Deborah Outhwaite is an academic, and charity leader. Deb gained her MSc in European Social Policy from ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ in 1997 and gained her professional doctorate in 2017, which explored the Leadership challenges of the International Baccalaureate’s Diploma Programme. Deb has always held both academic roles in education with leadership roles in practice (so sometimes known as a pracademic) as she values the importance of the link between theory and practice.
Deb’s experience and expertise comes from 30 years across education leadership roles worked with a wide range of leaders across areas of social policy in the public sector. She previously led a Masters programme at the University of Warwick in Professional Education.
Deb has been a Director of Studies in the Centre of Higher Education Studies (CHES), at the University of Liverpool, since 2017, from where she supervises professional doctorates with senior education leaders from around the globe, including Japan; Hong Kong; China; Canada and the UAE, and has 20 completions, regularly externally examining theses across areas of professional practice.
She is Chair of the Learned Society 2023-2026, where she has co-convened the Leadership Preparation and Development Research Interest Group since 2015. Over the course of her career, Deb has published more than 60 papers, book chapters, and textbooks. She is a Member of School Trust in Hertfordshire that delivers the International Baccalaureate’s Diploma Programme. She is a Fellow of , Fellow of , Fellow of , and Founding Fellow of the . She sits on the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for the Teaching Profession, and is a Regional Lead for the campaigning group .
Deb is interested in genuine knowledge exchange - research that includes the perspectives of a wide range of leaders and practitioners, helping to generate agency, and inform change and create better system equity.
Selected publications
Outhwaite, D, and Simon, C. (2023) Leadership and Management in Education Studies: Introducing Key Concepts of Theory and Practice, Oxon: Routledge.
Gibson, M. and Outhwaite, D. (2021), ‘MATification: plurality, turbulence and effective school governance in England at times of crises’, Management in Education, Special Edition in Governance and Governing, November 2021:
Outhwaite, D. and Soni, D. (2019), ‘The role of a Specialist Leader of Education in England: position, timing, challenges and opportunities’, In Leading in Change: Implications of School Diversification for School Leader Preparation in England and the United States, Storey, V.A. (Ed), University of Central Florida, Information Age Publishing, Inc.
Outhwaite, D. and Ferri, G. (2017), ‘Critical Reflections on Modern Elite Formation and Social Differentiation in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme in England’, Oxford Review of Education, Special Issue ‘New Educational Researchers in the UK’, 43:4, 402-416