Katharine Hubbard
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katharinehubbard.bsky.social
Katharine Hubbard
@katharinehubbard.bsky.social
(She/her) Director of Learning Enhancement and Academic Practice at Buckinghamshire New University. NTF, PFHEA, still a biologist/plant scientist at heart https://www.bucks.ac.uk/about-us/our-staff/katharine-hubbard katharinehubbard.blog
Reposted by Katharine Hubbard
pre-writing a devastating obituary for your enemy is god-tier hating of a kind you don’t often see anymore. renaissance haterism. beautiful stuff.
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.

Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."

Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:55 AM
Reposted by Katharine Hubbard
A manifesto for plant science education
Alvey et al.

📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Societal Impact Statement also available in French.

#PlantScience @apaterlini.bsky.social @lizalvey.bsky.social @PlantTeaching.bsky.social @katharinehubbard.bsky.social
October 30, 2025 at 6:59 AM
Reposted by Katharine Hubbard
Very excited to announce that our collaborative manifesto for 🌱 #PlantScience #Education has now been published! Educators from >10 countries and 30 institutions have contributed to it and we are incredibly proud of the final output. Here is a short thread 🧵1/4 doi.org/10.1002/ppp3...
A manifesto for plant science education
Plants provide oxygen, food, shelter, medicines and environmental services, without which human society could not exist. Tackling pressing and global challenges requires well-trained plant scientists....
doi.org
October 29, 2025 at 9:09 AM
I don’t often post politics, but @damedianajohnson.bsky.social please support change to house buying. With <2 weeks to go our sellers have pulled out so having to find short term rental at cost of £000s and massive disruption to small children. The system must change www.gov.uk/government/n...
Families to save hundreds of pounds in major homebuying overhaul
First-time buyers set to save money when buying a home and timelines reduced with a new consultation launched by the Government.
www.gov.uk
October 22, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Being open about personal set-backs and challenges when acting as a role model

I recently wrote about the importance of understanding what is ‘below the iceberg’. The post seemed to resonate with many, so I thought I would extend this train of thought a little more. Here I will focus on how we…
Being open about personal set-backs and challenges when acting as a role model
I recently wrote about the importance of understanding what is ‘below the iceberg’. The post seemed to resonate with many, so I thought I would extend this train of thought a little more. Here I will focus on how we present our careers to others, particularly to students and early career academics. I am often invited to give scientific talks to schools and colleges, and they often ask that I include content relating to my career journey.
katharinehubbard.blog
October 21, 2025 at 9:41 AM
The Other Side of Professional Success (with some help from Billy Joel)

One of the songs that makes me cry the most is Vienna by Billy Joel. I feel like that song has directly looked into my soul and summed me up in 3 minutes with more insight than any therapist has ever managed. All to a…
The Other Side of Professional Success (with some help from Billy Joel)
One of the songs that makes me cry the most is Vienna by Billy Joel. I feel like that song has directly looked into my soul and summed me up in 3 minutes with more insight than any therapist has ever managed. All to a beautiful melody. What a song writer. Take a moment out of your day to listen to it.
katharinehubbard.blog
September 23, 2025 at 9:34 AM
-446!
September 21, 2025 at 10:23 AM
Reposted by Katharine Hubbard
This week on Wonkhe: Despite the wealth of student services, many still fall through the cracks. Buxi Duan makes the case for a proactive, data-informed approach to support through academic coaching
Academic coaching is data-driven support for students in the dark
Despite the wealth of student services, many still fall through the cracks. Buxi Duan makes the case for a proactive, data-informed approach to support through academic coaching Despite the wealth of...
buff.ly
September 13, 2025 at 5:00 PM
This was a good article in @wonkhe.bsky.social today, but did @jimdickinson.bsky.social intend to quite so publicly share he is on the mailing list for Spiders nightclub?! 😂https://wonkhe.com/blogs/universities-should-face-the-consequences-for-misleading-students-over-the-cost-of-living/
Universities should face the consequences for misleading students over the cost of living
Jim Dickinson has been stuck on trains again, looking at what universities tell students about local cost of living. If anything it's worse than last year - only now there's clearer legal consequences...
wonkhe.com
July 23, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Come and work for me! Permanent Senior Advisor in Pedagogy and Practice post. Want someone w experience in design & delivery of PGCAP - we have bold plans! @bnuni.bsky.social really exciting place to work right now. Pls share #AcademicDevelopment #HigherEducation
jobs.bucks.ac.uk/vacancy/seni...
Senior Advisor Pedagogy and Practice (1801) | Buckinghamshire New University
Full Time (37 hrs per week) Permanent Contract – High Wycombe </st
jobs.bucks.ac.uk
July 21, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Reposted by Katharine Hubbard
*New: Documentation is delivery. If knowledge lives in silos, we haven’t delivered properly.
www.dontwasteyourtime.co.uk/blackboard/o... #Project #Blackboard #VLE #Education
Operational clarity
Operational clarity isn’t something that happens at the end of a project; it’s something you have to build into delivery itself. When you think about what it means to deliver a project, especially …
www.dontwasteyourtime.co.uk
July 13, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Another beautiful piece of writing from @michaeloneill.org - one of the wisest and most thoughtful people I know in #HigherEducation bsky.app/profile/mich...
June 20, 2025 at 9:13 AM
Reposted by Katharine Hubbard
Reposted by Katharine Hubbard
I am once again pitching my romantic comedy:

- two academics start dating
- discover they are each other's terrible reviewer
- hijinks ensue

Working title: Love is Double-Blind
June 18, 2025 at 10:55 AM
Decolonisation vs diversification of the curriculum – what do we mean, and does it matter?

