Learning by association down under and up north

Dr Julie Davies, HR Subject Group Leader in Huddersfield Business School, has been offered a Visiting Scholarship at the University of Melbourne’s L.H. Martin Institute for Tertiary Education Leadership and Management.

Julie will collaborate with Dr Heather Davis, Program Director-Awards, on a research project entitled: “Learning by association: A comparative analysis of Australian and UK university administrator professional membership associations” (#HELBA), beginning in November 2017.

This research programme focuses on the role of professional associations as valuable spaces for reflection, networking and the dissemination of new ideas for nomadic professionals. The first phase of the study comprises interviews in Australia and the UK with trustees and staff of ATEM (the Association of Tertiary Education Management) and the AUA (the Association of University Administrators) to explore volunteering and management learning. The second phase will include surveys with association members and other key higher education stakeholders.

Julie says, “I’ve known Heather for seven years and we regularly meet at European conferences. I’m delighted now to be working with Heather and her colleagues at the University of Melbourne which is very strong in leadership development. We’re each drawing on our direct experiences of managing membership associations and looking forward to future policy developments in the field”.

Heather commented, “I’m thrilled to receive the 2017 Peter Karmel international travel grant to work with Julie in the UK during 2018 and to present at the AUA’s March conference in Manchester”.