Research Article
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Year 2023, Volume: 4 Issue: 1, 14 - 37, 05.07.2023
https://doi.org/10.55993/hegp.1236352

Abstract

References

  • Advance HE. (2001a). The Higher Education Board Diversity and Inclusion Toolkit. Access: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/higher-education-board-diversity-and-inclusion-toolkit
  • Advance HE. (2001b). Board Diversity Practice Project: Data Analysis Report. Advance HE. Access: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/board-diversity-practice-project-data-analysis-report
  • Barnett, M. (2007). Stakeholder influence capacity and the variability of financial returns to corporate. Academy of Management Review, 32(3), 794.
  • Bazeley, P., & Jackson, K. (Eds.). (2013). Qualitative data analysis with NVivo. Sage.
  • Bear, S., Rahman, N., & Post, C. (2010). The impact of board diversity and gender composition on corporate social responsibility and firm reputation. Journal of Business Ethics, 97(2). 207.
  • Bourne, K. (2009). Understanding and managing diversity (4th ed). Prentice-Hall.
  • Bradshaw, P., & Fredette, C. (2013). Determinants of the range of ethnocultural diversity on nonprofit boards: A study of large Canadian nonprofit organizations. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 42(6), 1111.
  • Charities Commission. (2018). Finding new trustees: What charities need to know. Access: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/finding-new-trustees-cc30
  • Charity Governance Code. (2017). Principle 6: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. Access: https://www.charitygovernancecode.org/en/6-diversity
  • Collini, S. (2012). What are universities for? Penguin UK.
  • Creary, S. J., McDonnell, M., Ghai, S., & Scruggs, J. (2019). When and why diversity improves your board’s performance. Harvard Business Review. Access: https://hbr.org/2019/03/when-and-why-diversity-improves-your-boards-performance
  • Crozier, G., Reay, D., Clayton, J., Colliander, L., & Grinstead, J. (2008). Different strokes for different folks: Diverse students in diverse institutions–experiences of higher education. Research Papers in Education, 23(2), 167.
  • CUC. (2020). The Higher Education Code of Governance. Committee of University Chairs. Access: https://www.universitychairs.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/CUC-HE-Code-of-Governance-publication-final.pdf
  • Fredette, C., & Bernstein, R. S. (2019). Ethno-racial diversity on nonprofit boards: A critical mass perspective. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 48(5), 931.
  • Fredette, C., Bradshaw, P., & Kreuse, H. (2016). From diversity to inclusion: A multimethod study of diverse governing groups. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 45(IS), 28S.
  • Hakovirta, M., Denuwara, N., Bharathi, S., Topping, P., & Eloranta, J. (2020). The importance of diversity on boards of directors’ effectiveness and its impact on innovativeness in the bioeconomy. Humanity Social Science Community,7, 116.
  • Harrison, Y. D., & Murray, V. (2012). Perspectives on the leadership of chairs of nonprofit organization boards of directors: A grounded theory mixed‐method study. Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 22(4), 411.
  • HEPI. (2021). Views on decolonising the curriculum depend on how changes are presented. Access: https://www.hepi.ac.uk/2021/07/20/views-on-decolonising-the-curriculum-depend-on-how-changes-are-presented/
  • HESA. (2019). Open Data and Official Statistics. Access: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis
  • Higher Education and Research Act 2017. (2017). Legislation.gov.uk. Access: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2017/29/contents/enacted
  • Jayne, M. E., & Dipboye, R. L. (2004). Leveraging diversity to improve business performance: Research findings and recommendations for organizations. Human Resource Management, 43(4), 409.
  • Kasumu, S. (2018). Charities: Inclusive governance. Inclusive Boards. Access: www.inclusiveboards.co.uk/charity-governance-2018
  • Khatib, S. F., Abdullah, D. F., Elamer, A. A., & Abueid, R. (2021). Nudging toward diversity in the boardroom: A systematic literature review of board diversity of financial institutions. Business Strategy and the Environment, 30(2), 985.
  • Kirton, G., & Greene, A. M. (2021). The dynamics of managing diversity and inclusion: A critical approach. Routledge.
  • Leman, J., (2020). Diversity of governors in higher education. Advance HE. Access: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/diversity-governors-higher-education-2022
  • Litvin, D. R. (2006). Making space for a better case. In A. M. Konrad, P. Prasad, & I. Pringle (Eds.), Handbook of Workplace Diversity (pp. 75-94). Sage.
  • Odgers Berndtson and BoardEx. (2021). UK Diversity Leadership Report 2021. Access: https://www.nedaglobal.com/ned-insights/publications/uk-leadership-diversity-report-2021/
  • OECD. (2016). The State of Higher Education 2015-16. Access: https://www.oecd.org/education/imhe/the-state-of-higher-education-201516.htm
  • Office for Students. (2020). The regulatory framework for higher education in England. OfS Online. Access: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/regulation/the-regulatory-framework-for-higher-education-in-england/
  • Office for Students. (2020). Our approach to access and participation. OfS Online. Access: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/promoting-equal-opportunities/our-approach-to-access-and-participation/
  • Pimblott, K. (2019). Decolonising the university: The origins and meaning of a movement. The Political Quarterly, 91(1), 210.
  • Shattock, M. (2017). University governance in flux. The impact of external and internal pressures on the distribution of authority within British universities: A synoptic view. Higher Education Quarterly, 71, 384.
  • Reddy, S., & Jadhav, A. M. (2019). Gender diversity in boardrooms – A literature review. Cogent Economics & Finance, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23322039.2019.1644703
  • Rao, K., & Tilt, C. (2016). Board composition and corporate social responsibility: The role of diversity, gender, strategy and decision making. Journal of Business Ethics, 138(2), 327.
  • Schofield, A. (2009). What is an effective and high performing board in UK Higher Education? Council of University Chairs. Access: https://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/sites/university/migrated/documents/highperforminggoverningbody.pdf
  • Taylor, J., & De Lourdes, M. (2008). Leadership and strategic management: Keys to institutional priorities and planning. European Journal of Education, 43(3), 369.
  • Terjesen, S., Aguilera, R. V., & Lorenz, R. (2015). Legislating a woman’s seat on the board: Institutional factors driving gender quotas for boards of directors. Journal of Business Ethics, 128(2), 233.
  • Tester, J. (2019). Diversity principles framework. Advance HE. Access: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/diversity-principles-framework
  • Tight, M. (2019). The neoliberal turn in higher education. Higher Education Quarterly, 73(3), 273.
  • Valeur, C. (2018). Moving towards board diversity. Association Heads of University Administration. Access: https://www.ahua.ac.uk/moving-towards-board-diversity/
  • Wheaton, A. (2021). Still unwieldly, male, pale and stale? Isomorphic influences on English university governing bodies. Centre for Global Higher Education Working Paper Series, 69, 1.
  • Wheaton, A. (2019). Payment for university governors? A discussion paper. HEPI. Access: https://www.hepi.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/HEPI-Payment-for-university-governors-A-discussion-paper-Report-118-11_07_19.pdf
  • Wilson, J. L. (2016). Public institution governing boards. The invisible key factor in diversity planning efforts in higher education. Planning for Higher Education Journal, 44(4), 58.

