In conversation with: Professor Dame Sally Mapstone DBE, FRSE

Dame Sally assumed the role of President of Universities UK in August. In 2016, she was appointed as Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of St Andrews. During her tenure, she has safeguarded and enhanced St Andrews' international excellence in teaching and research through the creation and implementation of the University Strategy (2022–27), which positions social responsibility at the heart of university life, through a commitment to becoming net zero by 2035, and a prioritisation of diversity and inclusivity across the community. 

I hope that I can bring energy, enthusiasm, and experience to the role. The role of president at Universities UK is an important one, one where it is necessary to show leadership but a collegial leadership. It’s important to listen to the diversity of voices across the sector—something across my career I have been committed to.  

I would like the university sector to be seen in terms of the solution it offers rather than being the problem. We need to reframe our narrative in a way that enables the sector collectively and individually to present itself creatively, constructively, and positively.

It’s quite a challenge, but we have a terrific sector, fantastic students and staff and creative institutions.   

What I’m really looking forward to as president is the opportunity to get out to as many of the 142 universities. It makes such a difference when you meet colleagues, staff, and students and see institutions in situ. My office is already working on various itineraries right across the UK, and that is something I’m hugely looking forward to.  

Widening participation and access has been a defining issue for me throughout my academic career. Across my career, I’ve seen the difference that getting into university makes to a person’s life and I passionately believe that we should create those opportunities for everyone who can make the most of them. I bring a lifetime commitment to widening access and diversity, but there is still a huge amount of work to be done at all levels.   

We like to talk about the global footprint that universities have, and that international dimension is incredibly important but so is what universities offer their communities. The civic role in universities is very distinctive in the UK and is something to be cherished but without the resource that enables us to sustain the kind of activity that goes into working with the local community, we could then see a serious diminishing of the civic role of universities.   

University is a fantastic, transformative opportunity to engage with people from a wide range of different backgrounds. On one end, we have degree apprenticeships, which are a useful way in enabling employers to engage with institutions. On the other end, we have universities that offer remarkable transferrable skills. 

The thing about universities is that they offer something for nearly everybody. The answer is quite simple: any number of different jobs, from highly vocational to highly ideational, can come out of universities, and the crucial thing for universities is to offer that mixed economy of opportunities across a lifetime.

Increasingly, we will be seeing people coming back into university from the world of work upskilling and re-skilling so they can reinvent themselves and offer something different. 

Many universities are the key creators of music, culture, film, drama in a way that enhances local communities. Universities also do a lot for their communities in terms of jobs and providing opportunities. A strong higher education sector means that we are generating the research and the thinking that has the capacity to address 21st century problems.  

When we think of the major challenges we have in terms of sustainability, conflict-resolution, artificial intelligence, and ethics, so many of the possible solutions are going to come out of the research and thinking that takes place in universities. Universities offer something, within the sphere of an individual's lifetime, that is unique. They change people and mostly they change people for the better. 

There is no doubt that we have a range of challenges which we need to address. A crucial challenge is the funding of the sector and its sustainability in terms of research funding and teaching. We have to open up the UK conversation in a way that engages all stakeholders, and which honestly sets out the challenge and looks at the most sensible ways of addressing it.   

Another major challenge is that we are living in a rapidly changing world, and artificial intelligence has the capacity to make us think differently about how we deliver and assess education, how we undertake our research, and the ethics of what we’re engaged in.