Campus talks: Why ‘grit’ and knowing when to say ‘no’ are vital skills in academia today

Listen to this podcast on Spotify or Apple podcasts. While stimulating and rewarding, academic careers present numerous challenges that require resilience and determination from those who wish to remain in the academy. The job precarity now so common across higher education, alongside the repeated rejection from funders and publishers and pressure to demonstrate excellence across teaching, research and administration, makes for a brutal combination, too often resulting in stress, overwork and ultimately burnout.  We speak to two professors, who have both written on navigating this tricky career terrain, about how they have managed to find freedom and fulfilment in their work, even when faced with spiralling workloads and multiple pressures, and what fulfilment looks like. You will hear from: Jeffrey McDonnell is a university distinguished professor of hydrology in the School of Environment and Sustainability, and associate director of the Global Institute for Water Security at the University of Saskatchewan, as well as a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. In 2024, he was appointed as an officer to the Order of Canada and his many awards include the 2016 Dooge Medal from the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (with Unesco and the World Meteorological Organization), the 2022 Outstanding Achievement Award from the New Zealand Hydrological Society and the 2009 John Dalton Medal from the European Geosciences Union. He is the author of Navigating an Academic Career: A Brief Guide for PhD Students, Postdocs and New Faculty (American Geophysical Union, 2020). Sarah Robinson is a professor of human resource management at IÉSEG School of Management in Paris. She moved into academia after working in international development and completed her PhD at the University of Lancaster before working her way up through a series of lectureships at the Open University, Leicester University and the University of Glasgow, where she was promoted to professor in 2019. After years studying the experiences of early career researchers, Sarah co-edited Doing Academic Careers Differently: Portraits of Academic Life (Routledge, 2023) with fellow researchers Alexander Bristow and Olivier Ratle, a book that seeks to highlight approaches to academia that diverge from the traditional career model. For further career advice from academics all over the world, addressing some of the key challenges associated with working in higher education, head to our latest spotlight: An academic’s survival guide.

How can universities equip students with the knowledge and skills they will need to succeed in a job market that is ever changing and increasingly difficult to forecast? The answer, Thomas Jefferson University president Susan Aldridge says, lies in an interdisciplinary and applied approach to learning. In this video podcast, she describes how the institution has achieved a 98% success rate for graduates in employment or further study, the benefits of bringing students from different disciplines together, upskilling everyone in the use of AI and why US university leaders need a joined-up strategy for communicating the value of higher education. Thanks to Thomas Jefferson University for sponsoring this episode.  

This episode of Campus Talks heads back to school. As millions of freshmen prepare to start university – whether that’s on campus or online – we look at what institutions can do to make the transition to higher education a bit less overwhelming and a little more tailored to a cohort who are informed by AI and social media and focused on career-based skills. Orientation is no longer a one-size-fits-all proposition. For universities, this means listening to students’ need for flexibility, taking into account their different backgrounds and ages, and addressing barriers to the settling-in process. We speak to Rachel Gable, director of academic programme authorisation at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, and the author of The Hidden Curriculum: First Generation Students at Legacy Universities (Princeton University Press, 2021) and the upcoming The College Handbook: How to Arrive, Survive, and Thrive on Campus (PUP, 2026). With a background in anthropology and a doctorate in education from Harvard, she has spent years researching student success, interviewing scores of students about how they navigate the unspoken norms and social rules of higher education.  You can find more practical advice and insight on how best to set students up for success at your institution, from academics all over the world, in our latest Campus spotlight guide: A warm welcome for new students.

Equity, diversity and inclusion work in higher education is under growing scrutiny, in some cases outright attack, most notably in the US. So, on this week’s podcast we spoke to two experts in EDI – or DEI as it is referred to in north America – based in the US to get back to the basics of what this work is all about and discuss how universities can protect and advance equality of opportunity for all, against a challenging political backdrop. You will hear from: Paulette Granberry Russell JD, the president and CEO of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education. She took up the position in March 2020, after more than 20 years as chief diversity officer and senior adviser to the president for diversity at Michigan State University. She is a leading national voice on civil rights, justice in higher education and beyond, and the transformative power of higher education. Frank Dobbin, the Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University, whose research investigates what initiatives are most effective in promoting diversity in corporations and in higher education. He has written and spoken widely on this subject, with his 2022 book, co-authored with Alexandra Kalev of Tel Aviv University, Getting to Diversity: What Works and What Doesn’t sparking widespread coverage and commentary. You can find more practical advice and insight on how best to support a diverse, equitable and inclusive higher education sector, from academics and EDI practitioners all over the world, in our latest spotlight guide: What next for EDI? Protecting equality of opportunity in HE.