Striving for Diversity of Leadership: Governance in UK Higher Education Institutions

Year 2023, Volume: 4 Issue: 1, 14 - 37, 05.07.2023
https://doi.org/10.55993/hegp.1236352

Abstract

Diversity of membership on boards and governance bodies in a range of sectors have been shown to be a key element in successful boards and effectively lead, monitor and advise their executive. Much progress has been made on improving gender balance on boards, including in universities and higher education institutions (HEI). However, the (scant) literature on HEI boards highlights that higher education or university boards in the UK need to do more to tackle all the other forms of under-representation where limited progress has been made on diversity, other than gender. This paper thus has two main aims, the first to locate the work on developing the diversity of UK university boards within the wider (corporate) theory and literature in this field. This is because the literature in the corporate sector is better established and therefore there is something to learn from practice in this area. The second aim is to develop a practical toolkit to expedite board diversity in higher education to bring it in line with other sectors to enable them to reflect what the OECD believe should be the role of universities: which is to be at the cutting edge of leading societal change.
This paper reports on quantitative and qualitative data collected and analysed in order to develop a practical Board Diversity Toolkit - the first national scheme of its kind. Data were collected from 44 HEIs, representing a third of the UK’s HEIs and 104 governors to inform the development of the Toolkit. The paper discusses the issues raised in the data that might be a key barrier to achieving diversity and addressing chronic under-representation in UK Boards. This centred around deep-seated attitudes on how diversity may compromise the skills needed on Boards and importantly how to unseat these ingrained (often unconscious) attitudes if we are to achieve genuine change at Board levels. The Board Diversity Toolkit, designed as an output of work, could play a key role in changing such attitudes and develop the UK HEI sector in terms of conducting board business better, as well as meeting the need to be representative of staff and student bodies.

