About this project
This collaborative project addresses the gap between the leadership students exercise through partnership activities and their ability to recognise, articulate and receive recognition for these experiences.
Evidence from the SEDA Student Partnership Impact Awards suggests that students may demonstrate considerable leadership in practice yet position themselves as subordinate when staff retain formal responsibility for a project. This reflects a wider concern that leadership development within higher education is often treated as an unfocused ‘bolt-on’, without clear conceptual or pedagogical foundations across disciplines.
The project positions student partnership as an inclusive context through which leadership can be developed, recognised and rewarded, including for students who remain underrepresented in established leadership positions.
Building upon previous QAA work on inclusive employability development through the curriculum, it connects student leadership with employability, educational gain and meaningful participation in learning communities, while recognising that leadership can be collaborative and relational rather than dependent upon formal authority.
The project explores how students develop, recognise and articulate leadership through student partnership, with particular attention to those who remain underrepresented in established leadership positions. It seeks to support more intentional and inclusive consideration of student leadership within academic programmes and strengthen the connection between leadership experience, employability and career readiness.
The project adopts a collaborative mixed-methods approach, combining a review of relevant literature and programme documentation with student and staff surveys, focus groups, and roundtable discussions involving employers, student consultants, and institutional employability services.
Evidence from these activities will be triangulated to inform the co-creation of a cross-disciplinary developmental framework and student partnership mentoring guide. These resources will support programme teams to embed leadership development within programme design, delivery and evaluation, while helping students recognise and communicate their leadership capabilities.
Project lead
Dr Gemma Mansi is an Associate Professor in Higher Education at the University of Greenwich. Her work focuses on student partnership, student leadership, inclusive education, educational development, employability and student success. She is the co-founder and Developmental Lead of SEDA’s Student Partnership Impact Awards, which recognise students’ contributions to student partnership and educational enhancement.
Central to her work is a commitment to strengthening students’ sense of belonging and creating inclusive environments in which all students feel valued, connected and able to succeed. She is committed to creating meaningful opportunities for students to influence learning, teaching and institutional practice.
Project partners
- Jo Peat, University of Roehampton
- Elizabet Kaitell, Kingston University, London
- Fiona Handley, Goldsmiths, University of London
- Mariam Jabbi-Chacon, Goldsmiths, University of London