diversity, difference and distributive justice in academic leadership professor louise morley

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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