Beyond Labels – Next steps and further readings

The course offers a range of actionable insights and benefits tailored to various stakeholders. Here’s how different groups could benefit:

1. Higher Education Administrators and Policy Makers:
   • Benefits: Improved understanding of how language impacts staff morale and institutional culture.
   • Actionable Insights: Implement more inclusive and descriptive job titles that reflect the value and contributions of all staff members, enhancing organizational cohesion and satisfaction.
2. Human Resources Professionals:
   • Benefits: Insights into the perceptions and impacts of job titles can guide more effective HR practices.
   • Actionable Insights: Develop training and development programs that acknowledge and bridge the perceived gaps between different staff categories, fostering a more inclusive workplace environment.
3. Professional Development Trainers:
   • Benefits: Greater awareness of how terminology affects employee self-perception and professional identity.
   • Actionable Insights: Create workshops and seminars that address issues of nomenclature and promote a unified team spirit, enhancing interdepartmental collaboration and reducing workplace conflicts.
4. Educational Consultants:
   • Benefits: Enhanced capability to advise institutions on best practices in organizational management related to staff nomenclature.
   • Actionable Insights: Recommend strategies for internal communications that avoid divisive labels and promote a culture of equality and respect among all staff.
5. Union Representatives:
   • Benefits: Empowered with evidence to negotiate better conditions and recognition for staff members often labeled as “non-academic.”
   • Actionable Insights: Advocate for revisions in contractual and official documents to ensure that all job titles respect the dignity and importance of each role, thus supporting better labor relations.
6. Government and Educational Regulatory Bodies:
   • Benefits: Data to inform policies that guide nomenclature and role classifications in educational settings.
   • Actionable Insights: Establish guidelines that promote fair and inclusive language in job titles and role descriptions across the educational sector.
7. Nonprofit Organizations Focused on Education:
   • Benefits: Better strategies to support equitable practices within educational institutions they partner with.
   • Actionable Insights: Use the paper’s findings to develop programs that assist educational institutions in transitioning to more inclusive nomenclature, potentially improving fundraising and advocacy efforts.

Further Readings

AHEP (2023) 2023. [Online] https://ahep.ac.uk/.

Akerman, K. (2020) ‘Invisible imposter: identity in institutions.’ Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education, 24(4) pp. 1–5.

Allen-Collinson, J. (2006) ‘Just “non-academics”?: Research administrators and contested occupational identity.’ Work, Employment and Society, 20(2) pp. 267–288.

Allen-Collinson, J. (2009) ‘Negative “marking”? University research administrators and the contestation of moral exclusion.’ Studies in Higher Education, 34(8) pp. 941–954.

Australian Government (2022) Higher Education Statistics – 2022 Staff full-time equivalence. [Online] [Accessed on 23rd October 2022] https://www.education.gov.au/higher-education-statistics/resources/2022-staff-fulltime-equivalence.

Bakhtin, M. (1981) The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays. Holquist, M. (ed.). Austin: University of Texas Press.

Bakhtin, M. (1986) Speech genres and other late essays. Holquist, M. and Emerson, C. (eds). 1st ed., Austin: University of Texas Press.

Baltaru, R.-D. (2019) ‘Universities’ pursuit of inclusion and its effects on professional staff: the case of the United Kingdom.’ Higher Education, 77(4) pp. 641–656.

Bassey, M. (2002) ‘Case Study Research.’ In Coleman, M. and Briggs, A. R. J. (eds) Research Methods in Educational Leadership. London: SAGE Publications, pp. 108–121.

Bisset, D. (2018) ‘Role of Educational Designers in Higher Education Institutions.’ In Bossu, C. and Brown, N. (eds) Professional and Support Staff in Higher Education. Singapore: Springer Nature, pp. 71–89.

Bossu, C., Brown, N. and Warren, V. (2018) ‘Professional Support Staff in Higher Education: An Introduction.’ In Bossu, C. and Brown, N. (eds) Professional and Support Staff in Higher Education. Singapore: Springer Nature, pp. 1–8.

Botterill, M. (2018) ‘Crossing Boundaries: Projects, Discourses, and Visibility in the Third Space.’ In Bossu, C. and Brown, N. (eds) Professional and Support Staff in Higher Education. Singapore: Springer Nature, pp. 91–107.

