We are seeking an exceptional candidate to support the ESRC Funded project:
Diversifying Leadership in Elite Universities: the Development of an Empirically Grounded Recruitment Framework
This project brings together a team of established higher education experts to analyse the trajectories to leadership in the worlds’ most elite universities. The project sets out to illuminate the basis on which VCs/Presidents are selected into, and from, the VC candidate pool and to develop a recruitment framework to support the diversification of university leaders in elite institutions internationally.
The project has two main aims: first, to identify any implicit biases in the recruitment processes and how this might impact on the appointment of leaders in elite universities; and second, to develop a recruitment framework for diversifying university leadership in elite universities. These aims will be pursued by means of the following three objectives: first, through collective biography and interviews, to profile, classify and identify the success factors associated with being appointed as a VC in an elite university; second, to interrogate by means of discussions with key stakeholders/end users, the basis on which VCs are selected; and third, to co-produce with key stakeholders and end-users an empirically-informed recruitment framework for use in the recruitment of senior leaders in elite universities.
The range of beneficiaries and end-users of this project is exceptionally wide owing to the multi-country scope, mixed-methods approach, and cross-disciplinary relevance of our study. Our sample of world leading universities encompasses institutions spanning 16 countries across North America, Europe, Australia and East and South-East Asia. Our empirically grounded recruitment framework will be of value to a range of end-users, including Executive Search Firms, university recruitment panels/governing bodies, human resources, emerging leaders and EDI specialists and practitioners. The project has far-reaching benefits to other elite professions, including medicine and law.
The successful applicant will access advanced training, present with at international conferences and co-author outputs with the research team. The candidate will be based at Teesside University with the Principal Investigator, Professor Sarah Jane Aiston, along with having the opportunity to spending time at each of the Co-Investigator’s institutions (Professor Vikki Boliver, Durham University; Professor Tanya Fitzgerald, University of Western Australia, Professor Bruce Macfarlane, The Education University of Hong Kong). This unique opportunity will support the development of the successful applicant’s international profile, in addition to providing access to researcher development training in the host institutions.
In support of your application for this role, it is essential that you upload a copy of your full CV, plus a published piece of writing.
For informal inquiries please contact Professor Sarah Aiston (s.aiston@tees.ac.uk).
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