Fidelio Partners started 2015 by going back to school with a strong educational focus. This included hosting a Board breakfast with keynote speaker Amanda Spielman, Chair of the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual), the second time we have welcomed a prominent female Chair in recent months. Other examples of our educational focus included supporting a highly regarded Chairman in increasing the effectiveness and the efficiency of a university Board. In this edition of Overture we explore leadership in the education sector, as well as educating tomorrow’s leaders.
The education sector is complex and highly regulated. It is tremendously important to a country such as the UK where public expenditure on education is estimated to be of the magnitude of £90 billion and which employs some 1.5 million people. Most importantly our schools and universities are mandated with preparing the children of today for the world of tomorrow.
The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future in life.
– Plato
This represents an enormous social and economic responsibility. Education can also be a political hot potato, particularly in an election year as we currently have in the UK. For example, the current policy divide between the two main parties on tuition fees in the UK has created very substantial uncertainty over funding models for universities that could continue well after the election.
Providing good governance and effective leadership within educational institutions is obviously rewarding, but has also become extremely demanding. School and university Boards have traditionally supplemented academic expertise with lay Governors who bring other perspectives and experience. In the past these roles may have been honorific and prestigious. Today Boards of Governors, including independent and non-executive directors, are very well aware of their duties and, indeed, liability.
Education at the eye of the storm
Increasingly we see educational institutions at the eye of the storm. Consider London Metropolitan University, which fell foul of the Home Office in the UK because of reported student visa irregularities and which subsequently lost its licence to sponsor non-EU students between August 2012 and April 2013.
University of Westminster is currently in the public eye in the context of radicalisation, after one of the world’s most wanted terrorists was identified as a recent graduate. Similar concerns have led to an overhaul of academy trusts in Birmingham, following the so-called ‘Trojan Horse’ scandal in which hard-line religious groups were accused of infiltrating certain Midlands schools, and which led to a debate over the teaching of ‘British values’ in UK schools.
The regulators can also find themselves centre stage. Consider, for example, the furore which arose surrounding the consistency and fairness of GCSE English examination results in the summer of 2012. It took a very steady hand at the helm to guide the regulatory body through this phase of intense scrutiny and agitation. So what are the skills required to provide governance, oversight and strategic vision in the academic world?
Governance in the education sector
The Chairman of a Board of Governors of a school or university faces many of the same challenges as a corporate Chairman. Firstly ensuring that the Board is fulfilling its obligations of oversight and accountability, while also providing direction and strategic vision. There is, of course, an inherent tension here between control and forward-looking strategic thinking. And certainly in such a heavily regulated sector there can be a strong temptation to adhere closely to the heavy weight of supervisory requirements without leaving adequate time for strategic thinking and horizon scanning – also very important responsibilities of the Board of Governors.
There is much change afoot. The provision of education is becoming increasingly international; the competition for pupils and students is intensifying; and new technology is redefining how we think about the dissemination of information and knowledge. In this context the need for the Board to ask profound questions about purpose and direction has arguably never been greater.
Also critical is Board composition. The Chairman needs to know that there is a well-qualified, experienced Board in place that is highly committed to promoting the health and best interest of the institution. A wise Chairman will be working towards this when times are calm and not risk facing a crisis with a Board that is fragmented, unclear about its purpose and potentially not wholly committed.
Board composition brings us right to the heart of what is distinctive in providing governance and leadership in the education sector. When defining a skill matrix the Chairman must be able to draw upon deep understanding of the provision of education, insight into how government and regulators work, and also a strong commercial understanding of how to build a strong and sustainable business model. Identifying these often distinct skills and then introducing them into the Board in an effective manner is surely a key test of an effective Chairman.
A significant proportion of independent, non-executive Governors will not be remunerated. For many Governors there is a laudable willingness to give back. This can present specific challenges, for example in relaying difficult or critical feedback from an evaluation. If someone is giving their time so generously, what is the scope for discipline? Several Chairmen deal with this very elegantly by emphasising the development opportunities and effectively enabling Governors to become better at the role of governing through a range of formal and informal measures and modules.
The stakeholders
The Board of an educational establishment, or indeed a regulatory body in the education sector, needs to have an exceptionally good grasp of stakeholder management – arguably even more so than in a corporate. At one level it is quite clear who the stakeholders are: pupils, students, their families, the community, future employers, government. The challenge arises in that each of these stakeholder groups feels intense ownership of the institution and can be very vocal.