Bourdieu, P. (1984) ‘Distinction : a social critique of the judgement of taste.’ London: Routledge.

Brannick, T. and Coghlan, D. (2007) ‘In Defense of being “native”: The case for insider academic research.’ Organizational Research Methods, 10(1) pp. 59–74.

Braun, V. and Clarke, V. (2006) ‘Using thematic analysis in psychology.’ Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2) pp. 77–101.

Braun, V. and Clarke, V. (2019) ‘Reflecting on reflexive thematic analysis.’ Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 11(4) pp. 589–597.

Brekhus, W. H. (2008) ‘Trends in the Qualitative Study of Social Identities.’ Sociology Compass, 2(3) pp. 1059–1078.

Choudry, S. and Williams, J. (2017) ‘Figured Worlds in the Field of Power.’ Mind, Culture, and Activity, 24(3) pp. 247–257.

Cohen, L., Manion, L. and Morrison, K. (2011) ‘Research Methods in Education.’ 7th ed., London: Routledge.

Collini, S. (2012) What are universities for? New York: Penguin Books.

Conway, M. (2000) ‘What’s in a Name? Issues for ATEM and Administrators.’ Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management. Routledge, 22(2) pp. 199–201.

Davis, A., Jansen van Rensburg, M. and Venter, P. (2016) ‘The impact of managerialism on the strategy work of university middle managers.’ Studies in Higher Education, 41(8) pp. 1480–1494.

Dearing (1997) Higher Education in the Learning Society (Dearing Report). London.

Deem, R. (2010) ‘Herding the academic cats: The challenges of “managing” academic research in the contemporary UK university.’ Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education, 14(2) pp. 37–43.

Fairclough, N. (2001) Language and Power. 2nd ed., Harlow: Longman.

Feather, D. (2015) ‘An alternative proposition to Lewis’ views on the “Constructions of professional identity in a dynamic higher education sector.”’ Research in Post-Compulsory Education, 20(3) pp. 324–343.

Gibb, R. (2008) Encyclopedia of Survey Research Methods. Lavrakas, P. (ed.). Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications.

Gornall, L. (1999) ‘“New professionals”: Change and occupational roles in higher education.’ Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education, 3(2) pp. 44–49.

Gornitzka, Å. and Larsen, I. M. (2004) ‘Towards professionalisation? Restructuring of administrative work force in universities.’ Higher Education, 47(4) pp. 455–471.

Hall, S. (1997) ‘The Spectacle of “The Other.”’ In Hall, S., Evans, J., and Nixon, S. (eds) Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. London: Sage, pp. 223–290.

Halliday, J. (2002) ‘Researching Values in Education.’ British Educational Research Journal, 28(1) pp. 49–62.

Henkel, M. (2010) ‘Change and Continuity in Academic and Professional Identities.’ In Gordon, G. and Whitchurch, C. (eds) Academic and Professional Identities in Higher Education: The Challenges of a Diversifying Workforce. New York: Routledge, pp. 3–12.

Hennink, M. and Kaiser, B. N. (2022) ‘Sample sizes for saturation in qualitative research: A systematic review of empirical tests.’ Social science & medicine (1982). England: Elsevier Ltd, 292 p. 114523.

HESA (2018) Staff Definitions. [Online] [Accessed on 19th February 2020] https://www.hesa.ac.uk/support/definitions/staff.

Higher Education Statistics Agency (2018). [Online] [Accessed on 19th April 2018] https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/staff.

Hill, E., Solomon, Y., Dornan, T. and Stalmeijer, R. (2015) ‘“You become a man in a man’s world”: is there discursive space for women in surgery?’ Medical Education, 49(12) pp. 1207–1218.

Hogan, J. (2014) ‘Administrators in UK higher education: who, where, what and how much?’ Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education, 18(3) pp. 76–83.

Holland, D., Lachicotte Jr., W., Skinner, D. and Cain, C. (1998) Identity and Agency in Cultural Worlds. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.

Jones, S. (2018) ‘Blended Leadership: From Conceptualization to Practice.’ In Bossu, C. and Brown, N. (eds) Professional and Support Staff in Higher Education. Singapore: Springer Nature, pp. 229–242.

Lauwerys, J. (2002) ‘The future of the profession of university administration and management.’ Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education. Routledge, 6(4) pp. 93–97.

