Research Leadership Development and Academic Inequality

Research leadership is central to shaping research culture, advancing institutional excellence, and fostering innovation, yet opportunities for leadership development remain unevenly distributed across disciplines, career stages, and professional roles. Inequalities in access risk reproducing privilege in academic research, raising questions about how programmes can support equitable participation and career progression. This paper examines equality, research culture, and career progression in research leadership development through a comparative case study of two research leadership academies: a university-based academy open to researchers across disciplines (Kingston University Rise Research Leadership Academy) and a national academy for applied health and care research (National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Research Leadership Academy). The study draws on survey data from six cohorts (2023–2025; n = 464), equality, diversity and inclusion monitoring, and longitudinal follow-up at 12 and 24 months. Findings indicate that while both academies enhanced participants’ self-reported leadership skills, confidence, and strategic collaboration, differences in institutional context and programme design shaped who accessed leadership development, and how learning was applied in practice. Inclusive pedagogies, including action learning sets, mentoring, and flexible online delivery, supported participation across career stages and research roles, particularly for applied researchers. Structural and organisational factors affected leadership gains, highlighting persistent barriers to equitable outcomes. The paper contributes to higher education research by conceptualising research leadership development as an equality issue, showing how institutional and national academies can both mitigate and reproduce inequalities, influence research culture, and shape careers. The findings offer evidence-informed insights for designing more inclusive and sustainable research leadership in higher education

Educational leadership · Leadership development · Leadership studies · Leadership style · Neuroleadership · Transactional leadership · Career Development and Diversity · Doctoral Education Challenges and Solutions · Interdisciplinary Research and Collaboration

• Information Processing as an Integrating Concept in Organizational Design

  Michael L Tushman, David A Nadler•Academy of Management Review•1978

  Añadir item

• Organization Design

  Jay R Galbraith•INFORMS Journal on Applied…•1974

  Añadir item

• Distributed Leadership in Higher Education

  Open Access•Roxana Bolden, Richard Bolden et al.•Educational Management…•2009

  Añadir item

• Promoting an open research culture

  Open Access•Brian A Nosek, George Alter et al.•Science•2015

  Añadir item

• Organizing and the Process of Sensemaking

  Karl E Weick, Kathleen M Sutcliffe et al.•Organization Science•2005

  Añadir item

• Achieving Integration in Mixed Methods Designs—Principles and Practices

  Open Access•Michael D Fetters, Leslie A Curry et al.•Health Services Research•2013

  Añadir item

• Effective leadership in higher education

  Alan Bryman•Studies in Higher Education•2007

  Añadir item

• Using thematic analysis in psychology

  Open Access•Braun, Virginia Braun et al.•Qualitative Research in Psychology•2006

  Añadir item

• Fostering interdisciplinary research in universities

  Tony Townsend, John Pisapia et al.•Studies in Higher Education•2015

  Añadir item

• Professors as intellectual leaders

  Bruce Macfarlane•Studies in Higher Education•2011

  Añadir item