Women's Development

Staff Learning and Development Opportunities

Aurora Women's Leadership Programme

Aurora is a women-only leadership development initiative facilitated by Advance HE. It aims to encourage women in higher education to think of themselves as leaders and to develop leadership skills. If you are starting to think of moving into a leadership role, and have some managerial experience, the programme offers an ideal opportunity for development.

To apply, you should be in a role up to and including Associate Professor or Professional and Managerial Grade 8.

This programme will enable you to:

• Learn - Tools, techniques and strategies from a team of leadership experts, guest speakers & online resources.
• Develop - Leadership skills through experiential processes, reflection and conversations.
• Network - Meet delegates through five live online development days with interactive breakout sessions and two action learning set meetings.
• Connect - With a UK wide network and niche groups through a members only group.
• Grow - Supported by a mentor within UoR.

For more detail on the programme content, visit Advance HE’s About Aurora Webpage.

Aurora is made up of a mix of development days, action learning sets and online resources, and includes mentoring by a senior member of University staff. While most sessions are run online, there are some opportunities to meet with your cohort in person, travel costs for this are to be agreed and covered by your school or department budget.

Applications for Aurora 2024 will be opening July 2024 and will be advertised on the Staff Portal.

If you have any questions in the meantime about Aurora, the application process or Women's development, please get in touch with us at peopledevelopment@reading.ac.uk.

Springboard Women's Development Programme

The Springboard Women's Development Programme enables women to take more control over their own lives and careers by identifying clear, practical and realistic steps that they want to take and developing the skills and confidence to take them. Springboard has been used successfully by over 230,000 women in over 40 countries.

Springboard is for women of all backgrounds, ages and stages of their life and combines the attendance of four full day workshops, completion of a workbook, networking and co-coaching. Each participant will set their objectives on the first workshop, which can be to do with work or their personal life.

Many women use the programme to get better results at work, such as new qualifications, aiming for a promotion, developing new skills or creating a new attitude to change. According to the Springboard Consultancy, 80% of participants report increased confidence/self-esteem as a result of undertaking this programme.

Our 2024 cohort is now closed.

If you have any questions about Springboard, the application process or Women's development, please get in touch with us at peopledevelopment@reading.ac.uk.