References

  • Advance HE. (2001a). The Higher Education Board Diversity and Inclusion Toolkit. Access: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/higher-education-board-diversity-and-inclusion-toolkit
  • Advance HE. (2001b). Board Diversity Practice Project: Data Analysis Report. Advance HE. Access: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/board-diversity-practice-project-data-analysis-report
  • Barnett, M. (2007). Stakeholder influence capacity and the variability of financial returns to corporate. Academy of Management Review, 32(3), 794.
  • Bazeley, P., & Jackson, K. (Eds.). (2013). Qualitative data analysis with NVivo. Sage.
  • Bear, S., Rahman, N., & Post, C. (2010). The impact of board diversity and gender composition on corporate social responsibility and firm reputation. Journal of Business Ethics, 97(2). 207.
  • Bourne, K. (2009). Understanding and managing diversity (4th ed). Prentice-Hall.
  • Bradshaw, P., & Fredette, C. (2013). Determinants of the range of ethnocultural diversity on nonprofit boards: A study of large Canadian nonprofit organizations. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 42(6), 1111.
  • Charities Commission. (2018). Finding new trustees: What charities need to know. Access: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/finding-new-trustees-cc30
  • Charity Governance Code. (2017). Principle 6: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. Access: https://www.charitygovernancecode.org/en/6-diversity
  • Collini, S. (2012). What are universities for? Penguin UK.
  • Creary, S. J., McDonnell, M., Ghai, S., & Scruggs, J. (2019). When and why diversity improves your board’s performance. Harvard Business Review. Access: https://hbr.org/2019/03/when-and-why-diversity-improves-your-boards-performance
  • Crozier, G., Reay, D., Clayton, J., Colliander, L., & Grinstead, J. (2008). Different strokes for different folks: Diverse students in diverse institutions–experiences of higher education. Research Papers in Education, 23(2), 167.
  • CUC. (2020). The Higher Education Code of Governance. Committee of University Chairs. Access: https://www.universitychairs.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/CUC-HE-Code-of-Governance-publication-final.pdf
  • Fredette, C., & Bernstein, R. S. (2019). Ethno-racial diversity on nonprofit boards: A critical mass perspective. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 48(5), 931.
  • Fredette, C., Bradshaw, P., & Kreuse, H. (2016). From diversity to inclusion: A multimethod study of diverse governing groups. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 45(IS), 28S.
  • Hakovirta, M., Denuwara, N., Bharathi, S., Topping, P., & Eloranta, J. (2020). The importance of diversity on boards of directors’ effectiveness and its impact on innovativeness in the bioeconomy. Humanity Social Science Community,7, 116.
  • Harrison, Y. D., & Murray, V. (2012). Perspectives on the leadership of chairs of nonprofit organization boards of directors: A grounded theory mixed‐method study. Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 22(4), 411.
  • HEPI. (2021). Views on decolonising the curriculum depend on how changes are presented. Access: https://www.hepi.ac.uk/2021/07/20/views-on-decolonising-the-curriculum-depend-on-how-changes-are-presented/
  • HESA. (2019). Open Data and Official Statistics. Access: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis
  • Higher Education and Research Act 2017. (2017). Legislation.gov.uk. Access: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2017/29/contents/enacted
  • Jayne, M. E., & Dipboye, R. L. (2004). Leveraging diversity to improve business performance: Research findings and recommendations for organizations. Human Resource Management, 43(4), 409.
  • Kasumu, S. (2018). Charities: Inclusive governance. Inclusive Boards. Access: www.inclusiveboards.co.uk/charity-governance-2018
  • Khatib, S. F., Abdullah, D. F., Elamer, A. A., & Abueid, R. (2021). Nudging toward diversity in the boardroom: A systematic literature review of board diversity of financial institutions. Business Strategy and the Environment, 30(2), 985.
