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ÌìÃÀÊÓƵ Vice-Chancellor Professor Ken Sloan has written a new essay for a report examining the role of .

Professor Sloan is one of nine higher education leaders who were chosen for the collection, published by the (HEPI) and curated by the (NCEE).

 The collection - Why Entrepreneurial Leadership Now?  - explains the urgent need for a shift towards more entrepreneurial approaches and offers a compelling call to action.

It was drawn together by the organisations as guidance for a higher education sector which is navigating one of the most challenging periods in its history, marked by financial uncertainty, rapid technological transformation, demographic shifts, and rising public and political scrutiny.

The collection opens with the results of a new survey of higher education leaders, showing the scale and nature of the challenges in generating income and how people are responding to the increasingly complex and uncertain environment.  

The nine essays that follow argue that entrepreneurial leadership must move from the margins to the mainstream, offering not only survival, but renewed relevance and public value, ensuring students, staff and communities are served effectively. The collection reflects a strong sense of optimism among leaders as well as a shared belief in the transformative power of higher education institutions.

The report calls for a new kind of leadership – one that is bold, collaborative, and embedded in the wider world.

Entrepreneurial leaders, it argues, are essential to reshaping the role of universities as engines of opportunity, inclusion and growth. The essay contained within the report demonstrate a shared optimism that, even in a time of disruption, universities can lead positive change.

Ceri Nursaw, Chief Executive of NCEE, said: “The UK higher education sector is at a pivotal juncture, where financial strain and technological disruption force a rethinking of institutional purpose. Entrepreneurial leadership must become the norm – not the exception – if universities are to act as economic powerhouses and public institutions that remain relevant and trusted. This collection serves both as a reflection on today’s realities and a powerful call to action.”

Professor Sloan’s essay - Insider? Outsider? Surely it does not matter if it works- examines the current challenges facing higher education and, drawing upon his time outside the sector working for SERCO, the role external organisations could play.

He said: “Across the UK, university leaders are navigating financial constraint, policy uncertainty, and the growing complexity of stakeholder expectations. This new collection of essays brings together voices from across the sector Vice-Chancellors, Pro-Vice-Chancellors, and senior leaders reflecting candidly on the challenges and the possibilities that lie ahead. 

“In my chapter, I reflect on: 'what are the limits of insight and experience that institutions are willing to draw on to find a way forward? What should be our driving characteristics? How open are we really to new thinking and unfamiliar perspectives when we’re under pressure?' 

“I would argue that optimistic tenacity is an essential ingredient for all institutional leaders. The turbulence will not settle. The threats will not diminish. Yet we must endeavour to ensure our choices come from a place of optimism anchored in belief in what our institutions can and will contribute to society, communities, and our planet. 

“Without that mindset, our decision-making may become timid, our values blurred, and our purpose compromised. Major change is here some of it necessary. But we must lead with conviction, to ensure we do not become the sector everyone simply wants, but the one that society truly needs.”