Critical thinking is one of the most lauded graduate skillsets, praised by academics, sought after by employers and upheld as a solution to many contemporary challenges from AI to polarisation. But are universities equipping students with the capabilities and mindset needed to properly question information and assumptions, to self-reflect, overcome biases, analyse, empathise and reason? And if not, what could higher education do differently? To find out, in this podcast episode we speak to two experts in education and strategic decision-making: Olivier Sibony is an affiliate professor at the business school HEC Paris and a specialist in strategic decision making and the role that heuristics and biases play in this. Olivier spent 24 years as a management consultant with McKinsey and Company in New York, Paris and Brussels and has produced hit books including You're About to Make a Terrible Mistake in 2020 and Noise, A Flaw in Human Judgment in 2021, which he co-wrote with Nobel prize winner Daniel Kahnemen and Cass R Sunstein. Tony Wagner is a senior research fellow at the Learning Policy Institute. Prior to this, Tony worked at Harvard University for more than twenty years, as expert in residence at the Harvard Innovation Lab and the founder and co-director of the Change Leadership Group at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He has also worked as a high school teacher, a K-8 principal, university professor and founding executive director of Educators for Social Responsibility. And he is the author of eight books with his next, Mastery: Why Deeper Learning is Essential in an Age of Distraction, published in September. In these interviews, we break critical thinking down into its component parts, discuss its role in decision making, why it can be so challenging and why contemporary education systems need a rethink if they are to truly equip students to think independently amidst the flood of digital information with which they are bombarded daily. For more practical insight and advice on teaching and practicing critical thinking in higher education, go to our latest spotlight guide: Critical thinking in teaching and research.

Whether you love it, tolerate it, are a master of a compelling Bluesky thread or struggle with a LinkedIn update, social media has become an inescapable part of academia and university life. But it’s complicated. On one hand, scholars use it to build their academic profile, share research with the wider public, celebrate career successes or publications and connect with community and potential collaborators. And on the other, social media is a breeding ground for political polarisation, misinformation and harassment. One aspect that is beyond question is social media’s ability to hook and maintain our attention. So, what can higher education take from social media’s compelling ways to improve teaching, critical thinking or outreach? How can teachers use its strategies to build engagement in class, for example? What can analysing influencers show learners about navigating AI-created content and deep fakes? What do online habits tell us about what students need from their teachers and each other? For this episode of the Campus podcast, we talk to two very different guests, a psychologist in the UK and a professor of public relations in the US: Peter Lovatt is an expert on the psychology of movement and dance, a former professional dancer, and founder of Doctor Dance. During his 20 years working in university research labs, he led the Dance Psychology Lab at the University of Hertfordshire and was a dance psychology lecturer at the Royal Ballet School. His books include The Dance Cure: The Surprising Secret to Being Smarter, Stronger, Happier (Short Books, 2020) and Dance Psychology: The Science of Dance and Dancers (2018). Cayce Myers is a professor of public relations and director of graduate studies in the School of Communication at Virginia Tech. His work focuses on laws, regulations and ethics that affect public relations practice, and his books include Public Relations History: Theory, Practice, and Profession (Routledge, 2020) and Money in Politics: Campaign Fundraising in the 2020 Presidential Election (Lexington Books, 2023). For more resources from our Campus contributors on this topic, visit our latest spotlight guide: What can higher education learn from social media?

