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I have spent over 20 years in the business world as a Voice and Presentation Skills Expert. I enable my clients to communicate their message with confidence, credibility and impact.
I am hugely passionate about empowering women to reclaim their space, unlock their voices and realise their vision so they can influence positive and diverse change at Executive and Board levels. I run courses on "Empowered leadership for women" and co-‐designed and lead a course on “Impactful Negotiations for Women”. In this capacity, I was invited as a specialist guest speaker on BBC Radio 4’s “Women’s Hour” to discuss the effective use of voice for women in Political and Leadership positions.
I currently deliver a Diversity, Equality and Inclusion programme for one of the top Global Banks entitled “Accelerated progression for Black and Ethnic minorities groups.”
I am an Executive coach from Henley Business school with an ICF (ACC) accreditation. I am also a Master Practitioner of NLP and a qualified Psychometrician. I attained my Postgraduate Diploma in Voice Studies from the renowned Royal Central School of Speech & Drama (RCSSD). I worked at London Academy of Music and Drama training Actors to use their voices for stage, film, and television – many of whom have played major roles in Hollywood films, West End theatres, Netflix and BBC series.
My clients range from CEOs, C-Suites, Politicians, Academics, Luxury Brand Designers, Professionals, TV Anchors, and Entrepreneurs. My global work expands from the U.K to North America, Europe, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, India, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar.
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I am the Dean of the Sprott School of Business and Professor of International Business at Carleton University, Canada.
Previously, I served as Dean of the Faculty of Business and Law and Pro Vice Chancellor for Enterprise at De Montfort University in Leicester, Director of the MBA at Oxford University’s Said Business School, Professor of Strategy and Academic Director at EMLYON Business School, and University Lecturer in International Business at Oxford University.
I have also worked in business and with a number of new start-ups, including Amazon.com in its early years and student-led businesses worldwide.
I serve as President of Warm Heart Worldwide, a non-profit community development organization in Thailand, and am a board member of the Kanata North Business Association in Ottawa, of the Oxford Business College and the Vedica Scholars Program for Women in New Delhi, India. I served for 13 years as an adviser for the Alfa Fellowship Program in Russia.
I hold a BA in Political Science from Rutgers University, an M.Phil. in Russian and East European Studies from Oxford University (Rhodes Scholar), and a Ph.D. in Political Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). I have trained as an Executive Coach with Meyler Campbell in London and with Gallup Strengthfinder.
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My current role is Chief of Staff and Director of Strategic Projects at Lancaster University where I lead the implementation of major transformation programmes such as establishing new campuses both in the UK and overseas. Working with Gary Neville, I served as project director delivering University Academy ’92 in Old Trafford, Manchester and I continue to act as a senior advisor to the UA92 Board. I am also a principal on the Lancaster University Leipzig project and played an integral role in establishing Lancaster’s campus in Germany. Prior to my time at Lancaster I was Director of Strategic Planning and Analytics at the University of Warwick for a decade, where I played a major role in driving institutional strategy and performance. I have been involved in a number of national HE initiatives. I chaired the HESA/JISC Business Intelligence Project and worked with Sir Ian Diamond on the Universities UK Efficiency and Modernisation Programme. I also served for five years on the Higher Education Strategic Planning Association executive committee and in 2014/15 was seconded to the post of Consultant Director Product Strategy at Thomson Reuters, the world’s largest mass media and information firm. I also run the strategy consultancy firm Strategy Ux Ltd.
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My professional life started in health as a physiotherapist. Twelve years of rich practice experience taught me so much more than the obvious skills and capabilities to support recovery from illness and injury. Having met many inspirational people I remain curious about what motivates us all and how we can often succeed against the odds.
My first degree at Birmingham Polytechnic gave me the credentials to move into a teaching post at Coventry University. I became Director of a Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning in 2005 and was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship in 2007. Meanwhile a Masters degree and PhD in Continuing Education at the University of Warwick fired my passion for education research. I am now Director of an Institute for Global Education at Coventry University and am still learning every day. Outside of work I breed pedigree Wensleydale sheep and learn a lot from them too!
