Shifting Roles and Blurring Boundaries Reconstructing Professional Identities

Shifting Roles and Blurring Boundaries: Reconstructing Professional Identities in Higher Education Dr Celia Whitchurch Lecturer in Higher Education Institute of Education, University of London c. whitchurch@ioe. ac. uk Centre for Higher Education Studies

Contexts I • Study for LFHE on changing roles and identities of professional staff (www. lfhe. ac. uk/publications/research) • Literature on academic identity • Limited understandings about professional staff identities… • Focus on professional managers (as opposed to academic managers) 2

Contexts II • Practitioner literature highlighted: – ‘Professionalisation’ eg accreditation; CPD; code of standards – Increased specialisation to deal with eg legislative, audit and market requirements • Neglect of: – Diversity and mobility of professional staff – Blurring of organisational/functional/professional boundaries – Emergence of partnership working • ‘Professionalisation’ process and greater fluidity 3 happening simultaneously

Conceptual framework (identity) • Conceptual framework of identity: § A reflexive process or project requiring the active participation of the individual § The way that individuals position themselves in relation to eg organisation charts/structures § Interpretation of positioning in relation to others • Therefore, an ongoing, open-ended process (rather than fixed core/belonging), plus • Possibility of multiple aspects or dimensions 4

The study • 29 interviews in UK • Three institutions (multi-faculty, green-field campus, post 1992) • Middle and senior career professionals: – Generalists eg registry staff, departmental managers – Specialists eg finance, human resources – ‘Niche’ managers eg quality, widening participation, research management • Further interviews in Australia (one sandstone, one postmerger institution: 10 interviews) and US (two public institutions: 15 interviews) 5

Key findings I • Professional identities more complex than implied by eg job descriptions/organisation charts • People distinguish themselves by the way that they operate around organisational boundaries 6

Identity ‘Dispositions’ Identity Dispositions Characteristics ‘Bounded professionals’ (voluntary or involuntary) Work within clear structural boundaries (eg specialist function, organisational location, job description) ‘Cross-boundary professionals’ Actively use boundaries and crossboundary knowledge for strategic advantage and institutional capacity building ‘Unbounded professionals’ Lack of awareness of boundaries; focus on broadly-based projects across the university, and contribute to institutional development ‘Blended professionals’ Dedicated appointments spanning professional and academic domains; likely to have mixed backgrounds and academic credentials 7

Typology of identities Activity dimensions Spaces Knowledges Relationships Legitimacies 8 Characteristics of Bounded Professionals Characteristics of Crossboundary Professionals Characteristics of Unbounded Professionals Characteristics of Blended Professionals

Key findings II • Also found evidence that: § The boundary between professional and academic domains is becoming increasingly blurred § A ‘third space’ is emerging between the two 9

The Emergence of ‘Third Space’ Professional Staff Generalist functions (eg registry, department/ school management) ‘Perimeter’ roles eg Outreach/study skills Specialist functions (eg finance, human resources) Access/equity/ disability ‘Niche’ functions (eg quality, research management Community/ regional partnership 10 Examples of Institutional Projects The Student Transitions Project eg Life and welfare Widening participation Employability and careers The Partnership Project eg Regional/community development Regeneration Business/technology incubation The Professional Development Project eg Academic practice Professional practice Project management Leadership/management development Multi-functional teams “The Higher Education Professional” ‘Perimeter’ roles eg Academic Staff Pastoral support Teaching/ curriculum development for non-traditional students Links with local education providers Teaching Research ‘Third leg’ eg public service, enterprise

Implications of Third Space I • Team working between: – people of different levels of seniority – different specialist and professional backgrounds • Authority built on personal basis, rather than solely via position in hierarchy or specialist knowledge: – “There’s no authority that you come with” – “It’s what you are, not what you represent” – “If you solve a problem for us, we’ll come back and work with you again” 11

Implications of Third Space II • Ambiguous working conditions – “Sometimes an academic unit, sometimes an office” • Using this to advantage • Developing appropriate language • Assisted by eg: – Availability of ‘safe space’ in which to experiment – Support of senior figure or mentor (HOA, PVC) – Acquisition of academic credentials (master’s, doctorates) 12

Implications of Third Space III • Diffusion of ‘management’ and ‘leadership’ • No longer ‘done’ by one sub-set of people to majority • Likely to involve: – Management/leadership skills at earlier stage of people’s careers – Bringing together local practice and formal frameworks – Being creative with existing mechanisms 13

Challenges of Third Space • For individuals: – Status of boundary work? – How to gain credit for third space activity in appraisal/promotion processes? – Risks in getting out of ‘mainstream’? – Inappropriate reporting lines… – Networking vs formal relationships eg committee membership 14

Challenges of Third Space • For institutions: – Sources of leverage can be diffuse – How to prevent eg projects developing a life of their own; or being too dependent on one individual – Encouraging creativity/innovation while maintaining oversight… – Lines of communication… – Appropriate mix/balance of identities 15

The future? • Changing concepts of ‘professionalism’…? • ‘Millennial' generation expect: – Flexibility, creativity, lifestyles, locations – Less elitism – New locales for activity eg outreach – Portfolio careers – Networking – Sharing of good practice… • A genuine ‘community of professionals’? (See Richard Florida – The Rise of the Creative Class, 2002) 16