Mark Pegg: lack of female leaders stops sector fulfilling potential

The chief executive of the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education has spoken about the ¡°big, big¡± priority of increasing the number of female vice-chancellors and senior figures as he prepares to launch a project to tackle the issue.

Mark Pegg, who in January took charge of the body that provides leadership development programmes for the sector, said the Aurora project would ¡°work with organisations to improve the chances of women leaders¡±.

The programme ¨C named after the goddess who according to Roman mythology renewed herself every dawn and heralded the arrival of the Sun ¨C will aim to recruit four women below head of department level from every UK university, with each institution also appointing a senior female role model as ¡°champion¡±.

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According to Universities UK, there are 20 female heads of institution among the organisation¡¯s 133 members.

Dr?Pegg said that Aurora would give women greater ¡°confidence¡± and ¡°understanding of organisational politics¡± while changing organisations as well. Without the project¡¯s intervention, institutions will ¡°continue as before¡± and ¡°disappointment will ensue¡±, he added.

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The lack of female representation among sector leaders was not just an equality issue ¨C ¡°women should have the same life chances as men¡± ¨C but also meant that ¡°half of the full potential of the workforce is not being utilised¡±.

Dr Pegg ¨C who holds a doctorate from the University of Oxford on the social history of broadcasting ¨C has a background in executive education. As a former director of Ashridge Business School he trained senior civil servants in leadership as well as working with ¡°big global corporations¡±.

Speaking about his appointment, he said that the Leadership Foundation board ¡°wanted me to increase the risk appetite¡± among the sector¡¯s leaders ¨C ¡°they could see more challenging times ahead¡±.

Since taking over from Ewart Wooldridge (chief executive from the organisation¡¯s foundation in 2004 until the end of last year), Dr?Pegg has looked at the foundation¡¯s Top Management Programme, which counts 56 current vice-chancellors among its graduates.

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He said he was seeking to ¡°bring it up to date, refresh it¡± with a new delivery team and content from the autumn.

Discussing the course¡¯s programme of external speakers, Dr Pegg said that participants ¡°loved to hear from chief fire officers, from police officers¡±, but ¡°the appetite is there to hear more from people who have made a success of leadership in entrepreneurial activities¡±, as long as it is ¡°done sensitively¡±.

Meanwhile, on other potential role models for the sector¡¯s leaders, he said that Sir Alex Ferguson was one name mentioned. However, he argued that the former Manchester United manager would be ¡°too autocratic¡­I don¡¯t think he would work very well in something as sensitive as a university¡±.

Nevertheless, Dr Pegg could see plenty of leadership virtues in the Scot.

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¡°When you¡¯re at the top, you have to keep reinventing yourself, you have to keep improving what you¡¯re doing, you have to live with the changes and the competitive pressures ¨C that¡¯s what universities are looking for, without scaring the horses.¡±

john.morgan@tsleducation.com