We discuss the changing role of the university library, and librarian, and learn how these often iconic institutions are not just responding to change but actively seeking out new opportunities to improve their services and ensure access to valuable information. Hear about the efforts of US librarians to protect valuable public data and government records from the sudden erasure by the Trump administration. Plus, a UK vice-chancellor describes a pioneering project which saw his university partner with the local council to create a joint library that is open to anyone. Lynda Kellam is the Snyder-Granader director of research data and digital scholarship at the University of Pennsylvania. She has held previous data librarian roles at Cornell University and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She serves as secretary of the International Association for Social Science Information Service and Technology (IASSIST) and is a past president of the Government Documents Round Table (GODORT). Independently of her role at Penn, she is a leading figure in the Data Rescue Project, which is coordinating efforts to protect US public data at risk of deletion or mismanagement. David Green is the vice-chancellor of the University of Worcester. A Cambridge-educated economist with a career-long commitment to education and social equality, he was instrumental in establishing The Hive, which is the only fully integrated university-public library in Europe, in partnership with the Worcestershire County Council. Before joining Worcester in 2003, he held senior academic posts at London South Bank University, Leeds Metropolitan University and the University of West London, and worked as a researcher and consultant in the private sector and for UK homeless campaign SHELTER. In 2019, he was awarded a CBE for his services to higher education.  You'll find more advice and insight on how university libraries can optimise their services for students, academics and the public in our latest spotlight guide.

A technology transfer expert and biotech spin-out founder explain the steps involved in moving discoveries from the lab to the market. Most academics want their work to have an impact and one route to achieving this is by commercialising their findings. By partnering with an existing company to bring a product to market or by establishing a new spin-out enterprise, scholars can develop technologies, products and solutions that can revolutionise whole sectors, whether in healthcare, construction, farming and more. But this is a far from easy or simple process requiring tenacity, adaptability, collaboration and high level problem solving. For this week’s podcast, we speak to two people with extensive experience in what it takes to commercialise research and become an academic entrepreneur. Mairi Gibbs is CEO of Oxford University Innovation – the university’s technology transfer unit - where she has worked since 2002. With extensive practical experience in partnership management, formation of spinout companies, licensing and patent portfolio management, she explains the initial steps to commercialisation, what investors look for and what can be done at an institutional level to support more spin out activity. Andrew Hammond is co-founder and head of R&D at Biocentis – an Imperial College London spin out founded in 2022. With a background in molecular biology, Andrew’s 10-year academic career at both Imperial and Johns Hopkins University involved advancing gene editing technology for use in insects. The resulted in the development of gene drive technology designed for use on malaria mosquitos and the later development of Biocentis. For more advice and insight on this topic, read our spotlight guide on how to work well with industry. 

As complex organisations, universities need to examine their many and varied functions when seeking to reduce their carbon footprint and advance sustainability. For many, the easier changes have been made so, looking ahead, institutions need to get smarter about how they transform their practices and policies to halt future global warming. In this episode, we speak to two women focused upon driving positive change and reducing emissions in two very different but equally important arenas of university work. Ellen Quigley is principal research associate at the University of Cambridge. She is also co-director of finance for environmental and social systemic change and special adviser in responsible investment to the university’s chief financial officer. Her own award-winning research focuses on the mitigation of climate change and inequality through the investment policies and practices of institutional investors. Drawing on the example of Jesus College, Cambridge, she explains how universities can use their power as investors to influence and press for environmental change across multiple sectors – and work against funding for fossil fuel extraction. Jenna Lowe is the laboratory sustainability officer at the University of Liverpool. She manages the university’s Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF) and is a member of the sustainability team. She was shortlisted in the Outstanding Technician of the Year category in the 2024 THE Awards. She discusses how seemingly small adaptations in lab practices can have a huge impact in reducing emissions and waste. You can find more advice and insight on how universities can work towards achieving net zero in our latest spotlight guide here: Higher education’s bumpy road to net zero | THE Campus Learn, Share, Connect

A sense of belonging is particularly valuable in higher education, where feeling valued, respected and part of a community are connected to students’ academic achievement, retention and well-being. But belonging resists clear definition, both what it is and how it relates to other concepts such as inclusion and mattering. This is especially true in a post-pandemic world, where online learning and the digital transformation have blurred the boundaries of university life. For this episode of the Campus podcast, we speak to Karen Gravett, who is an associate professor in higher education and associate head of research in the Surrey Institute of Education at the University of Surrey. Her research covers belonging, digital education, student engagement, relational pedagogies and literacy practices. As part of the Belonging to and beyond the Digital university project, Karen (working with Rola Ajjawi of Deakin University and Sarah O’Shea from Charles Sturt University) asked students what belonging means to them, and in this conversation she shares insights into post-Covid student life and why elements such as curation, safety, non-belonging and connection to an academic discipline are powerful drivers of belonging. You'll find more advice and insight on how to build belonging at your higher education institution in our latest spotlight guide.