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A certificate?
A way during the AP graduation ceremonies for Aurorans to be recognised - whether this is through presentation of certificate or by offering the Auroran voice at the ceremony to make a short statement about values/purpose (you always have that kind of thing at these events - so why not profile Aurora).  This could segueway into the Auroran co-presenting some of the academic certificates - this could be if the awards were in an area related to social science - highlighting the progress and intentions with regard to equality?

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How can we make Aurora more visible across the University? As a part of making diversity in leadership more visible?
- through the womens network?
- at executive?
- within Academic Partners?

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Keep the momentum going

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How different
Ambassadors
Getting out into the Sector
Great degree of interest in UHI

Professional services
Academic staff
Research

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Importance of common experience
- because there's a group of us, all who had a common experience, we have greater impact on the institution
- previously, one or two people through Aurora might have an impact on their own personal career success, but to have impact on the university, there needs to be a critical mass

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Experience would be lessened if it was a UHI/internal course

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Needs a good size cohort from UHI - 10?
- a broad spread from across the partnership means we reflect the nature of the university
- big enough so that the group maintains cohesion, even when people engage in different ways (e.g. travel, etc)
- too few means that we might never meet or form a team
- too few also means impact is lost.

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Why Edinburgh?
Needs to be an event outside of UHI - to get outside our UHI echo chamber.
- puts UHI experience into perspective in wider HE sector
- also means participants fully engage & take it seriously
- allows participants the opportunity to be candid - anonymity away from UHI to speak about issues
- great to feel like part of a loud voice for women across the sector

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1) opportunity to be connected when part of a distributed university.
2) supportive group without a political/work agenda which facilitated openness and honesty - without fear of getting it wrong.  No come -back - non-judgemental environment.  Safe space.  No competition.
3) everything we do is driven by partner politics.  First time partner politics are not relevant
4) As a group hold up a mirror to each other -this  fueled self reflection
5) wasn't alone - anything that helps alleviate sense of isolation is poisitive.  By very nature of the distributed university there can be a sense of isolation that you almost don't recognise.  Any way of being able to think about things differently is important.
6) it was the mix of our own group - teaching, research, professional servies - felt representated uhi as a whole.
7) external perception of UHI.  Sometimes there is a sense that UHI is not a real university.  We perpetuate that perception when we don't grasp the opportunity to demonstrate passion and professionalism of the UHI.  Aurora is an ideal opportunity to do this.
8) we felt the number within our group helped make us feel empowered and representative of UHI - within a wider academic world and advocate to ensure that there are a good working number in future iterations i.e. not not just 2 people.
9) we hope that the Aurorans for next year will embed into us - that there will be a legacy - continued group group which grows.  We need a mechanism to continue some of the good work.  Active learning sets within UHI?

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Use purple background

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My Aurora experience has really helped me gain confidence and see that I can progress and that I do want to. It was a rich experience and I am very grateful for the opportunity. If I was feeding forward I think it could be enriched by an extra UHI session 

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AURORA wide
- the professional approach of both support and academic - the clear connection
- realisation that issues are actually similar to other organisations
- the huge diversity of the large AURORA grouup
- a real commonality between all sitting around the tables
- being all female professional leaders together
- being encouraged to have a voice
- a clear sense of interest and collaboration of the person as a whole
-life affirming

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The Power of the Group - UHI Group
- enables a sense of a single organisation, clear links throughout
- a sense of our own purpose
- helps up to understand the organisation
- rely on each other
- a supportive internal network (akin to each other)

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Postings on positive aspects of participating as a group 

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Postings on positive aspects of participating as a group 

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Having a greater feeling of value equips you to take on empower

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Provides connections and reinforces links across a distributed institution. Empower individuals ....

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Importance of values, not being afraid to share your own stories

Using your own story as a powerful way of demonstrating your leadership values.

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Still have the ability to make a difference -

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Another theme was personal development - many of the learnings were applicable outside of work. Improved life skills!

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the programme was formatted & presented in such a way that it encouraged people to be open and honest about their issues, and speak frankly about htem.

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Theme 3
Time out for self-reflection
- a really strong point
- a time to pause and think about your professional self
- time to assess a career journey (in some instances, a long time)
- allowance to congratulate ourselves in what we have achieved so far in our careers
- we need to value our own achievements to reflect to others and allow them to value us too
- Do to others as we expect to be done to us in leadership

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Theme 2 - Mentoring
- This was a real positive for Fiona and an eye opener into Fiona’s own leadership capabilities.
- Ongoing mentorship  right through to the summer break, which is really positive.
- A really enlightening experience
- Time out to discuss career prospects
- so being given the space to focus on Fiona’s carrer

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1) Supported self reflection both through engagement with the group and with mentoring scheme.
2) Development of confidence through a greater understanding of personal and organisational values
3) understanding different leadership roles and styles and how these can be adapted to the people and environment you work in - offering support where needed and avoiding unnessesary micromanagement

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Supportive self reflection

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Theme 1: Networking
Internal and external
Internal
- paramount as a group of professional leaders
- understanding how the organisation works
- the importance of face to face contact
-breaking down of barriers - real life conversations
- the function of EO for example, explained really welll by nicola
- examples of how to gain funding, by the process means
External
- the realisation of the split between professional and academic (around 50%) this was good to see
- other organisations recognising the importance of the wrap around professional need of the support staff
- the external support from staff from differing universities
- off-line collaboration

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Connections both within the university & outwith - learning from the experience of a diverse group of women. The commonality of issues was surprising, even in high-achievers (!).

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Capturing the main themes of our discussions

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Capturing the main themes of our discussions

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If everyone is ok with using Padlet, we'll capture the main themes of our discussions by adding them as notes to this posting board.