Stuck in the middle with you: the role of senior leaders as third space professionals

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.vi33.1204

Keywords:

Community, third-space professional, leadership

Abstract

This collaborative opinion piece offers the perspective that senior leaders must move beyond their traditional places within the academic or professional services spaces to act as hybrid professionals or translators. We take five perspectives as senior leaders and build a collective opinion of our view of the role of senior leaders as third space professionals. Senior leaders must move across boundaries, becoming third space professionals and by actively taking a liminal or neutral position between defined spaces, they share and communicate their expertise or service in a way that encourages collaboration and improved communication between groups. This conceptualisation of role and approach reinforces the notion of a single university community which supports individual, team, and organisational goals for the primary benefit of the student members of the community. Our collective opinion is that effective senior leaders in higher education will: actively occupy the third space; understand different needs to reach common goals; value all types of expertise; and communicate, communicate, communicate.

Author Biographies

Alison Purvis, Sheffield Hallam University

Alison Purvis is an Associate Dean Teaching and Learning in the College of Health and Wellbeing at Sheffield Hallam University. Alison’s role is to provide strategic leadership of teaching and learning at college and institutional level. She is a principal fellow of the Higher Education Academy (PFHEA) and a senior fellow of the Staff and Educational Development Associate (SFSEDA). Alison has worked in educational and learning development for over 20 years and is a passionate advocate of collaborative working across boundaries.

Beth Fielding-Lloyd, Sheffield Hallam University, UK

Beth Fielding-Lloyd was the Head of Teaching and Learning Enhancement in the College of Health and Wellbeing at Sheffield Hallam University, at the time of writing this article. Beth is an experienced senior academic with a track record of leadership of and responsibility for teaching, learning and student experience enhancement priorities with a particular passion for digital capability development, assessment for learning and inclusion. She also has over 18 years of research experience with current interests in the fields of sport equity policies, the professionalisation of women’s football and social media abuse.

Melissa Jacobi, Sheffield Hallam University, UK

Melissa Jacobi is the Head of Academic Advising at Sheffield Hallam University. Melissa has the remit of developing and implementing academic advising practice across the institution. She works with advising leads from each department to develop, share, and embed best practice in relation to delivering academic advising to students on all taught courses, and collaborates with central services to support academic advising activities. Prior to her institutional role, Melissa was a senior lecturer in sport management following a successful career leading and managing in the sport and leisure industries in both paid and voluntary roles.

Dave Thornley, Sheffield Hallam University, UK

Dave Thornley is the Head of Digital Architecture at Sheffield Hallam University. Dave is responsible for the enterprise architecture, cyber security, and digital skills teams at Sheffield Hallam. As a senior leader Dave works in partnership with academic and professional departments to meet the changing technology and digital needs of the university community.

Nick Woolley, Sheffield Hallam University, UK

Nick Woolley is the Director of Library and Campus Services at Sheffield Hallam University. Nick has held a variety of professional roles at seven different universities over the last 27 years, and for the last decade has been responsible for leading large multi-disciplinary teams to support teaching, research, and the student experience.

References

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Published

30-01-2025

How to Cite

Purvis, A., Fielding-Lloyd, B., Jacobi, M., Thornley, D., & Woolley, N. (2025). Stuck in the middle with you: the role of senior leaders as third space professionals. Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, (33). https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.vi33.1204

Issue

No. 33 (2025): Special Edition, Third Space In HE

Section

Leadership, influence and credibility

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