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Steve Woodfield

Profile

Steve is currently employed as senior researcher in higher education policy and management. This is a specialist research role in which he undertakes policy-related research and consultancy projects funded by internal and external sponsors.

His responsibilities also include institutional development activities at Kingston related to university strategy, international strategy development, facilitating a higher education research network and developing management information systems.

Steve has over 15 years experience in the design, management and application of policy-related, educational, business and consumer-focused research and consultancy projects. He also has formal training and practical expertise in research design, data collection and analysis, report writing, project management, and seminar and conference presentations.  

He has undertaken consultancy activities within his own institutions (Surrey and Kingston) to assist with development strategies, including management and planning functions, international strategy and producing intelligence reports on key policy areas.  Steve has also acted as an external consultant in his areas of expertise, both to other universities and to organisations such as the British Council and the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education.

Research expertise

Steve has specialist knowledge and significant project experience in the following higher education policy areas:

International higher education

  • The development of internationalisation strategies at the institutional level.
  • Developments in the Bologna process and its external dimension.
  • Trends in international student mobility worldwide.
  • The impact of international collaboration and partnerships (at national and institutional levels).
  • National-level international policy and strategy analysis (Europe, Australia, and the USA).
  • Quality assurance and regulation in cross-border and transnational education.
  • The contribution of international staff to internationalisation.
  • The growth of private, for-profit and not-for profit higher education worldwide.

Leadership, management and governance in higher education

  • Leadership, top management and governance structures.
  • Institutional strategy development and implementation.
  • Senior management career structures and career management.
  • Research management structures.

Other UK higher education policy themes

  • The development of private provision and public-private partnerships in UK higher education.
  • Higher education funding and support of strategically important and vulnerable subjects.
  • Flexible learning and e-learning.

Professional experience

  • 2007–present: Senior researcher in higher education, Kingston University
  • 2002–2007: Research fellow, Centre for Policy and Change in Tertiary Education, University of Surrey
  • 2000–2002: Senior research executive, Enteleca Research & Consultancy Ltd, Richmond, Surrey
  • 1999–2000: Research executive, Research International (Consumer Division), London.
  • 1995–1998: Research assistant/project administrator, Guy's, King's and St Thomas' School of Medicine, London 

Academic qualifications

  • 1997–1999: Applied Social and Market Research MA, University of Westminster
  • 1993–1994: Political Philosophy (The Idea of Toleration) MA, University of York
  • 1990–1993: Politics BA(Hons), University of Hull         

