Inclusive leadership and culture in the further education and skills sector: Inclusive Sector

We’re continuing our inclusive leadership ‘in conversation’ series with Dr Katerina Kolyva, CEO of the Education and Training Foundation, and Professor Jo Maher, Principal and CEO at Loughborough College, recently appointed as Loughborough University’s Pro Vice Chancellor for Sport. In part two they discuss the importance of inclusive working practices and what an inclusive sector looks like.What inclusive practices do you see working well within the sector and what can we improve?JM: I think if you’re truly getting it right, when you walk into an organisation, you just feel it. It’s intangible, but you know in your gut that things feel right.As well as working with Investors In Diversity we also became a trauma informed college, which is about removing adverse childhood experiences and barriers for learners joining the college. It involved training all staff and setting the cultural tone of the organisation. We did some psychometric work with our Board of Governors and executive leadership team to really understand everyone’s approach to work – what does a good day look like? What does a bad day look like? How does that affect the teams around you?It’s about seeking individuals’ strengths and looking at how do you turn a strength into a super strength. You might be a super dynamic and cheerful person, and that’s great, but you might not be good at processes. So how can you create a team where you can blend different strengths and make them gel? We’ve had to look at it in a holistic way, and I think for me that’s the key. It’s not in isolation.An example of where we hadn’t done well was not having enough diverse products in our hairdressing salons. So we looked at our procurement and supply chain as well as the curriculum. For me it’s about holistically analysing each aspect of your business and having a strategy for each part.It’s about that feeling in an organisation – do I feel welcomed? Have I got what I need? It then just becomes a natural part of your business.KK: I’ve worked in many sectors, and I believe that the further education and skills sector is the only one that I can confidently say drives social mobility. I think sometimes we forget this. In my first five months in my role at the ETF, I’ve been out and about talking to sector leaders and colleagues that deliver the training and what I’ve noticed is that social mobility is really apparent.But I also think as you move up the rungs of the ladder into a leadership role in many organisations, you don’t always see the level of diversity that you would expect. I’ve noticed it in the NHS too – you walk into a GP practice, community centre or a hospital, and you see massive diversity in the staff. But you go into the boardroom and you don’t see it – it’s a bit like that in our sector.When I walk onto a college campus, when I start an apprenticeship, when I walk into a pub or care home, where people are learning – how do I make sure we can see that diversity? I think there’s more work we need to do as leaders to support everyone with their career progression, to help them thrive, be the best in their field and on their social mobility journey.It’s about using the right language that people relate to, and that what they see around them makes them feel included. It’s also about showing strong allyship. I love it when I see men in a room talking about women’s rights or when I see LGBTQ+ colleagues in the room talking about straight rights. It’s not only about what we perceive to be a minoritised group, but also about that global majority.What does an inclusive sector look like to you?JM: Nationally we’ve got a big job to do on gender pay, and an inclusive sector is one that tangibly removes barriers around pay. In colleges we’re seeing female senior leaders that are doing well. But we also see more female applicants in some of our lower paid roles such as facilities and estate management, customer services and administration. We’re still seeing tradition...