Northumbria University - Introducing a Shadow Chair initiative

Institution

Northumbria University 

Author

Jenna Tudor, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Manager, Northumbria University 

Overview 

Offered as a development opportunity, Northumbria University’s 'Shadow Chair' initiative was designed to enable those colleagues who may not yet be involved in committees to learn about their operation, and specifically about the role of Committee Chair. Addressing an under-representation of colleagues from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds in leadership roles, the initiative also provided Shadow Chairs with greater visibility, understanding of the wider university, opportunities to further their own leadership journeys and to apply their skills in new environments. 

About the organisation 

Northumbria is a research-intensive university that unlocks potential for all, changing lives regionally, nationally and internationally. One of the largest universities in the UK, with approximately 3,500 colleagues and 36,000 students, Northumbria works in partnership with institutions across the world and attracts students from 138 countries. We have two campuses, in Newcastle and London. Having held Athena Swan awards since 2015, we became Race Equality Charter members in 2020 and achieved a Bronze REC award in 2024. 

Purpose of the initiative 

At Northumbria, colleagues from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds are under-represented in leadership roles and are therefore less likely to be currently participating in University committees.  

This initiative was designed to give colleagues an opportunity to experience the University’s committee processes. Offered as a development opportunity it allowed those colleagues who may not yet be involved in committees to learn about their operation, and specifically about the role of Committee Chair, and to gain a greater understanding of the way the University and its governance operates. 

The initiative also provided colleagues an opportunity for strategic-level engagement, for their voice to be heard in different settings and for their views to inform decision making across the University. 

The initiative also responded to colleague feedback recognising that after attending leadership development programmes (such as Advance HE’s Diversifying Leadership) there can be limited opportunities for colleagues to further explore their emerging leadership interests. 

Description of the initiative

Our Committee Chair Shadowing initiative was designed to enable an individual from one area of the organisation, not usually in a role aligned with holding a Committee Chair position, to have the opportunity to work alongside a current Chair and gain experience of the role. 

The initiative was developed following conversations with colleagues that Northumbria University had previously supported to attend Advance HE’s Diversifying Leadership programme. These colleagues now form our Diverse Leaders at Northumbria group and meet with our Deputy Vice-Chancellor on an ongoing basis to take forward conversations about diversifying our leadership. The initiative was designed to provide visibility, strategic level engagement and to inform decision making. It also provided an opportunity for these colleagues to further develop their personal leadership interests and their own leadership potential. 

The initiative provided a period of focused activity for colleagues to experience first-hand the activities and decision-making processes of key University committees. For our initial pilot phase (2023-24), the Shadow Chairs were in place for one academic year. Working with our Research & Knowledge Exchange Committee and our Education Committee Chairs, four colleagues from the Diversifying Leadership at Northumbria group expressed an interest in which of the committees they would like to chair, and line managers were asked to support the time required for them to engage. 

Before each committee the Shadow Chairs and Chairs had a preparatory meeting. At this meeting, the Chair talked through how they would structure the committee meeting and how the agenda was developed. Together, both parties shared views on committee papers, committing to listening openly and respectfully to each other’s views. The Chairs would also share any relevant background information. 

During the Committee meeting itself, the Shadow Chairs observed the Chair. They also took an active part in the discussion elements, as any other committee member would.  

Following the Committee meeting, the Shadow Chairs and Chairs would have a de-brief meeting. This was an opportunity for the Shadow Chairs to ask any questions they had about the process or to ask specific questions relating to the meeting items. The Chair could also use this opportunity to ask the Shadow Chairs for specific feedback about elements of the committee process. 

Rationale 

The initiative was developed following conversations with colleagues who had previously been supported by Northumbria University to attend the Advance HE’s Diversifying Leadership programme. All colleagues who are supported to attend Diversifying Leadership (21 colleagues since 2021) are invited to become part of our Diverse Leaders at Northumbria group. At Northumbria, colleagues from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds are currently under-represented in leadership roles at the University and this group meet with our Deputy Vice-Chancellor on an ongoing basis to take forward conversations and actions to diversify our leadership.  

