What disability? I am a leader! Understanding leadership in HE from a disability perspective

Abstract

This article is based on the findings of an externally funded, mixed-methods research project conducted at one English university. This small-scale project aimed to examine leadership, barriers to becoming a leader and the support needed to overcome them, from the perspectives of disabled staff. An online questionnaire was sent to all 66 members of staff who had disclosed their disabled status to the university and 22 responses were received. Twelve participants were then interviewed as two focus groups to discuss their views on leadership and its relation to their role. Six more respondents opted for individual face-to-face/telephone interviews. The findings indicated that over half of the respondents were already engaged in ‘formal’ leadership and even more exercised ‘informal’ leadership. This key finding seems to contradict the under-representation of disabled academics in leadership reported in the literature. Despite their engagement in leadership, disabled staff faced several institutional and personal barriers. The findings suggest that having an impairment per se might not necessarily deter disabled staff from exercising leadership. A number of support strategies are recommended to facilitate their participation in (formal) leadership.

‘To prove I’m not incapable, I overcompensate’: Disability, ideal workers, the academy

“…International literature also identifies significant gaps between policy and practice, as well as difficulty in maintaining accommodations once obtained (Stone et al, 2013; Williams and Mavin, 2015). In the university context, managers are key figures in providing workplace adjustments (Emira et al, 2018). Managers may determine what assistance is provided and what is considered reasonable (Corlett and Williams, 2011; Gregly, 2017 in Newton et al, 2018).…”

Disability and Academic Careers: Using the Social Relational Model to Reveal the Role of Human Resource Management Practices in Creating Disability

“…Acker, 1983), less is known about how the 'greedy institution' of academia's work demands affects those academics who are disabled or have chronic health conditions (Williams and Mavin, 2015). Disabled academics are less likely to be found in leadership positions (Emira et al, 2018) and, along with other marginalised groups, are less likely to be submitted for research assessment processes (Leathwood, 2017). Impairment effects act as a career boundary (Williams and Mavin, 2015), resulting in the risk of being 'othered' within the competitive cultural environment of academe (Merchant et al, 2020).…”

Reconceptualizing Leadership From a Neurodiverse Perspective

“…Although research has investigated leadership among neurodiverse individuals, the focus of these studies has primarily been on descriptive accounts of their leadership experiences. Research has drawn attention to neurodiversity characteristics as impediments to the development of the effective social relationships through which leadership occurs (Hurley-Hanson & Giannantonio, 2017), and highlighted an array of institutional and personal barriers that diminish the likelihood of neurodiverse individuals being perceived as leaders (see Emira, Brewster, Duncan, & Clifford, 2018). For example, the results of a study on leadership emergence among people with learning disabilities showed that having a disability negatively impacted both peer perceptions of leadership potential and leadership role occupancy, although no significant differences in leadership effectiveness were indicated in supervisor and peer evaluations (Luria, Kalish, & Weinstein, 2014).…”

“…These more task-focused approaches to leadership may provide conceptual space for neurodiversity. Although prior research has highlighted neurodiverse individuals’ social capabilities as barriers to being perceived, engaged, and supported as leaders (Emira et al, 2018), such exclusion may also be attributable to the current emphasis on the social properties of leadership. With an implicit assumption that leader effectiveness is driven by interpersonal behaviors, certain characteristics of neurodiverse individuals have been considered impediments to leadership.…”