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As an executive leader, I have spent over 25 years in the higher and vocational education sectors. I am passionate about the connection, growth and success of women in their careers and the positive impact this may have on their lives. Having benefited from the generous sponsorship and advocacy of other female leaders throughout my career, I understand and value the strength, safety and support that a network of women can provide on your leadership journey. My most recent achievement was the establishment of Women-Space Australia.
My expertise is in leading large and complex organisations, with a proven track record as a strategic, strengths-based and values-driven leader. I am motivated by my work in education that leads to positive and enduring change for people and their communities, the transformative learner experience, and widening access and participation for people from equity group backgrounds.
I was awarded the 2019 LH Martin Institute Award for Excellence in Leadership (ATEM) in recognition of my higher education sector leadership in Australia/New Zealand for the strategic transformation of the student experience. I hold a Doctor of Philosophy and a Master of Education, and I am a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (MAICD). My PhD research examined an educational reform in Australian higher education focused on first-year student success and intensive block mode delivery and the influences of that reform on student outcomes across multiple academic disciplines and student equity groups.
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I am passionate about the transformative power of education and its promise for future generations. As a former Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) and Pro Vice-Chancellor (Learning and Teaching), and with an academic background as a professor in developmental tissue biology, I blend my teaching, research and senior management expertise to provide dynamic approaches to the training and mentoring of academics and senior executives through my company globalDARBE. My role as a change leader in higher education also provides the opportunity for sharing my experience and ideas in areas that span vision and strategy creation, curriculum design, digital learning, campus planning, leadership development and change management. I am an award-winning teacher and internationally recognised for advances and creativity in higher education practice and contributions to the student experience. I also have wide-ranging experience and expertise in communication with a focus on enabling others to develop impact-based skills and strategies to communicate with different audiences and inspire others through experiential presentation training.
You can find out more about me here.
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I am Associate Dean for the MBA and Executive Degrees at Saïd Business School, Oxford University. Before this I directed the Oxford Executive MBA for many years, and built up a portfolio of executive programmes for aspiring and established leaders. I am a member of the School’s board and a Fellow of Keble College, Oxford.
My early career was in journalism, as a correspondent with the BBC. From there I founded my own communication consultancy, working with leaders to articulate their purpose, before moving to Oxford to develop executive education at the University. I am a founding member of the School’s Coaching Community.
I am a visiting lecturer at the Vedica Scholars Programme in India, teach and mentor entrepeneurs at Oxford and am on the advisory boards of two start-up firms. As an Executive Coach, I am accredited with the UK based Assocation of Coachng and with GallupStrengths.
I read English Literature at Cardiff University as an undergraduate, and journalism as a postgraduate at City University. For five years I served as an independent board member at one of the UK’s largest prisons. I am a trustee of the Orwell Foundation, which honours the legacy of George Orwell, celebrating modern untold stories and working to expose social evils through writing and public debate.
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I am a member of the Senior Management Team in the Research Office at Coventry University. After having completed my Social Studies Bachelor’s Degree at the University of Warwick, I later completed my Masters in Leadership and Management at Coventry University. I have over 30 years of experience around leadership, with a particular interest in making leadership a more inclusive and authentic experience. I am passionate about empowering and enabling women, and especially more Black women, to take up leadership and governance positions. The work that I am often engaged in, recognises the intersections of gender and racial inequalities and the role of positive action towards removing these inequalities. I aspire to challenge institutional and cultural norms which continue to permeate, deeply embedded barriers to real and systemic change.
I am recognised for my strategic influence and ability to build networks and new relationships. I am currently on a member of a number of Boards and Committees, including, Coventry University’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Council, Advance HE, NADOHE (USA), The Belgrade Theatre and ARMA EDI Advisory Group. I am also the Chair of the Race Equality Council at Coventry University as well as the BME Staff Network Lead.
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I am a Senior Lecturer in media communications with over two decades of experience in researching depictions of gender with a recent focus on infertility and non-traditional family building. Questions of representation ranging from gender and race to class and disability routinely inform my teaching with the aim of encouraging future students to be more progressive and ethical producers and consumers.
Outside of my research and teaching, I chair Bath Spa University’s staff equality network and more recently their neurodiversity forum, creating safe spaces for crucially important conversations with the aim of ensuring an inclusive learning, teaching and working environment.