Oxford university students protesting in 2015. Original image (c) The Telegraph A lot of my work focusses on inclusive education. One component of this focuses on decolonisation and diversification of the…
Decolonisation vs diversification of the curriculum – what do we mean, and does it matter?
Oxford university students protesting in 2015. Original image (c) The Telegraph A lot of my work focusses on inclusive education. One component of this focuses on decolonisation and diversification of the curriculum. Today I want to try and unpick what I mean by these two concepts, and to consider whether it matters in practice or not. I will first of all put a big disclaimer in here.
katharinehubbard.blog
June 17, 2025 at 12:29 PM
Early train for me to get to Kingston University @royalsocbio.bsky.social funded symposium - I’m giving a keynote on ‘Decolonising and diversifying the biosciences - what do we really mean and can we ever achieve it?’
May 30, 2025 at 5:55 AM
Reposted by Katharine Hubbard
It's never been a Plan B. I didn't choose it because it was the only job available or some insulting notion it was a simpler or easier route. I love being LTS and and I'm grateful I get to spend the next part of my career supporting the next generation of LTS academics.

Slides at osf.io/ktsq6
OSF
osf.io
May 24, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Reposted by Katharine Hubbard
This times a million! Going down a teaching-specialist lecturing track IS an intentional choice for many of us on that route. Some of us actually love teaching, love working with staff to also enjoy teaching, and ensuring universities adhere to their civic duty of being EDUCATIONAL spaces.
It's never been a Plan B. I didn't choose it because it was the only job available or some insulting notion it was a simpler or easier route. I love being LTS and and I'm grateful I get to spend the next part of my career supporting the next generation of LTS academics.

Slides at osf.io/ktsq6
OSF
osf.io
May 25, 2025 at 8:05 AM
New piece on WonkHE today - why isn’t the sector addressing inequity for postgraduate students? Why do we only care about outcomes for those paying the home undergraduate tuition fee? (Hint - the sector does what the OfS and league tables measure) wonkhe.com/blogs/why-ar... #HigherEducation
Why aren’t we addressing inequity of outcomes for postgraduates?
The postgraduate population is growing, but there appears to be less interest in regulating this area of higher education, much less how equitable outcomes are. Katharine Hubbard asks the sector to pa...
wonkhe.com
May 22, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Reposted by Katharine Hubbard
Put my neck out nodding at this from @katharinehubbard.bsky.social on teaching qualifications, professional recognition and what new lecturers need (practice not theory). Thank you for saying so many things I don't think I knew how to express! #AcademicSky

katharinehubbard.blog/2025/05/20/t...
May 21, 2025 at 7:56 AM
New blog post - Teaching qualifications vs professional recognition. We often conflate training, qualifications and professional recognition. What do staff and institutions actually need in terms of developing teaching practice? katharinehubbard.blog/blog-posts/ #HigherEducation #AcademicDevelopment
Dr Katharine Hubbard NTF PFHEA
Specialist in Higher Education Pedagogy and Practice
katharinehubbard.blog
May 21, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Teaching qualifications vs professional recognition in UK HE

I have a confession to make - I don’t have a teaching qualification. I am an award winning educator, National Teaching Fellow and a Principal Fellow of AdvanceHE. But I am entirely self-taught, and have never had any formal training in…
Teaching qualifications vs professional recognition in UK HE
I have a confession to make - I don’t have a teaching qualification. I am an award winning educator, National Teaching Fellow and a Principal Fellow of AdvanceHE. But I am entirely self-taught, and have never had any formal training in how to teach within HE. My career illustrates the difference between a taught qualification and professional recognition. I haven’t really done any formal training - I haven’t done a PostGraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (PCAP), or an MA or EdD.
katharinehubbard.blog
May 20, 2025 at 9:38 AM
This a good read on the history of the college/university as “a place to meet other boys like themselves and to be steeped in the cultural norms of their religious denomination and social class” and why diversification has led to current attacks on HE www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
‘The universities are the enemy’: why the right detests the American campus | Lauren Lassabe Shepherd
For centuries, the academy was exclusive to the Christian elite. When that began to change, an onslaught began
www.theguardian.com
May 7, 2025 at 7:24 AM
Why we need to stand up for ‘woke’ curricula

This year has been a pretty turbulent one for higher education. In the USA, it feels like every week there is another attack on higher education and on anything related to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI in the UK - I’m not sure why it seems to be…
Why we need to stand up for ‘woke’ curricula
This year has been a pretty turbulent one for higher education. In the USA, it feels like every week there is another attack on higher education and on anything related to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI in the UK - I’m not sure why it seems to be DEI in the US). It has to be said a depressing number of institutions and professional societies have demonstrated a complete lack of backbone in not only immediately complying with orders from the Trump administration, but going even further than has been suggested.
katharinehubbard.blog
May 6, 2025 at 9:31 AM
Reposted by Katharine Hubbard
Really helpful post Juie and Steve!

I created the SoTL staircase to demonstrate the variety of outputs go beyond books and journals for a staff development event I led in 2023. Now written up as a post on our new SoTL blog at Hallam. lta.shu.ac.uk/scholarship/...
April 26, 2025 at 7:56 PM