Scoping programme leadership: Nailing Jelly to the Wall

The reality of programme leadership in a contemporary university is so complex and challenging that it is a wonder why anyone takes it on!  In the UK sector there is some movement towards recognising such roles in relation to career progression, thus providing motivation, but it is difficult to demonstrate success in the role in the same way as one might research output. Whilst Robinson-Self (2020, p119) points out that programme leaders “are in a position to be instigators of genuine positive change”, he also describes the challenges of defining the role and of negotiating the potential tensions of freely adapting a programme and the constraints of institutional organisation.