Annabel Kiernan

When university leaders begin to consider the problem of access to Higher Education, it can seem straightforward to assume that disadvantaged students share the same attitude to the barriers they have faced. As Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education at Staffordshire University, Annabel Kiernan argues that every student’s approach to tackling challenges is as unique as the learner themselves.

GoodCourse Community Engagement Lead Kira Matthews asks Annabel about what led her to work in Higher Education, and some of the initiatives that she is proudest of to date.

Annabel's Journey

Kira: What led you to a career in Higher Education, and how did you get to where you are today?

I’ve been Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education at Staffordshire University for just over a year, and it really is a development on from where my career has led me until now. What’s important to me about Higher Education is access to it, and what this provides to people in terms of real-world opportunities.

My mother and all of her five siblings attended university at a time where it was very unusual for people from less well-off backgrounds to go into Higher Education. I’m from a very working-class background: my grandmother stayed at home to look after her family, and my grandfather was a miner.

Knowing this has really instilled in me a strong value for education and an appreciation of the doors that it opens for people. It’s no surprise to me that we have all gone into public service roles now!

What I really enjoy about working in university environments is the opportunity to be surrounded by so much diversity of lived experience. I’m a political scientist by education, so I love the chance to appreciate the different ways in which people approach and benefit from university study.

Kira: You’re very passionate about the power of education to boost social mobility. How does this present itself in your work?

Education is fundamentally a social good, but it’s an economic good too. What you can give back to communities through the people you teach – who later become professionals in those spaces – can be hugely powerful.

Staffordshire is a very mixed and diverse county, so people from a huge array of backgrounds and with a massive range of identity characteristics want to study with us. I don’t teach political science anymore, but when I was in academia, I made sure that what I taught students contained components of activism. I feel that it’s important to create spaces that empower people, and give people the skills to make their own decisions.

Kira: You’re very passionate about the power of education to boost social mobility. How does this present itself in your work?

Education is fundamentally a social good, but it’s an economic good too. What you can give back to communities through the people you teach – who later become professionals in those spaces – can be hugely powerful.

I feel that it’s important to create spaces that empower people, and give people the skills to make their own decisions.

Staffordshire is a very mixed and diverse county, so people from a huge array of backgrounds and with a massive range of identity characteristics want to study with us. I don’t teach political science anymore, but when I was in academia, I made sure that what I taught students contained components of activism. I feel that it’s important to create spaces that empower people, and give people the skills to make their own decisions.

Kira: How are you breaking down some of the barriers to student success at Staffordshire?

This is a constantly evolving challenge, because every learner is unique and so comes to face different barriers, and to experience those barriers in varying ways. At the moment, we’re investing a lot in helping students navigate the transition period around the beginning of their degrees.

Many of our students are mature or part-time learners, so this isn’t as simple as assuming that everyone is eighteen and living away from home for the first time – often the picture is a lot more complicated than that. This year in particular, we’re putting a lot of work into reaching students before they begin studying with us through an interactive digital platform, to get a better sense of their interests and who they are.

In my first job after graduating, I worked at a university in a part of Scotland that was facing industrial decline, and a lot of economic problems as a result. A lot of the learners at that institution were older women who were returning to education for the first time since leaving to start families. This was a sharp learning curve, but also extremely instructive, because it gave me a nuanced perspective on how to engage with people from different backgrounds and appreciate everyone for the skills and ideas that they bring to the table just by being themselves.

Kira: How does your work help students to keep developing a sense of belonging at Staffordshire throughout their university journeys?

We’re very careful to make sure that all of our services come together into a holistic university picture, ranging right through from financial support to academic teaching. We also continue to signpost help, and analyse our student data from different angles.

We also work closely with our Students’ Union. As one student officer once said to me, the fact that a student might stop attending lectures doesn’t mean that they will stop attending SU events or speaking to other students.

3 Quickfire Questions

Kira: What advice would you give to anyone coming into the Higher Education space now?

Be kind – it can be difficult at times to stay level-headed, but it’s important to remember that we can’t assume people’s motivations.

Kira: Who do you most admire in the Higher Education space?

I’ve had a lot of very good managers in my career, and many inspiring colleagues – I still work with lots of them. It’s impossible to pick just one person!

Kira: Is there a book that you think everyone in the Higher Education space should read?

Teaching to Transgress, by bell hooks. I used this as a core text while I was teaching students, alongside Paolo Friere’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Both are fantastic critical approaches to education and how to break down barriers.