McMaster Participates in the U21 Global Leadership Programme

Four McMaster faculty and staff completed the U21 Global Leadership Programme, a 4-week online program for leaders to connect with their global peers to discuss approaches to international education.

This year, the theme was “Inclusive Leadership in Higher Education” and aimed for participants to achieve:

• Broadened global horizons – exposure to multiple perspectives, experiences, and cultures
• Development of connections with peers who share similar challenges, working in different contexts
• Increased confidence in facing current and future challenges and, therefore, better prepared to navigate and lead through change
• Enhanced understanding of the skills and mindset required for more effective collaboration and adaptation – and how that applies personally

From McMaster, participants included:

• Ben O’Connor, Acting Assistant Dean, Undergraduate Studies, Faculty of Science
• Greg Rombough, Manager, Undergraduate and Specialized Graduate Programs, DeGroote School of Business
• Karen McGarry, Associate Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences
• Melanie Heath, Associate Dean of Graduate Students, Associate Professor of Sociology

Upon completing the program, Rombough noted that it “effectively combined theory and practical strategies to foster inclusive cultures in higher education. It was valuable to meet colleagues from across the world and hear how they are approaching EDI in their institutions. The blended format was helpful in allowing time and space to learn new concepts, have interactive discussions, and then reflect on the learnings.”

McGarry took note of the challenges that the program was able to highlight in terms of differing global factors: “I feel that the benefits will differ depending upon the culture and institution that the leader is from. I notice that those from Europe and parts of North America share very different perspectives on race, colonization (and the importance of decolonization as a strategy in leadership) than leaders from other institutions. Everyone is at a different stage/position in their leadership journey, which in itself is interesting, but it makes it difficult, at times, to move forward as we spend a lot of time learning/teaching each other about our own cultural differences.”

O’Connor remarked that collaborating with international colleagues from areas in which McMaster is trying to grow is a great way to diversify goals and perspective. He added that “it was refreshing to know that the challenges you are facing are not unique to you, but are shared universal challenge others are quick to help with.”

The Office of International Affairs offers its congratulations to all faculty and staff selected to participate in this year’s U21 Global Leadership Programme.

To read more about the U21 Global Leadership Programme, please click here.