The year 2022 has not been easy. It can be difficult to stay strong while living with uncertainty. Faith in life, and in our individual and collective strength, can be a helpful guiding principle. With the holidays and year-end approaching, I find myself looking back at 2022 with some regularity…

Most people feel that equity in higher education is a very important goal for staff and students. But there is a lot of insecurity and unease about how to get there. It doesn’t have to be that way. Equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in academia is a bit like the…

On International Women’s Day, as on all other 364 days of the year, gender inequality in academia should be high on our agendas. Women at all stages of their careers still too frequently find doors closed to them which they can’t unlock without much-needed support from others. Leadership from the…

If we are passionate about a cause, we are sometimes inclined to use aggressive, even war-like rhetoric to defend it. This may derail us from reaching the important goals we are aiming for. When we are trying to resolve difficult problems, war-like narratives can come to the fore. Phrases such…

In academia, the answer to this question is often, “not a lot”. But university leaders need to remember the heart as well as the head in building and nurturing their communities. And that includes measuring and rewarding the right things. To feel happy at work, we need to be appreciated…

As 2021 is drawing to a close, the sense of trepidation around COVID is still palpable. What are new variants going to do, and when will life ever be normal again? …

Our students are not our children, and they are certainly not our customers. Defining our relationship with them will help us think about the purpose and nature of university education and create a better outcome for all. Your children are not your children They are the sons and daughters of…

To fully realise the potential of the amazing world-changing work we do, we need to break out of the shackles of competition and rankings. And that goes for research in particular, which is being stifled by the current prevailing culture in which it can almost feel like an Olympic sport. …

After more than 18 months of the pandemic, we must guard against fear and exhaustion eroding our community spirit. Togetherness has got us this far, it’s essential we don’t lose sight of that now. A little over a year ago I wrote my first ever blog entitled COVID: we can’t…