  • Kirton, G., & Greene, A. M. (2021). The dynamics of managing diversity and inclusion: A critical approach. Routledge.
  • Leman, J., (2020). Diversity of governors in higher education. Advance HE. Access: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/diversity-governors-higher-education-2022
  • Litvin, D. R. (2006). Making space for a better case. In A. M. Konrad, P. Prasad, & I. Pringle (Eds.), Handbook of Workplace Diversity (pp. 75-94). Sage.
  • Odgers Berndtson and BoardEx. (2021). UK Diversity Leadership Report 2021. Access: https://www.nedaglobal.com/ned-insights/publications/uk-leadership-diversity-report-2021/
  • OECD. (2016). The State of Higher Education 2015-16. Access: https://www.oecd.org/education/imhe/the-state-of-higher-education-201516.htm
  • Office for Students. (2020). The regulatory framework for higher education in England. OfS Online. Access: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/regulation/the-regulatory-framework-for-higher-education-in-england/
  • Office for Students. (2020). Our approach to access and participation. OfS Online. Access: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/promoting-equal-opportunities/our-approach-to-access-and-participation/
  • Pimblott, K. (2019). Decolonising the university: The origins and meaning of a movement. The Political Quarterly, 91(1), 210.
  • Shattock, M. (2017). University governance in flux. The impact of external and internal pressures on the distribution of authority within British universities: A synoptic view. Higher Education Quarterly, 71, 384.
  • Reddy, S., & Jadhav, A. M. (2019). Gender diversity in boardrooms – A literature review. Cogent Economics & Finance, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23322039.2019.1644703
  • Rao, K., & Tilt, C. (2016). Board composition and corporate social responsibility: The role of diversity, gender, strategy and decision making. Journal of Business Ethics, 138(2), 327.
  • Schofield, A. (2009). What is an effective and high performing board in UK Higher Education? Council of University Chairs. Access: https://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/sites/university/migrated/documents/highperforminggoverningbody.pdf
  • Taylor, J., & De Lourdes, M. (2008). Leadership and strategic management: Keys to institutional priorities and planning. European Journal of Education, 43(3), 369.
  • Terjesen, S., Aguilera, R. V., & Lorenz, R. (2015). Legislating a woman’s seat on the board: Institutional factors driving gender quotas for boards of directors. Journal of Business Ethics, 128(2), 233.
  • Tester, J. (2019). Diversity principles framework. Advance HE. Access: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/diversity-principles-framework
  • Tight, M. (2019). The neoliberal turn in higher education. Higher Education Quarterly, 73(3), 273.
  • Valeur, C. (2018). Moving towards board diversity. Association Heads of University Administration. Access: https://www.ahua.ac.uk/moving-towards-board-diversity/
  • Wheaton, A. (2021). Still unwieldly, male, pale and stale? Isomorphic influences on English university governing bodies. Centre for Global Higher Education Working Paper Series, 69, 1.
  • Wheaton, A. (2019). Payment for university governors? A discussion paper. HEPI. Access: https://www.hepi.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/HEPI-Payment-for-university-governors-A-discussion-paper-Report-118-11_07_19.pdf
  • Wilson, J. L. (2016). Public institution governing boards. The invisible key factor in diversity planning efforts in higher education. Planning for Higher Education Journal, 44(4), 58.
There are 43 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Other Fields of Education
Journal Section Research Articles
Authors

Adeela Ahmed Shafi This is me 0000-0002-6265-5024

Daniel Clark 0000-0001-7277-2825

Lou Norman This is me 0000-0002-3227-2356

Matthew Andrews This is me 0000-0002-0977-9685

Publication Date July 5, 2023
Published in Issue Year 2023 Volume: 4 Issue: 1

Cite

APA Ahmed Shafi, A., Clark, D., Norman, L., Andrews, M. (2023). Striving for Diversity of Leadership: Governance in UK Higher Education Institutions. Higher Education Governance and Policy, 4(1), 14-37. https://doi.org/10.55993/hegp.1236352