Louise Owusu-Kwarteng
Associate Dean of Student Success (FLAS) and Professor in Applied Sociology
University of Greenwich
How does it feel to be a woman in leadership here in Greenwich?
What I really enjoy is working alongside my leadership team in FLAS and in the University more broadly. But it is also nice to continue working with students too, and hopefully allowing them to see that they can go into similar roles if they want to. I am also happy to share. The other thing is that people accept my unorthodox style, and hopefully see that this does not detract from what I do. I have been inspired and supported by a number of fantastic people within and beyond the institution, which is brilliant and has helped me get to where I am. The last thing I would say is that I can apply my expertise (e.g. Sociology of Autobiography, race and education) to what I do, which makes the job more enjoyable.
Tell us about your career journey, and how you ended up at Greenwich.
It is as windy and bendy as the Thames! I did a degree at the University of East London and finished several lifetimes ago! Given my experience at school e.g being told that I would never really make it to university etc, I wrote a dissertation on educational experience and race, which led me to want to work in this area. It took me about a year, and work in some 'interesting' areas, including the civil service, cheese and plastic factories, burglar alarm selling to achieve my goals of working with young Black children who had experienced similar things to me. Some of them were at risk of being excluded from school, so I worked with them to prevent this.
Following this, I did an MA in Social Policy at Oxford Brookes Uni- and again focused on school exclusions of young Black males. I then worked at Oxford Cty council and one of the areas I worked around was with encouraging kids from marginalised groups into local government work. There was an opportunity to be seconded to the Home Office to work on political leadership and getting marginalised groups involved in politics. Again interesting, but I preferred to work with people directly, so this wasn't really for me!
After this, I decided to go and live in Madrid while I figured out my life. While there, I made a decision that I'd do my PhD - which I started in 2005 and completed in 2010. Alongside this, I was teaching Sociology at Greenwich. In 2013, I became a programme leader and led a FLAS BAME awarding project. Like the whack-a-mole, kept putting my head up all over the place, and was given the opportunity to run and office of undergraduate research - the first one in the University ??. In 2018, I was encouraged to apply for Associate Professor, so I thought 'what have I got to lose?' and was successful. Four years after became a full Prof after a series of meltdowns.
What tips would you give to the women at Greenwich today? Any top tips to empower women in the University of Greenwich community?
In terms of what I would say to women at Greenwich - well, I'd say, keep it real. Don't try to be who you are not, because its not comfortable for you and people will suss it out. I'd also say don't be scared to ask questions and seek opportunities. If it doesn't work the first time - well, remember that when one window closes, sometimes bigger doors do open. And always happy to have a chat ??