadership Reflections mini-series is kindly sponsored by Minerva. Minerva is an executive search firm that supports universities in making senior executive appointments across academic and professional service roles and also in recruiting to university council and interim positions. Minerva helps individuals enrich their careers and take on roles that fulfil their potential.

Professor Pip Beard is Professor of Viral Pathology and Head of the School of Life Sciences at Keele University. Pip took her up post as Head of School following the initial part of her career in practice and subsequently in research institutes, and she continues to hold a national and international government advisory role in her professional field.

In this episode, Pip reflects upon taking up a Head of School role and how she has found the first two years in post.  She considers the value of leadership development programmes she undertook prior to her university appointment, and reflects upon how she has found the transition of parking much of her research activity while she leads her school. We also discuss how she has navigated being a female leader in various male dominated environments.

This Leadership Reflections mini-series is kindly sponsored by Minerva. Minerva is an executive search firm that supports universities in making senior executive appointments across academic and professional service roles and also in recruiting to university council and interim positions. Minerva helps individuals enrich their careers and take on roles that fulfil their potential.

My guest in this episode is Jim Irving, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Students and Governance) at Southampton Solent University, who has developed his higher education career over the past 25 years across a series of progressively senior professional services posts. 

Jim reflects on his leadership path so far and delves into a range of topics including what motivated him to pursue a career in Higher Education leadership, successfully navigating relationships across an institution and how he’s responded to times that have been professionally tough. He also discusses the art of leading through influence, and the importance of supporting emerging leaders of the future.

This Leadership Reflections mini-series is kindly sponsored by Minerva. Minerva is an executive search firm that supports universities in making senior executive appointments across academic and professional service roles and also in recruiting to university council and interim positions. Minerva helps individuals enrich their careers and take on roles that fulfil their potential.

My guest in this episode of the Leadership Reflections mini-series is Professor Randall S Whittaker, Principal and CEO of Rose Bruford College, one of the UK's leading specialist performing arts Higher Education Institutions. 

As a renowned figure for his work on representation and diversity, Randall reflects upon his leadership journey including what he has learnt along the way, how creativity forms a core part of his leadership approach and why engaging with the wider sector is so important for career development and establishing a voice. He also considers the instrumental role of specialist institutions as part of a diverse HE sector, and the significant impact that creative graduates have on the well-being of our society and economy. 

This Leadership Reflections mini-series is kindly sponsored by Minerva. Minerva is an executive search firm that supports universities in making senior executive appointments across academic and professional service roles and also in recruiting to university council and interim positions. Minerva helps individuals enrich their careers and take on roles that fulfil their potential.

My guest in this episode of the Leadership Reflections mini-series is Professor Shân Wareing, Vice-Chancellor of Middlesex University. In this episode, Shân shares more about her professional background and progressing her career through an educational development route and into senior leadership.

With a prime motivation to want to see students flourish and for institutions to work effectively, Shân reflects upon her pathway to becoming a Vice-Chancellor, including what she learnt along the way, her approach to team leadership, managing resilience. She also considers why it’s important to be supporting emerging leaders of the future, and how she still sees leadership as a learning process. 

This Leadership Reflections mini-series is kindly sponsored by Minerva. Minerva is an executive search firm that supports universities in making senior executive appointments across academic and professional service roles and also in recruiting to university council and interim positions. Minerva helps individuals enrich their careers and take on roles that fulfil their potential.

Vivi Friedgut is Founder and CEO of Blackbullion, the learning platform for students who want to gain control of their money. Vivi is recognised nationally as one of the top 10 tech influencers and in this episode she shares more about why she set up Blackbullion, how it has evolved and how she works with numerous institutions across the UK and beyond. She also reflects upon the current financial position of the HE sector and talks about what she would like to see looking better for students in HE by the end of the decade. Blackbullion produces regular reports for the sector and you can sign up here to receive them.