2024 Summer Forum: Leadership in international education

Leadership is central to any organisation or association. This is certainly true in international higher education. However, in our sector, there is no one-size-fits-all model for leadership. Be it within international offices, European University Alliances or entire institutions, approaches to, and practices of, leadership differ greatly depending on the required outputs and deliverables, participating stakeholders, and local and national attitudes towards leadership and management. Furthermore, there are few dedicated educational or training pathways geared towards leadership within international higher education. While this underscores the diversity of experience across the sector, an undeniable asset, it also means that much of the training happens in an ad hoc manner or on the job. In short, leadership is certainly vital, yet also somewhat amorphous.

Thus, in this edition of the EAIE’s member magazine, 11 authors, who run the gamut of international higher education, explore and discuss a variety of perspectives on management and leadership within the field. From Marie Martin’s article outlining the usefulness of Kaizen as a practical management philosophy, to Sofia Costa D’Aguiar and Sabine Sainte-Rose’s exploration of their experiences as female leaders of European University Alliances, to Professor Danica Purg’s reflections on running various management schools and her innovative approaches to management training, this 2024 Summer edition of Forum approaches leadership from a broad range of perspectives that reflects the diversity of what leadership means in this sector.