Onwards and Upwards – Women in leadership online study

Professor Ruth Blakeley, University of Kent Aurora Programme Champion would like to encourage women in academic and professional service roles to participate in a research survey investigating women’s career development and leadership experiences in higher education.

The research has been commissioned by the Leadership Foundation who run Aurora, a leadership development programme for women in higher education and will track the aspirations and experiences of women in the higher education sector in the UK and Ireland over four years.

Taking part will involve completing an initial online questionnaire, taking approximately 15 minutes and you will be invited to complete follow-up questionnaires between now and 2019. No-one will be asked to complete more than three questionnaires and none will be longer than the first one. It is hoped that coming back to the survey will be an opportunity for you to reflect on your career and aspirations as well as helping us to track developments over time.

Please note, all responses will be confidential. Only members of the Loughborough University team commissioned to undertake the research will see them. You will not be identified by name or by implication in the published reports and papers arising from this project.

This study aims to make evidence-based recommendations about how institutions and individuals can take action to change things, where change is needed. Interim reports will be produced once per year, and will be shared with those who have participated in the study. Findings will also be shared across the sector and beyond.

If you are willing to take part in what is hoped to be a very exciting project please go to the questionnaire at: https://lboro.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/aurora-comparison-group-survey-1-november-2015 or if you would like to more about the study, please have a look at the project website: www.lfhe.ac.uk/aurorastudy or contact: onwardsandupwards@lboro.ac.uk