You can find out more about me here.
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I am Head of Academic Development and Director of WIHEA at the University of Warwick. I am also a National Teaching Fellow awarded by Advance HE.
I have devoted my career to creating micro and macro environments that enable learners and colleagues to succeed, from the development of inspirational and expert learning and teaching to the advancement of strategy and policy to promote parity of esteem between research and teaching.
I have pursued these goals with passion and determination, driven by core values and a strong appreciation of the transformational impact that higher education can have on those who have the privilege to engage with it.
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In addition to supporting Women-Space in our work on innovation in leadership development, I am a Resilience expert, published author, TEDx Speaker and coach. With over twenty years in the UK Higher Education sector, I have enjoyed a rich range of academic, research and professional roles.
In my most recent role as Head of People Development at the University of Bedfordshire, I played a key role in developing Women Leaders and building women’s networks at her institution and across the sector.
Throughout my career, I have led on a variety of cross- and inter-disciplinary projects, which resulted in the creation and transfer of new knowledge and practices in research, teaching and leadership practice. My early interdisciplinary work at the intersection of pedagogy and drama, visual arts and dance gave birth to my interest in integrative and embodied approaches to cognition, development – and leadership development.
I trained with the Institute for Zen Leadership, founded by the biophysicist and NASA leader, Dr Ginny Whitelaw. She is a certified Zen Leadership Practitioner and a certified Physical Intelligence Coach. I am currently working towards completing my FEBI Coaching certification. Focus Energy balance indicator, or FEBI, is a psychometric tool, which measures energy patterns in our nervous system.
My TEDX talk on Resilience is here.
Connect with me on Linkedin.
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I am a Professor of Comparative Sociology and a passionate advocate of equality diversity and inclusion (EDI). I have led the sector-wide Athena Swan gender equality initiative in two institutions and researched gender, work and organization for over twenty years, exploring women and work, work-life balance, fatherhood and family-friendly working in Britain and France. I am currently investigating work-life balance and gender equality in TV production (in collaboration with Professor Susan Milner, University of Bath).
Alongside my EDI expertise, I have a senior leadership track record most recently as Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor and Head of International and significant experience of strategic and change leadership, resource and people management, marketing and recruitment and internationalisation. I have been a Department of International Trade Export Champion and was awarded an MBE for services to exports in June 2019. I am a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute and a member of the Entrepreneurial Mindset Network Leading Experts and Advisors Panel. My personal values centre on authenticity and integrity, collaboration and continuous learning and improvement.
You can find out more about me here.
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I am an Associate Professor of Education in the Centre for Higher Education Research and Scholarship (CHERS) at Imperial College London. I am also an international expert in higher education research with a focus on student engagement; student outcomes and learning gain; equality and social justice; and quality, performance and accountability.
My current research focuses on international and comparative higher education; the curriculum; using learning analytics to support the student experience; high quality and high impact pedagogical research; academic motivation, prestige and gender; student engagement, identity and belonging; STEM educational research; and intersectionality in research design.
I am passionate about making higher education more equitable and fair, supporting women and those underrepresented to access, succeed and work in academia.
I am a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
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I was awarded an OBE for services to higher education, and I am a National Teaching Fellow and a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. I am passionate about teaching excellence, preparing students for the world of work and about ensuring inclusion in higher education is recognised as an essential measure of quality. I have a strong track record of successful transformation change and having been a Pro Vice Chancellor have both operational and strategic leadership experience of education and student services. I sit on numerous sector level committees, was a panel member of the Teaching Excellence Framework and was invited to address the All Party Parliamentary Group on Higher Education on diversity in academia. My work on the B.A.M.E. awarding gap and the Inclusive Curriculum Framework gained sector recognition. My research interests include inclusive curricula and differential attainment and I am regularly invited to speak on teaching excellence, graduate outcomes, hybrid learning and inclusion nationally and internationally.
