Throughout their histories, universities have assumed that those who become academics are sufficiently intelligent to be able to do pretty much anything, with minimal training ¨C and that only academics should run academic institutions.

Hence, most job adverts for senior management positions begin with the need for the applicant to have a world-leading academic record.

But isn¡¯t that rather odd given that neither teaching nor research?is?in the senior manager¡¯s job description?

Of course, credibility matters; vice-chancellors need to command respect within their institutions. But academic achievement is not the only source of leadership credibility ¨C and senior managers also need lots of other skills, which may be more easily acquired in other walks of life.

51³Ô¹Ï

As institutions shift towards a wider range of objectives, such as impact, place-making, unregulated income streams, innovation and enterprise, system efficiencies and compliance ¨C all within a rapidly changing environment that combines funding pressures with impatience from government for usable outcomes from research ¨C the blend of skills we need in a senior management team are changing.

Indeed, recent evidence ¨C albeit from a limited UK sample ¨C suggests that those recruited from outside the higher education sector typically perform disproportionately well. Research by the , published in May,?found that v-cs hired from outside the sector oversaw significant improvements in their institutions¡¯ rankings ¨C perhaps, the authors speculated, because they have a ¡°particular set of skills¡± that are useful for running large organisations but that are at a premium within the sector.

51³Ô¹Ï

We should not be particularly surprised. After all, in sport, the best coaches are not the always those who were the best players. Again, they need to understand the game and have a level of credibility among their peers, but playing ability is different from the ability to coach others. Some coaches never competed at all: J¨¹rgen Gr?bler¡¯s rowing crews ¨C first in East Germany and then in the UK ¨C won medals at 10 Olympic Games from 1972 to 2016 despite his never having pulled an oar in anger.

So we need to be clear what skills we are selecting for when we recruit into management positions. To be fair, this is improving but it feels like the academic prestige economy still lurks just under the surface. This differentiation of academic and management (and leadership) skills should be embedded in our thinking at all levels.

We also need to be better at encouraging applications from outside the sector ¨C and not just at a senior level. Professors of practice are one example that is gaining traction in many institutions. The broader range of skills these individuals bring can complement the more focused expertise of those who have followed a traditional academic career.

At the University of Bath, we¡¯re exploring the concept of a practitioner classification as a way of recognising, rewarding and attracting experience from outside academia. Like others, we are already doing this to an extent: architects lecture students, for example, and our vice-chancellor has extensive industry experience. But can we do more?

51³Ô¹Ï

This brings challenges of course ¨C more complex and diverse workforces require careful management, and hiring and promotion criteria need to ensure equity of opportunity and parity of esteem by recognising and celebrating a broader range of contributions to the academic endeavour. But this is starting to happen, and it not only benefits institutions, by broadening the range of skills available to them ¨C it also allows individuals to choose a career trajectory that works for them personally.

Another way to increase diversity of expertise is to create greater porosity across academic-industry boundaries (engineers will tell you we should be talking about permeability, not porosity, but that ship has sailed). In other words, how can we create flexible academic careers that allow for extended periods working in another sector? Yes, placement opportunities and funding schemes already exist but it¡¯s a niche activity, mainly confined to early career researchers. Extending opportunities across career pathways and disciplines remains a work in progress.

In particular, moving into a non-academic job and then moving back into an academic job is rare. For this to become realistic, universities would need to recognise that the value of the skills and expertise accrued outside academia might counterbalance the returnee¡¯s relative lack of traditional academic activity (grants, papers and so on).

The idea that academics can successfully turn their hands to anything can perhaps be traced back to the model of the 19th-century independent scholar that still imbues much of our self-identity. But that model is no longer sustainable in the 21st century, particularly given the challenging times that universities in many Western countries are enduring. Understanding how things are done in different sectors will only give us more options when it comes to ensuring the long-term health of higher education.

51³Ô¹Ï

Of course, this needs to be done carefully. Academia has to remain academia, and it is an unanswered empirical question as to what the right mix of academic versus non-academic expertise should be within universities and senior management teams ¨C and whether v-cs themselves should typically be academics.

But we need to recognise that other sectors do things well, and that we can learn from them.

51³Ô¹Ï

is deputy vice-chancellor and provost of the University of Bath.