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Dr Celia Whitchurch Senior Lecturer in Higher Education

The Rise of Third Space Professionals: Implications for Individuals and Institutions Heads of Educational Development Group 21 June 2013. Dr Celia Whitchurch Senior Lecturer in Higher Education Institute of Education, University of London. Centre for Higher Education Studies. The Projects.

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Dr Celia Whitchurch Senior Lecturer in Higher Education

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  1. The Rise of Third Space Professionals: Implications for Individuals and InstitutionsHeads of Educational Development Group 21 June 2013 Dr Celia Whitchurch Senior Lecturer in Higher Education Institute of Education, University of London Centre for Higher Education Studies

  2. The Projects • Two studies funded by the UK Leadership Foundation for Higher Education (LFHE) • Nine institutions; 70 respondents; UK/US/Australia • Sub-set of 42 respondents with doctorates, publications, and/or experience of teaching/research in tertiary sector • Undertaking roles with significant academic elements (tutoring, programme design, institutional research)

  3. Contexts I • Rising costs; accountability to government • Market - higher education as a ‘private good’ • Regional agendas/knowledge exchange • Primacy of the student experience • Internationalisation and online learning • Community and business partnership

  4. Contexts II • Also a diversifying workforce… • Incorporation of eg practice subjects • Movement in and out of higher education • Full-time, linear careers no longer universal • Preferences of individuals for more flexible life- and work-styles

  5. Mixed backgrounds and roles • Backgrounds in eg adult and continuing education, policy agencies, scientific research/practice, charitable sector • Research training also prepares for careers that may not be purely academic • Job description for Learning Partnerships Manager (UK) required: “…academic credibility… experience of generating external income, and involvement in project management”

  6. Preference for mixed roles • People who could have gone ‘either way’… • Positive choice/intentionality arising from eg: • Ideological commitment to eg widening participation, equity and diversity • Function no longer interesting/too specialist • Preferred team working/project orientation • Pragmatic eg role offered route into higher education, career development, funding opportunities; or needed job in specific location

  7. The emergence of Third Space • “I’ve always worked at interfaces.. although I will occasionally say ‘well of course we’re just marginalised’… I like to be where it doesn’t matter if you bend the rules or do things differently” (learning partnerships manager) • Formal employment categories don’t reflect reality: either ‘academic’ or ‘non-academic’ • This has created a “Third Space” (represents approach to roles as well as the content; concept from cultural studies)

  8. The Emergence of Third Space ‘Perimeter’ roles eg Examples of institutional projects in Third Space ‘Perimeter’ roles eg Professional staff Academic staff Access Preparatory/ study skills Regional partnership The Student Experience eg: Life and welfare Widening participation Employability/careers Equity and diversity Outreach Learning Support eg: Programme design/development Web-based learning Academic literacy Work based learning Community and Business Partnership eg: Regional regeneration Community outreach Knowledge exchange Business/technology incubation Generalist functions eg registry, department/ school management Specialist functions eg finance, human resources ‘Niche’ functions eg quality, research management Pastoral support Teaching for non-traditional students Links with local education providers Teaching Research ‘Third leg’ eg public service, enterprise Mixed teams “The Higher Education Professional” From Whitchurch (2008)

  9. Spaces • Ambiguous conditions arising from working at interfaces: • “Sometimes an academic unit, sometimes an office” (learning partnerships manager) • Turning this to advantage… • Not associated with specific agendas • Sense of being ‘under the radar’ • Reflected in “invisible workforces” (Rhoades 2010) and “secret managers” (Kehm 2006)

  10. Spaces • Safe space in which to be creative/experiment eg work-based research; programmes of study; support of senior figure/mentor but also • Lack of organisational checks and balances • Sense of struggle/tension (the ‘dark side’) • Working with given structures for practical purposes, but also critiquing them • Outside mainstream communication channels • Political dimension?

  11. Knowledges • Contextual, cross-boundary knowledge: “It’s not enough just to know how to be able to be an accountant… or to manage staff... in order to be effective within a university you need to understand the context” (faculty manager) • Applied, evidence–based (Mode 2) institutional knowledge eg research into student outcomes

  12. Knowledges • Transforming ‘information’ into ‘knowledge - interpretation and presentation • “My role isn’t just to present data but to try to interpret data… through policy analysis… timing, politics, the media you use, the way you communicate it, is probably even more important than the actual findings of an analysis” (institutional researcher) • Contribution to body of knowledge in higher education as academic field

  13. Relationships • “if you get the relationships right everything else falls into place” (learning technologist) • Lateral team working across hierarchies • May lead in one setting, be led in another • ‘Partnership’ rather than ‘management’ • Internal and external networks • ‘Weak ties’ – building social/professional capital (Putnam 2000; Florida 2002)

  14. Relationships • “you’ve got two different groups of people often talking two different languages” (learning technologist) • Becoming multi-lingual, interpreting between different constituencies • Using language that is acceptable • Also developing new language around eg partnership, teamwork, networking, institutional development

  15. Legitimacies • Credibility based on non-positional authority: • “There’s no authority that you come with” (planning manager) • “It’s what you are, not what you represent” (learning partnerships manager) • “… I’ve had to create my own role, find my own ways into systems and force my way into meetings, rather than wait for someone to ask me to contribute” (learning technologist)

  16. Legitimacies • Ability to participate in disinterested debate: • “learning to divorce argument from people” (teaching and learning manager) • Anticipating likely responses: • Different academic/professional work “rhythms” • Attitude of academic colleagues that “If you solve a problem for us, we’ll come back and work with you again” (teaching and learning manager)

  17. Example: An employability manager Worked with local employers to improve graduate employment With academic colleagues to integrate employability into curriculum Overcame negative perceptions about students from non-traditional backgrounds Created ‘safe’ space for students Raised aspirations of students, staff, employers

  18. Example: An employability manager • A positive approach to overcome resistance: “it’s no use me saying ‘we’re at the bottom of the league table…’” • A translational approach: “we… do… development work with [academic staff] in terms of their own practice, linking with the modules, and [helping them to] understand what employers are looking for”. • Self-help: “I offer people places they wouldn’t normally go to…”

  19. Implications for individuals • Interface with academic colleagues/SMT • Status of Third Space work: “I’m a director but not a director… the extent of my authority and jurisdiction is unclear…” (enterprise manager) • Career and promotion prospects: • Gaining ‘mainstream’ experience (budgets/staff)? • Whether to stay in Third Space; move out of HE; pursue doctorate?

  20. Implications for institutions • Rethinking relationship with ‘mainstream’ activity • Recognising contribution of eg people with research training • Appropriate mix of identities/line management/employment packages/rewards and incentives • Not allowing projects to be too dependent on one individual/succession planning

  21. Possible responses • Recognition in workload models/promotion criteria of Third Space work • Support of senior person/mentoring/coaching • Development opportunities via eg secondments, internal consultancy, work-based research, attachment to eg HE unit • Flexible career pathways • Responsibility on individuals as well as institutions…

  22. Paradoxes and dilemmas • ‘Safe’ and ‘risky’ space • Academic credentials but ‘non-academic’ • Working with academic and professional ‘rhythms’/timescales • Politically aware but neutral positioning • People-oriented but diffident about managing others • Differential perceptions of power between academic and professional staff…

  23. Adding value • It can be argued that Third Space roles: • Support academic roles eg raising the quality of the student experience, sourcing funding, building social capital in the community • Reflect more complex agendas as well as the preferences of individuals • Release academic staff to focus on mainstream teaching and research but • Onus on individuals to demonstrate this

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