Vortragende

Abstract – Kurzbiografie – Publikationen 

Dr.ⁱⁿ Celia Whitchurch, Institute of Education, University of London

“Reconstructing Identities in Higher Education: The Rise of Third Space Professionals“

Abstract

Changing environments in higher education have impacted not only on the roles and identities of academic staff, but also on those of professional staff, who often have the task of co-ordinating activities that contribute to both academic and institutional objectives. In this context, a new cadre of ‘blended professionals’ is emerging, who work in a ‘Third Space’ between academic and professional spheres of activity (Whitchurch 2008, 2009). The session will report on two studies of such staff, supported by the UK Leadership Foundation for Higher Education, which explored the implications of these developments for institutional roles and relationships, thereby illustrating identities and working practices that have tended to be hidden within ‘binary’ understandings of institutional communities. Narratives arising from the case material will be analysed, including ways in which staff work across academic and professional spheres to establish new spaces, knowledges, relationships and legitimacies. How the dynamics of ‘Third Space’ might be accommodated and optimised in contemporary institutions will also be explored, with reference to the challenges that arise for both individuals and institutions in relation to, for instance, rewards and incentives and professional and career development. 

Short Biography

Dr Celia Whitchurch is Lecturer in Higher Education at the University of London, Institute of Education. Before that she had a career as a university administrator and manager in four UK institutions. Between 2005 and 2009 she undertook two studies funded by the UK Leadership Foundation for Higher Education on the changing roles and identities of professional staff, and the emergence of ‘blended’ identities in a ‘Third Space’ between academic and professional spheres of activity. She has published widely on professional identities, policy and management in higher education, including a jointly edited monograph (with George Gordon) entitled Academic and Professional Identities in Higher Education: The Challenges of a Diversifying Workforce (2010). She is currently working on a single-authored monograph, Reconstructing Identities in Higher Education: The Rise of Third Space Professionals.

Further information: http://www.ioe.ac.uk/staff/LCEN_49.html

Publication (selection)

• Whitchurch, Celia (2010): Optimising the Potential of Third Space Professionals in Higher Education, in: ZFHE Jg.5 / Nr.4 (Dez. 2010) S. 9-22; http://www.zfhe.at/index.php/zfhe/article/view/10
• Whitchurch, Celia (2010): Some implications of ‘public/private’ space for professional identities in higher education. In: High Educ (2010) 60:627–640.
• Whitchurch, C. (2009). The Rise of the Blended Professional in Higher Education: A Comparison between the UK, Australia and the United States. Higher Education, 58(3), 407-418.
• Whitchurch, C. (2008). Shifting Identities and Blurring Boundaries: The Emergence of Third Space Professionals in UK Higher Education. Higher Education Quarterly, 62(4), 377-396.
• Whitchurch, C. (2008). Professional Managers in UK Higher Education:
  Preparing for Complex Futures.  Leadership Foundation for Higher Education.  University of London.