LUMS’ ambition as a responsible Management School is to do the right thing not only by our students, staff and local community – but also by the wider economy and for communities’ quality of life
insight and more understanding about which teaching methods work well in the different contexts, and what doesn’t work. We are listening to students more than ever, and while the majority of our teaching is delivered face to face, students tell us that some of the online materials and resources enhanced their experience. Getting the balance right is key. We’re still on a learning curve when it comes to flexible and hybrid working approaches, which have changed the working world as we all know it. The increased acceptance to do things remotely or virtually offers a host of benefits for business and for higher education, and means we can extend our reach to other areas and sectors that we would not normally access, potentially opening up new opportunities in new markets. As a university which has responded to the climate emergency, and pledged to become carbon neutral by 2035, a by-product of Covid-19 has been to pause to ask long and hard questions about our ‘old’ ways of doing things – such as extensive programmes of global travel. While this will always be fundamental to many aspects of our business, going forward we will work smarter, be more efficient and more conscious of what is truly necessary. Do you think recent events have moved us to a more democratised approach to business education? I think the potential is there for this to be the case, and we can certainly learn from
our experiences, especially with regards to the pivot to online and blended teaching and learning. However, we also have to be aware that the changing patterns of working and learning, which we were forced to contend with during the pandemic, also created many inequities, especially around digital capability and accessibility. Nationally and internationally, that impact has varied depending on a number of factors including policy responses, subsidies supporting business, level of educational attainment, degree of digital skills, access to online education and technology, and media coverage. Therefore, while we can be more flexible and adapt to our students’ needs and wishes, and also extend our reach, we also need to be aware that digital exclusion is a very real issue. Work is still required at regional, national and international levels to tackle digital inequity so we can improve our capabilities in that area and create resilience against exclusion. Your research focuses on gender, and a critical feminist perspective on the macro-, meso-, and micro- level influences on inequality among entrepreneurial leaders. How far are we from achieving genuine equity in the business world? Regrettably, I think there is still plenty of work to be done to ensure that women achieve genuine equity. Despite increasing awareness, activity and legislation – which I very much welcome – inequalities
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Ambition | BE IN BRILLIANT COMPANY
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