Lauwerys, J. (2008) ‘Changing structures of leadership and management in higher education.’ Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education. Routledge, 12(1) pp. 2–10.

Lewis, K. (2014) ‘Constructions of professional identity in a dynamic higher education sector.’ Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education, 18(2) pp. 43–50.

McIntosh, E. and Nutt, D. (2022) The impact of the integrated practitioner in higher education : studies in third space professionalism . London: Routledge.

Melling, L. (2018) ‘What’s in a name? Job title and working identity in professional services staff in higher education.’ Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education, 23(2–3) pp. 48–53.

Robinson, C. (2007) ‘Figured World of History Learning in a Social Studies Methods Classroom.’ The Urban Review, 39(2) pp. 191–216.

Rubin, B. C. (2007) ‘Learner Identity Amid Figured Worlds: Constructing (In)competence at an Urban High School.’ The Urban Review, 39(2) pp. 217–249.

Sebalj, D., Holbrook, A. and Bourke, S. (2012) ‘The rise of “professional staff” and demise of the “non-academic”: A study of university staffing nomenclature preferences.’ Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 34(5) pp. 463–472.

Shepherd, S. (2017) ‘No room and the top? The glass wall for professional services managers in pre-1992 English universities.’ Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education, 21(4) pp. 129–139.

Simpson, A. and Fitzgerald, T. (2014) ‘Organisational and occupational boundaries in Australian universities: the hierarchical positioning of female professional staff.’ Studies in Higher Education. Routledge, 39(10) pp. 1929–1941.

De Sousa, D. (2018) Names are important for the “non-academic.” [Online] [Accessed on 30th October 2018] https://wonkhe.com/blogs/names-are-important-for-the-non-academic/.

Stake, R. E. (2000) ‘Case Studies.’ In Denzin, N. K. and Lincoln, Y. S. (eds) Handbook of Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, pp. 435–454.

Szekeres, J. (2004) ‘The invisible workers.’ Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 26(1) pp. 7–22.

Szekeres, J. (2011) ‘Professional staff carve out a new space.’ Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 33(6) pp. 679–691.

Urrieta, L. (2007a) ‘Figured Worlds and Education: An Introduction to the Special Issue.’ The Urban Review, 39(2) pp. 107–116.

Urrieta, L. (2007b) ‘Identity Production in Figured Worlds: How some Mexican Americans become Chicana/o Activist Educators.’ The Urban Review, 39(2) pp. 117–144.

Veles, N. (2022) Optimising the third space in higher education : case studies of intercultural and cross-boundary collaboration . London: Routledge (Routledge research in higher education).

Veles, N., Carter, M.-A. and Boon, H. (2019) ‘Complex collaboration champions: university third space professionals working together across borders.’ Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education: Themed Issue: Managing Human Resources, 23(2–3) pp. 75–85.

Wallace, M. and Marchant, T. (2011) ‘Female administrative managers in Australian universities: not male and not academic.’ Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 33(6) pp. 567–581.

Whitchurch, C. (2006) ‘Who do they think they are? The changing identities of professional administrators and managers in UK higher education.’ Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 28(2) pp. 159–171.

Whitchurch, C. (2008) ‘Shifting identities and blurring boundaries: The emergence of Third space professionals in UK higher education.’ Higher Education Quarterly, 62(4) pp. 377–396.

Whitchurch, C. (2009) ‘The rise of the blended professional in higher education: a comparison between the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States.’ Higher Education, 58(3) pp. 407–418.

Whitchurch, C. (2012) Reconstructing identities in higher education: the rise of ‘third space’ professionals. London: Routledge.

Whitchurch, C. (2017) ‘Professional Staff Identities in Higher Education BT – Encyclopedia of International Higher Education Systems and Institutions.’ In Shin, J. C. and Teixeira, P. (eds). Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, pp. 1–6.

Whitchurch, C. (2018) ‘Being a Higher Education Professional Today: Working in a Third Space.’ In Bossu, C. and Brown, N. (eds) Professional and Support Staff in Higher Education. Singapore: Springer Nature, pp. 11–21.

Wragg, T. (2002) ‘Interviewing.’ In Coleman, M. and Briggs, A. R. J. (eds) Research Methods in Educational Leadership. London, England: SAGE Publications, pp. 143–158.

Yin, R. K. (2018) Case Study Research and Applications: Design and Methods. 6th ed., Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications Inc.