With this year’s International Women’s Day coming up, we’re looking back at themes from previous years and their ongoing relevance today. In this article, first published in the spring 2024 edition of our membership magazine, InTuition, ETF’s CEO, Dr Katerina Kolyva, discussed leadership, sharing inspiring stories from women in leadership positions across the further education (FE) and skills sector.
Women are facing discrimination in leadership positions at multiple levels because of their gender, ethnicity, age or a combination of all the above.
After five years of measuring perceptions of women’s suitability for leadership in the Reykjavik Index of Leadership, we appear to have made little progress as a global society on viewing women and men as equally suitable to lead.
The latest McKinsey research on Women in the Workplace revealed that women’s representation in the C-suite is the highest it has ever been. However, with lagging progress in the middle of the pipeline and a persistent underrepresentation of women of colour, true parity remains painfully out of reach.
And if gender and ethnicity were not enough, women also face issues around age, as Harvard Business Review reminds us. While originally ageism was understood to be prejudice targeted at older employees, in an increasingly diverse and multigenerational workforce, age bias now occurs across the career life cycle, especially for women.
With the theme for this International Women’s Day set as ‘Inspire Inclusion’, I have been reflecting on these issues and how they affect women leading in Further Education and Skills, and I reached out to my network of women leaders within the sector with a question about what they were most proud of as leaders. Unsurprisingly, all their responses, which I have highlighted here, focused on three key themes: culture, purpose and role modelling. May these quotes inspire many of us in our leadership journey.
Creating a strong culture
“It’s easy to say an organisation has good culture but here you can feel it, and when times are challenging you can see it come to life even more”
– Brenda McLeish OBE DL, CEO Learning Curve Group
“Notwithstanding many challenges, we have grown and maintained outstanding standards through our responsiveness and collegiate culture.”
– Virginia Barrett, Principal CEO Farnborough College of Technology
“Coming on the back of two mergers with an as-yet unsettled state, my daily blogs sharing hope, love and clarity (where possible) became the narrative that would hold us together and build our unbreakable culture.”
– Amanda Melton, Leadership and Governance specialist
“I love cultivating a non-hierarchical culture that empowers our exceptional leaders of learning to deliver remarkable outcomes for our learners.”
– Arinola Edeh, Principal, Westminster Adult Education Service
Purpose-driven leadership
“I am proud of how we are focused on our purpose and that our staff can see, hear, and feel changes in how we do things for the benefit of both them and our students.”
– Pat Carvalho, Principal and CEO, Matthew Boulton College
“The values of adult education that fuel my pride centre around inclusivity, empowerment and the belief that education is a powerful force of change.”
– Dipa Ganguli OBE, Principal WM College; Chair, HOLEX
“I am passionate about creating social wealth, equality of opportunity and creating a fairer society.”
– Ruth Spellman OBE, non-Executive leader and former CEO of many national organisations
“I am very proud to be a leader in the FE sector because of the opportunity to help people achieve their goals and dreams.”
– Julie Kapsalis, Principal and CEO, North East Surrey College of Technology (Nescot)
Role modelling
“Seeing my team members flourish, overcome challenges and achieve their goals brings me the greatest sense of pride as a leader.”
– Nicky Hay MBE, Chair, AELP
“I firmly believe in setting an example that affirms the possibility of nurturing a fulfilling family life alongside a rewarding career and educational pursuits.”
– Dr Rebecca Gater, Principal and Chief Executive, Solihull College & University Centre
“I’m very proud to reflect on all the inspirational women leaders who have supported, encouraged and enabled me to become a better, more rounded, more inclusive leader.”
– Dr Sam Parrett CBE, Group Principal and CEO, London and South East Education Group
“When I look back over my achievements as a leader, I always end up thinking about those who I have worked with and what they have achieved. If I have helped their development in anyway then I am proud and humbled to be part of their journey.”
– Fiona Stillwell, CEO, PETA Limited
This article was first published in March 2024 in issue 55 of membership magazine InTuition.