Senior Academic Leadership Initiative
24th June 2019
Mary Mitchell O’Connor T.D. Minister of State with special responsibility for Higher Education recently announced the opening of the call for applications to the Senior Academic Leadership Initiative; a targeted positive action initiative which aims to accelerate gender balance at senior positions in Irish higher education institutions.
Minister Mitchell O’Connor said “I am delighted and proud to be able to launch the HEA’s call today {21st June} to higher education institutions to apply for the new and additional professorial and senior lecturer level 3 academic posts that will now be made available under the senior academic leadership initiative. “This is truly a game-changing moment in Irish academia. This intervention will ensure a swifter gender re-balance, addressing the current under-representation of women at the highest levels of our institutions. “We know that the excellence of our female academics and their vast contribution to research and education has not yet resulted in an appropriate level of representation of women at the highest levels. This initiative will support higher education institutions that are already taking proactive steps to address gender imbalance to take a leap forward in this area, always with excellence at the heart of recruitment and promotion policies.
Pictured: Charlene Somers, Institute of Technology Carlow with Mary Mitchell O’Connor T.D. Minister of State with special responsibility for Higher Education, Mary Conlon, National University of Ireland Galway and Dr. Bridget Lynch UCD. Picture Jason Clarke