Vice-Chancellor’s Inaugural Lecture: Professor Linda Ronnie

Dear colleagues and students

I am excited to announce that we will this month host the third Vice-Chancellor’s Inaugural Lecture for 2022, to be presented by Professor Linda Ronnie. This will be an in-person lecture.

The VC’s Inaugural Lecture series serves as a platform for academics to share their body of research with members of the wider university community and the general public in an accessible way.

Professor Ronnie’s lecture is titled “Women in Academia: Thriving or Surviving?”. The psychological contract – the relationship between academics and their institutions – has been changing over the last decade. When coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic, there may be long-term effects on retention, productivity and overall performance.

The lecture will examine the psychological contract from the perspectives of women academics in South Africa at a turbulent time for universities. This is a timeous issue – currently a pressing one in higher education – and likely to increase in importance as pandemic-era changes carry into the future.

Professor Ronnie has until recently served as the dean of the Faculty of Commerce and is now a senior research scholar and professor in organisational behaviour and people management in the School of Management Studies. She has published on key topics such as the psychological contract, diversity – with a particular interest in gender and people with disabilities – and change management.

Professor Ronnie joined the University of Cape Town (UCT) in 2002. She holds a PhD in education (UCT), and masters’ degrees in education (Sheffield) and psychology (Liverpool).

She is, among others, a proud recipient of the UCT Distinguished Teacher Award, winner of the inaugural Emerald Case Writing Competition and runner-up in the 2021 Ceeman’s Case Writing Competition.

Please join us for this timely and relevant lecture.

Date: Wednesday, 28 September 2022

Venue: Lecture Theatre 5, UCT Graduate School of Business, 8 Portswood Road, V&A Waterfront

Time: 18:00 (doors open at 17:30)