INTERVIEW
A hybrid workplace is much better for people’s work-life balance, much better for people’s mental wellbeing and much better for organisations now too
that this is becoming more and more difficult to do. There needs to be a great focus on ensuring that recruitment is effective and we are getting the best students from a whole host of regions. We also need to be flexible in what we offer to students. I also see big challenges in the executive education space. This is a crowded field, where not only are business schools offering effective training to companies, but so are external companies such as LinkedIn, as well as many companies that are taking this training in-house. There is huge disruption in this space and, to compete with all of these options, we need to be as flexible as possible and offer really good, tailored programmes to fit the needs of the companies we are working with. Do you think recent geopolitical and technological turbulence has moved us to a more democratised approach to business education in terms of cohort diversity? How do you see this evolving? The world is uncertain, there’s no denying that now. We are facing huge turbulence in terms of geopolitics, the economy and technology; business schools need to respond to this. Diversity is difficult to achieve, but is so vital for a business education class. Making use of scholarships is key to ensuring we keep great diversity as far as our cohorts are concerned. Traditionally, Durham University Business School’s programmes have been diverse and the challenge is to continue
that successfully. We must keep ensuring that business education is available to everyone, and that there should be no barriers to entry – especially financial. So, with an uncertain world, we must continue to be innovative in how we offer our education, what it covers and who it can be accessible to. By doing this, we can ensure our cohort is diverse too. Your research has focused on organisational psychology. Do you think the trends towards hybrid workplaces will accelerate or will we return to ‘normal’ over the coming few years? I do not think we will ever go back to what was previously perceived as ‘normal’. Hybrid working is here to stay, and although people are getting back into being face to face again, and enjoying doing so, people will always want the element of online/working from home as it is convenient for them and we’ve proven it is easy for us to do. A hybrid workplace is much better for people’s work-life balance, much better for people’s mental wellbeing and much better for organisations now too. The convenience and flexibility it affords are too great to go back [to the way things were]. Presenteeism is definitely a thing of the past. When you look at it from a business education standpoint, hybrid working allows us to really ensure that we have the best of the best at our business school. Allowing not only our faculty, but also our professional services staff, to have a flexible, convenient hybrid workplace lets
us attract highly talented staff and push the school further.
What do you think that business education needs to do to truly impact the EDI agenda in the wider business context? We need to challenge more. We see great diversity among students and faculty but, when you look at wider business, the levels of diversity at the top level are still shockingly low. We need to be more challenging when we see something that needs changing in the world. If there is one thing recent movements and protests have taught us, it is that it is not enough to be passive when we see inequality, especially if it is not directly affecting us. We have to call it out and help make a change. I think we need to do a lot of work within organisations to empower individuals to challenge behaviours that are unacceptable in the workplace. It takes everyone from all walks of life to improve the equity of all. From a practical sense, we must ensure we continue to have our actions reflect our words – by having diverse cohorts and faculty, ensuring the case studies we use are diverse in all aspects, and by truly listening to each other to ensure that everyone associated with Durham University Business School feels included – we cannot change the wider world if that is not the case. The idea of inclusion is a crucial part of the debate around EDI. We can easily hire a female dean or recruit lots of students from around the world or have initiatives focused on LGBTQ+ people,
Ambition | DECEMBER 2022/JANUARY 2023 | 17
Made with FlippingBook - Share PDF online