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I have built my research career exploring how women in the past acquired management skills. From the 18th century to the mid-twentieth century my research has established the different ways in which women sought out opportunities to build competence and knowledge of managing through their family, religious, and professional networks. My work in this field continues via a Leverhulme Trust grant that is exploring entrepreneurship in 19th century Glasgow, including a focus on women and immigrant entrepreneurs. I joined academia in 2000 after a successful career as a corporate trainer in a global financial services firm and mixed academic work with a continuing career as a freelance HR consultant for several years and I am an Academic Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. I am an Associate Professor of HRM at a leading Scottish University, and joint head of my academic department. More pertinently, I am owned by two spaniels of very different vintages and, when not working, finds myself retrieving dog training dummies from long grass and bushes on behalf of a small (but shrewd) working cocker.
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After 16 years working in universities, I became a Virtual Assistant in 2019. This has given me experience with a wide variety of clients, working with both corporate and individual coaches, accountants, government based departments and private companies. I have particular expertise in Personal Assistant work, such as diary management, invoicing, database upkeep and management. I use a wide variety of work packages, such as Xero, Kajabi, as well as being adept in working with all the Microsoft packages. I am also a self-confessed excel geek and love to have everything in order. As well as being able to manage office work, I am confident in a wide variety of other tasks such as social media management, contacting clients’ customers and liaising with both internal and external stakeholders.
My university career included working as a Post Award Administrator for Research looking after multi-million pound research grants in the higher education sector. Prior to this I had over 15 years experience managing accounts in a variety of roles from managing conferences to timetabling to account management and financial work. I also worked as a PA for the Director of Facilities and Estates. Before working in higher education, I worked for a local newspaper as a sales representative, looking after the stockists of the paper. This led me to dealing with large companies such as WHSmiths, Menzies distribution and all the large supermarkets. My overall experience means that I am able to adapt and deal with different scenarios with ease.
I became a VA because I realised that working in large organisations meant you became invisible. I love working with different people and felt I would be able to use my time more effectively working freelance and with people I love to work for. I love working as a VA. The rapport you build with your clients is irreplaceable, the value of the work done, it feels more of an achievement to help clients build their businesses into high earning and rewarding companies.
When not being a VA, I am wife to Andy and a mother of two boys and a daughter as well as well as a stepmother to my husbands’ two boys.
I love to go trail running with my Working Cocker Spaniel, Suki, and living in the countryside means I am lucky to have some of the most beautiful landscape to enjoy. When not running I enjoy keeping fit at gym. That said, I am partial to good food and wine, and travelling round the country with the family!
You can find out more about me here.
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I have over 30 years of experience in Higher Education and have held leadership roles in universities at every level from departmental to the Senior Leadership Team. I have worked in a variety of institutions – both Russell Group and post-92, across England, Scotland and Wales. Believe me, there are differences! I have extensive consultancy and research experience in working with organisations that are introducing transformational change and have worked extensively with the International Olympic Committee in developing governance frameworks and competitive advantage in sport nations. I am a member of the Board of Sport Wales and have been on the Boards of sportscotland and Commonwealth Games Scotland. Not surprisingly, my academic background is in sport management. However, recent roles have allowed me to focus on the experience of academics in the working environment, with a special interest in wellbeing.
Throughout my career I have been a strong advocate for and supporter of women, acting as a formal and informal mentor to colleagues. My approach is to help people to understand and develop their strengths and to identify and take up opportunities that are available.
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I am the Head of the Research Delivery Support Team within Research Services at Coventry University, where I have worked for 29 years. Having been inspired by female leaders throughout my career I am passionate about paying it forward so I lead by example, empowering and enabling others to succeed which I believe contributes towards providing a compassionate workplace. I do this as a leader, manager and as a coach and mentor. I am currently a member of Coventry University’s Board of Governors, Race Equality Council, Women’s Network and BME Staff Network. I am also a member of WHEN (Women in Higher Education Network), ARMA (Association of Research Managers and Administrators) and the AUA (Association of University Administrators).
You can find out more about me here.
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As a legal educational professional, I have a strong sense of ethics; integrity and equality and those values echo through both my personal and professional life. Supporting women to achieve the success they deserve in senior leadership roles in an inclusive and respectful working environment is close to my heart and I bring my lived experience of navigating the challenges and barriers that women face in higher education to act as motivation for those who aspire to be women leaders of the future.
