Leadership capability workshop 2006
Leadership Capability Workshop 6-8 February 2006
Dr Colleen Chesterman
The fourth ATN WEXDEV leadership capability building workshop for 12 women academics with potential to be heads of academic units was held from Monday 6 February 2006 to Wednesday 8 February 2006 at UniSA immediately before the ATN conference which the women then had the opportunity of attending. RMIT and Curtin both nominated 3 woman; the three other institutions each nominated 2. Some participants were already in academic management positions including Heads of Departments, appointed or acting, a Dean of Teaching, Learning and International, a Dean of Academic Development and a Director of Research, while others were considering such positions. It was an excellent workshop with all of the women contributing from their own perspectives and experience.
We heard first from 2 of UniSA's female Pro Vice Chancellors. Professor Hilary Winchester gave a personal account of her career as a social geographer, the challenges of moving from the UK to Australia and within Australia to take up senior positions. She also spoke about what her research on women and promotions showed, the challenges ahead and the commitments of the new AVCC Action Plan (announced on February 6). Professor Caroline McMillan, the recently-appointed PVC Research and Innovation, then talked about building a research career, the challenges in the environment and the importance of providing academic leadership. As a medial scientist, Caroline is committed to maintaining her research while being an academic manager - most inspiring. On the second day, Shard Lorenzo, UniSA Director of HR and WEXDEV Chair spoke honestly and challengingly about HR challenges for leaders, highlighting a range of issues including bad behaviour, conflict management and performance management. She pointed to the challenges of the new employment conditions but particularly emphasised the importance of setting strategic directions, but also of managing change and resistance. On the final day UniSA Vice Chancellor Denise Bradley talked about the reality of the leading role and the importance of maintaining stamina, a reminder of the need to blend personal and career issues. Consultant Linda Chaousis ran important sessions on the distinctions between management and leadership, and their points of connection. I discussed readings on leadership, the importance of maintaining values and introduced scenarios on issues with female careers. As usual one of the important benefits identified was giving time for networking with other women and sharing their experiences, particularly women at similar stages in their careers.
All the women derived great benefits from attending the ATN conference, which was focused on the current issues facing the sector. After a challenging opening speech 'Riding the Whirlwind' from Professor Greg Craven, the conference discussed the outcomes of the research quality framework, including a report on the ATNs own RQF trial - involving more than 700 researchers - and the lessons to be learnt from the experience of the Learning and Teaching Performance Fund. It was impressive to hear the quality of the analyses from senior ATN executives and to see the evident benefits of the cooperation with the network. For those interested full information is available from http://www.atn.edu.au.