A community-based practice for the co-development of women academic leaders

Academic development usually focuses on individuals, with activities bounded by institutional strategy. There is a lack of research exploring the emergence of cross-institutional communities of practice and their ability to offer opportunities for professional collaboration, particularly for underrepresented or marginalised groups. Our study highlights how, after a formal program, individuals from different institutions facilitated deeper connections, transcending hierarchical boundaries and nurturing a sense of trust. Drawing from our experiences, we examine the emergence of a collegiate group of academic women as a community of practice. Co-development through community-based relationships enable personal and professional growth outcomes including, but not limited to, promotion and esteem recognition.

© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.