Whereas 5-10 years ago, the executive took care of communication, most Boards now realise that engaging with stakeholders is a multi-layered process. Boards are now expected to engage directly with certain key stakeholders. Equally the Board should have a good handle on the quality and regularity of communication with stakeholders as a whole.
Educating the business leaders of tomorrow
A key responsibility for Boards within the education sector is preparing young people today for the world tomorrow. One critical element is the duty to develop future business leaders who will drive the economy forward.
Fidelio’s Board Breakfast with the Chair of Ofqual was attended by a mixture of education professionals and senior business executives from a range of sectors including Oil & Gas, Technology and Financial Services. Our guests expressed strong concerns that the UK was falling behind in some of the core skills that are needed to compete in the digital economy. And there was equal consternation that the UK is not educating enough engineers to meet the demands of a potentially resurgent manufacturing sector.
It was also suggested that the focus on process in education in the UK has been at the expense of excellence and vision. Inevitably China was cited as celebrating technology and incentivising students to study relevant subjects.
Structural steps are being taken by government and the educational system in the UK to better meet business needs. For example, a major drive is underway in the UK to increase the number of 16-18 year olds who continue to study maths. This includes compulsory retakes of GCSE Mathematics (and English) examinations for students who failed to achieve a passing grade, a measure first introduced in September 2013.
Education is clearly provided within a prescribed framework. We argue that it is the duty of a Governor to engage actively in the debate as to what this framework should look like and, in particular, to ensure that the educational establishment and the business community are not talking at cross purposes. This might include reminding business of some of the virtues of the tradition of essentialism in UK education, which lays value upon studying a subject well and, at its best, develops critical thinking and strong communication skills.
Hard-wiring diversity
Currently the business world is very focused on achieving greater diversity in the boardroom, recognising the benefits this can bring to decision making. But starting at the top cannot be the sole solution. The Davies Report and the UK Government recognises that we need to look closely at the pipeline. Most major corporates have taken this responsibility to heart. Are we doing all that we can in school and university?
With regard to gender diversity it is important to ensure that girls are giving themselves full opportunity to compete. The UK educational system allows a substantial amount of choice at a young age. Should we be doing still more to encourage boys and particularly girls to stick with the tough subjects such as maths and science until they are 18? This is certainly the case in many education systems around the world.
Clearly this is a subject where Governors have an interest and a voice. We were amused to hear from our guests that even highly successful Board-level women can struggle to persuade teenage daughters of the merits of studying physics!
Yet is the very success of women in education creating a blind spot? Within the education sector there are a number of senior women in leadership roles. Could it be that this distracts from the very real challenges that women face in a number of business environments? Are the challenges in business fully understood by educational professionals? This is surely a major societal question that Governors should not lose sight of.
Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.
– Nelson Mandela
The big strategic questions
Fidelio fully recognises the challenges facing Boards in the education sector. A very high degree of governance is required to fulfil the duties of oversight and accountability in a sector that is regulated and highly politicised. But Boards are also responsible for purpose and direction and asking big strategic questions.
This is ultimately how Boards responsible for overseeing the provision and regulation of education will be judged. Did they have the foresight and tenacity to insist that today’s pupils and students are being given every chance to compete in the global economy that is already with us? Are we educating tomorrow’s leaders and hard-wiring diversity into tomorrow’s boardroom? For Fidelio this is a litmus test of Board effectiveness in the education sector.
Fidelio High Notes – February 2015
- Fidelio is supporting Chairmen to enhance Board effectiveness through Search and Evaluation. Fidelio brings to both a deep understanding of stakeholder and shareholder expectations for the Board.
- Fidelio is currently conducting Executive Searches on a pan-European basis with a focus on senior Finance, IR and Communications roles.
- Fidelio is working with different types of organisation including quoted and unquoted corporates, global consultancies, international professional bodies and academic institutions. Current sectors include Financial and Professional Services, Automotive and Technology.
- Fidelio launches the Fidelio IR Bulletin with an overview of the IR Skills Audit. For further information please email szhang@fideliopartners.com
- Fidelio will host a Board breakfast by private invitation with Tara O’Connor, founder of Africa Risk Consulting, entitled “Africa and Leadership”.
Please contact us with comments or for more information at info@fideliopartners.com