Selected recent research projects

  1. Enhancing leadership and management through learning from expertise in other sectors: insights from leaders and managers with backgrounds in other sectors working in higher education (2010/11). Researcher: Steve Woodfield. Commissioned and funded by the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education (LFHE). This interview-based research project focuses on the perspectives from senior staff on their ability to use their non-HE experiences to enhance their contribution in their institutional role, and to leadership and management capacity in the HE sector in general.
  2. The growth of private and for profit higher education providers in the UK (2009/10). Researchers: John Fielden (CHEMS Consulting), Professor Robin Middlehurst and Steve Woodfield. Commissioned and funded by Universities UK's Longer Term Strategy Group. The survey-based project focused on the scale and scope of private sector providers in the delivery of higher education in the UK, and assesses how their role might develop in the future. The final report (PDF) from this project can be found on the Universities UK's website.
  3. Trends in International Mobility: A comparative study of four European countries (2008/09). Researcher: Steve Woodfield. Commissioned and funded by the Danish Agency for International Education. Desk-based research on trends in international student mobility at higher education level. The research focused on a investigation of national strategies and policies and institutional activities in a small selection of European comparator countries of a similar size and profile to Denmark (Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden). View the project report (PDF).
  4. An Analysis of the UK's Competition for International Students from Selected European Countries (2008/09). Researchers: The Observatory on Borderless Higher Education (OBHE) and Professor Robin Middlehurst and Steve Woodfield (Kingston University). Commissioned and funded by the Universities UK Europe Unit and International Units. A study involving survey and desk research on national and institutional approaches to internationalisation and international student recruitment in seven European countries (France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland). The final report from this project and the associated appendices can be found on the International Unit website.
  5. Universities and international higher education partnerships: making a difference (2008) and International Higher Education: Missing an Opportunity? (2011). Researchers: Steve Woodfield, Professor Robin Middlehurst and John Fielden (CHEMS Consulting). Funded by Million+.These projects involved survey research on the international partnerships of Million+'s 27 member institutions and the contributions of such partnerships to universities’ core activities of teaching, research and knowledge transfer. Publications from the study can be found on the Million+ website.
  6. Global Horizons for UK Students: A guide for universities (2007). Commissioned and funded by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS). Researchers: John Fielden (CHEMS Consulting), Professor Robin Middlehurst and Steve Woodfield. This project focused on finding examples of innovative and successful ways in which English HE institutions are encouraging and supporting outward student mobility. The project involved interviews with key stakeholders and English HE institutions to help develop a good practice guide to assist institutions to promote UK student mobility. The study report (PDF) is available on the Council for Industry and Higher Education (CIHE) website.
  7. The Composition, Challenges and Changes in Top Team Structures in Higher Education Institutions (2005–2007): Researchers: Steve Woodfield and Dr Tom Kennie, Ranmore Consulting and Nottingham Trent University). Funded by the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education (LFHE). This project examined the formation and constitution of "top management team" and senior management structures in UK higher education institutions (HEIs) through case study research in 17 UK universities. The project report can be found on the LFHE website.
  8. Responding to the Internationalisation Agenda: Implications for Institutional Strategy and Practice (2005/06). Funded by the Higher Education Academy. Researchers: Professor Robin Middlehurst and Steve Woodfield. This project employed a combination of empirical and desk research to investigate the nature and practice of internationalisation and how this impacts on institutional policy and the educational and administrative activities of UK universities. The project reviewed an adapted an audit-based approach the researchers originally developed by the OECD. The final project report (PDF) is available on the Higher Education Academy website.
  9. The Role of Transnational, Private and For-Profit Provision in Meeting Global Demand for Tertiary Education: Mapping, Regulation and Impact (2002/03) and Responding to Globalisation through Transnational Tertiary Education: Examining Policy and Educational Choices in India (2006–2009). Researchers: Professor Robin Middlehurst and Steve Woodfield.  Funded by UNESCO and the Commonwealth of Learning. These projects used a desk research approach to analyse the extent, impact and regulation of transnational private and for-profit provision in tertiary education (Malaysia, Jamaica, Bulgaria and Bangladesh and India. The final report and country case studies from the first study are available on the Commonwealth of Learning website.
  10. International Commission Project II – Quality in distance Learning: Approaches to the Quality Review of distance learning in a sample of four countries (2002/03). Researchers: Professor Robin Middlehurst and Steve Woodfield. Commissioned and funded by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) in the USA. This project focused on investigating national regulatory arrangements in the context of growth in electronically supported learning and in the import and export of education world-wide through country case studies for Jordan, Malaysia, Australia, Kenya and the UK which were then verified by in-country experts. The project report (PDF) is available on the CHEA website.
  11. Redesigning Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Using ICT: Balancing Quality, Access and Cost – A Study of the US Pew Grant Program In Course Redesign and its Potential for UK Higher Education (2003). Researchers: The Observatory on Borderless Higher Education and Professor Robin Middlehurst and Steve Woodfield (University of Surrey). Funded by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES). This project sought the perspectives of academic and professional staff in UK higher education institutions on the potential applicability of principles of the Pew Program in Course Redesign (PCR) – a tool which provides a model for integrating e-learning into the curriculum – to the UK.

Other professional roles

  • Visiting fellow – Centre for Academic Practice and Research in Internationalisation (CAPRI), Leeds Metropolitan University
  • Ranmore fellow – Ranmore Consulting Limited
  • Associate – CHEMS Consulting

Professional memberships

  • Association of University Administrators (AUA)
  • Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE)
  • The European Higher Education Society (EAIR)
  • The UK and Ireland Institutional Research Network (HEIR) (Planning Group)

Steve Woodfield