Aurora Leadership
Aurora is an innovative leadership development training programme aimed at women and those
who identify as women which was set up to address the under-representation of women
in higher-education leadership roles. It aims to encourage women in academic and professional
roles to think of themselves as leaders; to develop leadership skills and to help institutions
like UCD optimise the leadership potential of women. The programme is delivered by Advance HE
and it provides, in a social learning environment, core and adaptive leadership skills and knowledge
over five single non-residential days, delivered over a five- month period. The programme
is delivered as a combination of development days; self-directed learning from on-line resources;
cross-institutional action learning sets and in-house mentoring.
Helen Kenny, School Manager
'I was selected to participate in the 2019-20 Aurora Leadership Programme. I was enthusiastic to learn from other women in Irish Higher Education and gain new leadership skills. The combination of Programme days and Action Learning Sets developed my own mindset for leadership. It helped me improve my confidence, engage with discovering my own leadership qualities and advancing my career. The peer learning and networking with colleagues from other institutions has helped me enormously in recognising my strengths and weaknesses and developing my own leadership capabilities. I use the skills from Aurora in many of my day to day interactions. My programme was interrupted by the Covid 19 lockdown of Ireland. However, the Aurora team quickly moved virtual and I was able to complete most of the programme. Furthermore, the network of Aurorans has been a great resource for me as we navigated the uncertain times and unprecedented situations. It was great to have the community of women to call upon for advice and support during this difficult time.'
Congratualations to Dr Sarah Parlane on being accepted to Aurora Leadership Program.