I am a Professor of Legal Education and have worked extensively across the higher education sector and the legal profession. I lead Sheffield Hallam University in respect of the Teaching Excellence Framework and I am a National Teaching Fellow of the Higher Education and a Principal Fellow.
I serve on the Independent Ethics Panel of the South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner and through my commitment to removing the glass ceiling in respect of women in the legal profession achieving senior partner roles I serve as a non-executive director of the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority Board (SRA).
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Maria Tamboukou is a scholar in gender and feminist studies and has held visiting research positions in a number of institutions in the UK and overseas, including Professor of Feminist Studies at the University of East London, Affiliated Professor in Gender Studies at Linnaeus University Sweden and Adjunct Professor at Griffith University, Australia. She is a member of the Scientific Board of the 'Hannah Arendt' Centre for Political Studies at the University of Verona, Italy and of the International Advisory Board, for the Centre for the Study of Storytelling, Experientiality and Memory (SELMA), at the University of Turku, Finland. Maria's research activity develops in the areas of philosophies and epistemologies in the social sciences, feminist theories, narrative analytics and archival research. She is the author and editor of twelve books and numerous journal articles. She has rich journal editorial experience, including co-editor of the journal Gender and Education and has been the recipient of research grants and fellowships from the Leverhulme Trust, the British Academy, the Australian Academy of Humanities, the Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
See Maria’s website for more on her research projects and publications.
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My feminism has been driven by a sense of being in-between - in-between the second and third waves of feminism; in-between different disciplines; and in-between theory, practice and praxis. I am also in-between in that my research folds into my teaching and supervision and vice versa. This has shaped my research which focuses on the entangled relations of knowledge, power, gender, space and ethics in higher education and utilizes trans- and interdisciplinary feminist, new materialist and posthumanist theories and methodologies.
I aspire to enact feminist ethics as an affirmative openness and critical engagement with power. It is a form of indisciplined feminist research that centres on how to produce knowledge differently. I am always on the look-out for projects where we can have feminist fun and do some feminist fire-starting.
All of this makes my role as Professor of Higher Education and Gender in the Department of Education at the University of Bath very exciting! There, I am also Head of Research and lead the Learning, Pedagogy and Diversity Research cluster. I also serve on the Editorial Boards of Teaching in Higher Education, Critical Studies in Teaching and Learning and Journal of Posthumanism.
More information about me can be found here.
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I bring extensive experience of higher education policy, in particular around improving access, progression and success for socially disadvantaged and underrepresented groups. I am an expert in effective evaluation of practice and outcomes, and in bringing together practice, policy and academic discourse in relation to social justice.
I am Founder and Chief Executive of Inclusion Revolution providing transformative approaches to social inclusion and belonging through consultancy, training and coaching. I was previously Chief Executive of Villiers Park Educational Trust, a charity that improves social justice by supporting children from disadvantaged backgrounds into higher education.
Before joining Villiers Park, I spent two decades in the civil service leading work on higher education and equality. As head of strategy and change at Office for Students and, prior to that, the Office for Fair Access, I advised Cabinet ministers on developing evidence-led policy aimed at improving outcomes for disadvantaged and underrepresented students.
I am a graduate of The University of Wales, Cardiff, and was elected Womens' Officer for NUS Wales. I have held a number of board positions supporting charities such as Mind and the British Association of Counseling and Psychotherapy. I am currently a board member at the University of Winchester, and co-chair of the Fair Access Coalition of third-sector sectors working to improve educational access for disadvantaged students.
I grew up with disadvantage and manage living with dyslexia. I live in Bristol where I am a lone parent to two children. We share our home with two very silly and adored cats.
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I am Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Partnership and Engagement, Professor of Entrepreneurship, and Director, Centre for Women’s Enterprise, Leadership & Diversity [WE LEAD] at the University of York,
I am a key contributor to debates on leadership, entrepreneurship, and enterprise development and have longstanding research experience of developing EDI initiatives in business and communities. My research includes an extensive number of ESRC and AHRC funded research projects that have cast new light on academic debate and have been influential in shaping national and European policy including the OECD, as well regional communities.