The initiative was co-created with these colleagues to provide an opportunity for them to further develop their personal leadership interests and their own leadership potential, and also to provide visibility, strategic level engagement and the opportunity to inform decision making. By opening our committee meetings up to these colleagues, it also provided opportunities for colleagues to understand more about how our governance structures operate and how decision making takes place at the University. 

Results 

We evaluated the pilot initiative via surveys to Chairs and Shadow Chairs.  

The initiative allowed Shadow Chairs to network with colleagues from across the University and to speak to people they might not have met otherwise. 

Colleagues in the role of Shadow Chair told us they developed a deeper knowledge and understanding of other roles and functions within the University and had the opportunity to view processes that they were involved in from different perspectives. Shadow Chairs developed an appreciation for the broader range of skills required to chair committees, quoting skills such as authentic leadership, patience, a willingness to explore differing perspectives and the ability to facilitate constructive debate. 

Some colleagues told us they became more confident in voicing their own perspectives and in putting themselves forward for other opportunities. They also developed reciprocal learning/evaluation relationships with the Committee Chairs. Chairs were able to reflect on committee processes after hearing views from colleagues working in roles not traditionally represented in those committees. 

Examples of colleague feedback: 

“Before participating in the Shadowing Chair initiative, my leadership experience was primarily focused on specific roles as a module lead and programme lead. In contrast, the [Committee] covers a much broader range of subjects, responsibilities, and impacts.” 

“By engaging in shadowing [name], I was able to gain insight into the roles and responsibilities of other members of staff and other departments; reflect and learn from the experiences of senior university management colleagues; see how other staff and different departments work; see the bigger picture about the sector, the regulator and our students and understand more about how the University functions.” 

“The opportunity to be involved at this level has not only helped develop my own thinking and skills but has increased my confidence in relation to taking up future leadership opportunities.”  

Key barriers and facilitators 

The time to participate in this could initially be perceived as a barrier by Shadow Chairs themselves, however, line managers were directly written to by our Deputy Vice-Chancellor making the aims clear and were asked to support colleagues with the time to participate (committee meeting time and time for pre- and post- meets). 

Uncertainty / apprehensiveness could pose a barrier; this initiative requires Shadow Chairs to enter spaces which are likely to be new to them and with that may bring a degree of uncertainty. An EDI Manager supported the initiative, acting as a point of contact for both Shadow Chairs and Chairs if there were any questions throughout. Committee Terms of Reference documents were also shared to support Shadow Chairs in understanding the overall aims and function of the Committee. 

The future?

Building on the pilot phase, we are expanding the initiative for 2024-25 to include more University committees and to open participation up to colleagues with different protected characteristics (aligned to those characteristics under-represented across our leadership). By involving more committees, we will also involve committee Secretaries as well as Chairs, to ensure the initiative can be well embedded into the operations of all of the committees involved. 

All 2024-25 Shadow Chairs will be added to a new Microsoft Teams site, along with some of the Shadow Chairs from 2023-24 and colleagues from the EDI Team. This will enable peer support, facilitate networking across Shadow Chairs and enable procedural questions to be answered in an open forum to share knowledge. Involving more experienced Shadow Chairs on the Teams site will provide opportunities for those colleagues to develop their informal mentoring skills. 

Advice for other members

This initiative was developed in relation to a colleague-identified gap in relation to ongoing development opportunities, and also in response to our Race Equality Charter self-assessment data regarding under-representation across our leadership of colleagues from global majority backgrounds. Our advice would be to ensure that those colleagues who are intended to benefit from any initiatives are engaged in both the development stages and in the evaluation of any pilot activity (and subsequent shaping of future iterations).  

Ensuring there is time made available within the workload of those participating helps to demonstrate further the institutional commitment to the activity.  

Also, maintaining regular contact with the Shadow Chairs and Chairs throughout this initiative was important. As a new initiative we needed to understand the impact it was having on an ongoing basis to ensure it was meeting the aims of those colleagues involved. 

Web links

Northumbria EDI’s website and our Annual Report offer an overview of this work and some of our other EDI initiatives: 

https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/about-us/equality-and-diversity/ 

https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/about-us/equality-and-diversity/reports-and-data/