Universities must redefine their notions of excellence if they are to make any ground on improving diversity and inclusivity, according to a university leader.

Sarah Springman, rector of Switzerland¡¯s ETH Zurich, said that there were many talented people from diverse backgrounds but the ¡°demonstration of what they have done, especially for those who have had families along the way, has to be rewritten¡±.

She said that the assessment of academics¡¯ achievements should focus on ¡°excellent performances and quality¡± and university leaders should ¡°not worry about quantity¡±.

¡°We have to redefine what excellence is,¡± she told the?Times Higher Education?World Academic Summit, which was hosted at her institution.

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However, Professor Springman noted that this was a ¡°big challenge¡±, highlighting that university rankings often included metrics of citation impact, which rewarded both quantity and quality of research.

¡°We have to have a dialogue that we talk about...quality and that¡¯s the most important thing to us and we don¡¯t care what that means in the sense of the rankings. Institutions need to think about whether they¡¯re prepared and ready and able to do that,¡± she said.

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Less than 18 per cent of professors at ETH Zurich are women.

During a panel discussion on achieving diversity in leadership, Professor Springman said that universities should also be supportive of the ¡°very challenging¡± assistant professor and tenure track phases of academic careers and ensure that there are ¡°no biases¡± on the path to professorship and that ¡°proper allowances are made when [scholars] have children¡±.

She added that the support of others has been key to her own success, revealing that ¡°at the key crossroads¡± of her life one of several ¡°fairy godfathers¡± encouraged her to apply for opportunities.

After?the panel discussion, Professor Springman told?É«ºÐÖ±²¥?that she had changed the questions that are asked in job interviews at ETH Zurich, which had helped the institution become more diverse.

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The university now explores candidates¡¯ ¡°views on mentorship, supervision, coaching their students and their general institutional citizenry¡±, she said. ¡°Clearly we want people who are outstanding scientists and teachers. But we also need the personalities to fit as well.¡±

Also speaking on the panel, Christer Windel?v-Lidz¨¦lius, principal of Kaospilot, a business and design university in Denmark, said that leaders did not need to ¡°decrease the standards of people that [they are] looking for¡± in order to achieve diversity, but they must have ¡°a genuine interest in bringing [different] people on board¡± and accept that there are ¡°many paths to one goal¡±.

ellie.bothwell@timeshighereducation.com