I have also received invitations as Guest Editor from international journals (Human Relations, Management Learning, International Small Business Journal), as well as national and international advisory roles that shape debates and policy in diversity and enterprise.
In 2019 I was elected to be the President of the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE). ISBE is the leading national body for SME research and policy learning.
I was invited to be one of the lead commissioners on the West Midlands Leadership Commission that led to a new research and policy agenda on leadership diversity for Andy Street Electoral Mayor and the West Midlands combined authority. The final report was commended by the Prime Minister Theresa May and was featured in the Times Higher Education Supplement (THES).
You can find out more about me here.
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After a 20 year career in professional services in HE, completing 3 degrees and a career break to spend time with my babies whilst they were tiny, I started my own consultancy business in 2020.
In HE I managed and led multi-disciplinary teams as Faculty Head of Registry and Student Administration, and as a School Operations Manager. I managed the end to end student journey from admissions to graduation, led institutional level projects and spearheaded an annual creative festival to showcase student talent, culminating in an awards dinner each year. I wrote and implemented countless processes, led change initiatives and worked across all the core elements of a business that, to me, a great Operations Manager does – HR, Finance, Marketing and everything in between.
I now work with multiple clients as an Online Business Manager to help them grow and develop their businesses. I absolutely love what I do and the relationships I develop with my clients to support them to achieve their ambitions.
You can find out more about me here.
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I have spent the last 30 years working across the tertiary education sector, including a number of leadership roles which have directly informed changes across the Australian higher education sector, particularly in the field of equity and diversity. My research is particularly focussed on advancing understanding of how under-represented student cohorts enact success within university, navigate the transition into and through this environment, manage competing identities and negotiate aspirations for self and others.
I love to write and find that I can articulate my thoughts more clearly via pen rather than voice! I have authored traditional scholarly outputs such as books and articles but also write blogs, features and editorial. Currently I am Dean, Graduate Research at Charles Sturt University where I am enjoying applying an ‘equity’ lens to the doctoral journey.
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I’m Head of Careers at the University of Warwick. I’ve worked in Careers for more than 30 years, in both statutory and Higher Education sectors, for the much of that time in management and leadership roles.
I am particularly motivated by helping individuals and teams identify and harness their strengths. I design and deliver strengths and leadership training programmes for university staff and Heads of HE Careers Services. I’m a lead trainer for AGCAS, the professional body for Higher Education careers professionals.
As a feminist, I’ve long been an advocate for women's personal and professional development. I’m a licensed ‘Springboard’ and 'Sprint' trainer. It’s been fantastic to see women build confidence and succeed through both programmes. I also established ‘Inspiring Women’ at Warwick– a series of female speakers designed to encourage and motivate female staff.
I created my blog, thecareercatalyst in response to the pandemic. It provides careers information, advice and encouragement to those impacted by COVID who are looking to change, develop or reimagine their careers. Sign up to receive my weekly posts.
I’m a Senior Fellow of Advance HE, a qualified careers consultant and coach and a Strengths and MBTI practitioner.
You can find out more about me here.
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With almost 40 years of experience as an academic in the field of cancer and infectious disease, I have held several senior management positions including Head of the College of Medical and Dental Sciences at the University of Birmingham and Pro-Vice Chancellor at the University of Warwick. I am currently Director of the Warwick Cancer Research Centre and co-lead Warwick’s cross-campus interdisciplinary health activities under the banner of the Warwick Health Global Research Priority.
Throughout my career I have remained research active contributing to a wide-range of cancer and infection-related projects. I have been a member of many different national and international research funding committees as well as serving on REF/RAE sub-panels. I have extensive experience of the international landscape of HE with a particular interest in China and South-East Asia and have led the University of Warwick’s engagement with China.
I am passionate about the communication of science to the general public and frequently contribute to local, national, and international media.
You can find more about me here.
Meet the Associates
Women-Space Associates are the wonderful people who have committed to supporting our mission of helping women to flourish in their higher-level careers. They have kindly enabled Women-Space to continue drawing on their collective wisdom so that we can in turn pass this on to the clients that we work with.
They share their time generously because they believe in the importance of supporting women to have the best career and professional life possible.
As Associates, they bear no responsibility for the content of this website, the views expressed, or any of the materials produced.