Professor Helen Higson

National Teaching Fellow 2014 Professor Helen Higson completed her first degree in English Literature from Newnham College, Cambridge University and followed this up with an MA with The Open University and a PhD in 19th century literature and visual art at Birkbeck College, London University. She has worked in higher education since 1983, first at Southampton University and then at Aston University where she is currently Deputy Vice-Chancellor. She leads on learning and teaching, quality assurance, outreach and schools liaison, student planning and support, as well as employability. Helen's previous role was as Head of Learning and Teaching at Aston Business School, where she remains Professor of Higher Education Learning and Management. Her research interests are in intercultural and employability competences, and the effects of placement learning. Helen co-coordinates the Society of Research in Higher Education special interest group on employability, enterprise and work-based learning and is an active member of the Association of Sandwich Education and Training (ASET) research group. Her work on the effect of integrated work experience on academic performance and employability has influenced national policy. She contributed to the 2012 Review of University-Business Collaboration by Professor Sir Tim Wilson. Among interesting projects she is leading at the moment are a cross-West Midlands graduate internship programme placing graduates into small and medium enterprises (SMEs), a cross-Birmingham scheme to encourage students and graduates to set up their own businesses, and a pan-European seventh framework programme for research and technological development (EU FP7) project developing innovative practice for young people in cities. Helen is a Fellow of the Royal Society, a Principal Fellow of the HEA and a Fellow of the Association of University Administrators, and she was awarded an OBE in the 2011 New Years Honours.