Inclusive Leadership in Higher Education: A Paradigm for Tough Times

• In Event: Innovative Applications of Inclusive Leadership Theory

Short Description

Higher education faces many challenges, not least of which is addressing leadership hegemony. Inclusive leadership is proposed as the paradigm for tough times. This presentation will offer the case for inclusive leadership, touch on international conceptions of inclusion, and raise opportunities to reflect on how to promote inclusive attributes throughout the higher education enterprise.

Detailed Abstract

INCLUSIVE LEADERSHIP IN HIGHER EDUCATION: A PARADIGM FOR TOUGH TIMES

PRESENTATION AIM
The intention of this presentation is to:
• Make the case that an ethos of inclusion is the best fit for effective leadership in higher education in turbulent times
• Share with the audience eight common attributes of inclusive leadership for higher education derived from the chapters of a recently published book on Inclusive Leadership in Higher Education.
• Invite the audience to reflect on how best to seek out, promote and develop these attributes throughout the higher education enterprise

BACKGROUND
There can be no doubt that we are living through a state of political, economic and social turbulence. The growing populist backlash against globalisation, the decline in public trust of major organisations, increasing anti-intellectualism, the gap between rich and poor are all facets of this turbulence. It can be no surprise that perceived failures in leadership are a major contributing factor to the social disquiet being seen in many parts of the world including the USA, South Africa, the UK, Europe and the Middle East. It is also no surprise that higher education is not immune to the effects of global turbulence.

We have witnessed during the past few years the racial tension in Universities in the USA exacerbated by an increasingly divided society and the perceptions and reality of the white middle class predominantly male leadership hegemony. We are also seeing outbreaks of violence at universities in South Africa, a consequence of the lingering impact of the apartheid regimes and perceptions of a colonial bias in the curriculum being offered. The referendum outcome in the UK relating to membership of the European Union (Brexit) is fuelling anxieties over the free movement of Faculty and students as a consequence of the bitter fights over immigration. Who can remain in the UK, who will be asked to leave? At a time when demand for higher education is increasing globally (Blessinger and Anchan, 2015), funding for universities is decreasing leading us backwards towards elitism in universities.

The current state of turbulence and seeming fragility of the leadership of states, regions, communities and organisations may well provide opportunities for higher education to develop new frameworks and processes to re-connect the University with its wide range of communities, stakeholders and the public. But this requires universities and institutions of higher education to be courageous in their conceptions of leadership, not just at the top but throughout the organisation. Universities are well placed to make a significant contribution to social justice and equality (Schwartz, 2003). To realise this goal however, Universities need to better articulate their contribution to building leadership capacity and capability – particularly through their role in educating for the future – making higher level learning relevant to the global challenges that threaten the future of humankind (Goddard, Hazelkorn, Kempton and Valance, 2015).

In the foreword to the 2017 ILA Building Leadership Bridges publication Breaking the Zero Sum Game:Transforming Societies through Inclusive Leadership (Schockman, Boitano and Lagomarsino, 2017), Distinguished Professor Edwin Hollander asserts that inclusive leadership is the best way to meet the criteria for effective leadership in turbulent times. Interestingly universities in the UK and Australasia in particular are increasingly promoting inclusive leadership initiatives in response to the multiple challenges they face, and to the disturbing lack of diversity in the ranks of senior leadership, despite the increasingly diverse staff and student populations (Stefani, 2017). Inclusive leadership will without doubt result in greater diversity of leadership in the future which in turn will better reflect the student population and the communities served by higher education institutions.

Leadership does not occur in a vacuum and that context is rarely static. We need leaders who can quickly adapt to the changing needs of the societies they lead, and that requires different approaches to leadership, different voices bringing their ideas to the forefront. In a forthcoming book on Inclusive Leadership in Higher Education (Stefani and Blessinger, 2017), a range of authors from countries as diverse as Saudi Arabia and Canada, the USA and Hong Kong, the UK and New Zealand, provide their insights into the concept of inclusive leadership in the 21st century.
A close reading of these chapters brings forth a range of remarkably similar attributes considered to be critical to inclusive leadership albeit that many of the chapter authors also assert that the idea of inclusion is not only context dependent but also time, space and place dependent.

The following definition from the Denver Foundation (2016) aptly encompasses the ethos we should promote for higher education across the world, and could indeed act as a mantra for everyone involved in the higher education enterprise to rise to the challenge of re-connecting with their communities. It could also serve as an apt introduction to leadership development initiatives for staff and for students:
“Inclusive organisations not only have a diversity of individuals involved but more importantly they are learning-centred organisations that value the perspectives and contributions of all people, and they incorporate the needs, assets and perspectives of all into the design and implementation of universal and inclusive programmes. Furthermore inclusive organisations recruit and retain diverse staff to reflect the racial and ethnic communities they serve.” (The Denver Foundation, 2016)

OUTCOMES
At the end of this session the audience will have gained insights into the commonalities of the interpretation of inclusive leadership across different cultures and countries and have the opportunity to reflect on the contribution that higher education can make to modelling and promoting effective leadership with the intention of enhancing their relevance and re-asserting their role in contributing to the public good.

APPROACH
The presentation will include cameos from the book chapters from which the inclusive leadership attributes for higher education were derived and a brief discussion on how these attributes align with a renowned leadership development framework.

Participant

• Lorraine Stefani, University of Auckland