Helena Gillespie

Helena is Associate Pro Vice Chancellor for Student Inclusion,  Professor of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education at UEA and a Principal Fellow of the HEA (PFHEA).

In addition to her UEA role, Helena also works for the Office for Students as a Lead Quality Assessor.

Helena currently leads projects on inclusion in the curriculum, improving disabled students experience and student mental health. In the regulatory space she provides academic leadership for UEA’s APP and was co-author on the 2023 TEF submission.

Helena has also held the university wide role of Academic Director of Learning and Teaching Enhancement and was previously Associate Dean for Learning Teaching and Quality in the Faculty of Social Sciences. She has taught on both undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

Helena’s research into teaching and learning in Higher Education has been funded by HEFCE, AdvanceHE and TASO, and projects have resulted in publications in peer reviewed journals and conference presentations. She has also published a book on researching social justice and equality.

Helena’s international work has been with UEA's partners as part of the Aurora Alliance European University project for which she led the social transformation strand. The project was co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union for three years.

Helena is a trustee of Norfolk Cricket Foundation, with a focus on EDI. Her previous professional experience was as a teacher and senior manager in primary schools and she maintains contact with the school sector through a MAT leadership role.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Book

Gillespie, H (2023) Researching Equality and Social Justice: A Guide For Education Students. London. Sage

Journal articles and professional publications

Gillespie, H (2021) Marking schemes – does inclusive practice lead to a ‘standards’ problem? HEPI Blog   https://www.hepi.ac.uk/2021/07/20/marking-schemes-does-inclusive-practice-lead-to-a-standards-problem/

Gillespie, H (2019) in de Wit, H., & Rumbley, L.E. (Eds.) Innovative and Inclusive Internationalization: Proceedings of the WES-CIHE Summer Institute, June 20-22, 2018. CIHE Perspectives No. 11. Chestnut Hill, MA and New York: Boston College Center for International Higher Education and World Education Services.

Klappa, P, Lancaster, S, Gillespie, H, Hamshire, C and Bilham, T (2019) Towards a learning landscape: The potential for technologies to create social learning space in Bilham et al. (2019) Reframing Space for Learning, Excellence and Innovation in University Teaching. London: IOE Press

Arico, F., Gillespie, H., Lancaster, S.; Ward, N. and Ylonen, A. (2017) Lessons in Learning Gain: insights and critique, Higher Education Pedagogies, Special Issue on Learning Gain

Gillespie, H., Ylonen, A. (2017) Disciplinary differences in assessment cultures in HE: the issue of student marks and grades. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 43:6, 1009-1017, DOI: 10.1080/02602938.2018.1425369

RECENT CONFERENCE PAPERS

Gillespie, H (2025) Using Data to Promote Student Continuation and (re) Engagement – A Case Study. HE Professional Student Continuation Conference 2025 (Online, 6^th May 2025)

Gillespie, H (2024) Invited panelist on Inclusive Education. Times Higher Education Campus Live (Birmingham, 27^th and 28^th November 2024)

Gillespie, H (2024) Best practice collaborative evaluation for Access and Participation Plans, a case study. Higher Education Institutional Research Conference. (Buckinghamshire New University, 12^th and 13^th September 2024)

Gillespie, H (2022) Options for regulation of course provision - course designations, provider incentives, student number controls, differentiated tuition fees, and the impact on student choice and sector autonomy and finances.  Westminster Higher Education Forum policy conference Funding and regulation of undergraduate course provision in England’s universities Timing: Morning, Monday (Online 7^th October 2022)

Gillespie, H., Dalby, P and Perry, C (2022) What makes a successful Inclusive Education

Policy? A case study of impact through Collaboration. Advance HE Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Conference. (Manchester, March 17^th 2022)

Gillespie, H (2021) The Recovery Curriculum – supporting students new to higher education during Covid-19. QAA conference (Online 29^th June 2021)

Gillespie, H (2021) Panel Discussion + Q&A: Democratising access to better education + The role of students in encouraging D&I. London Tech Week (Online 22^nd Sept 2021)    

Gillespie, H and Kouwenaar, K (2019) What´s next? A more inclusive internationalization, creating (more) equal international education opportunities for all our students. AIEA Annual Conference (San Francisco USA, January 21^st-23^rd 2019)

Gillespie, H (2018) Aurora Inclusive Internationalisation Project, COST Study Abroad

Research in European Perspective Conference (Montpellier 8^th and 9^th November 2018)

Gillespie, H and Kouwenaar, K (2018) The Aurora Inclusive Internationalisation Project, WES

CIHE Summer Institute The Centre for International Education at Boston College (Boston USA 20^th-23^rd June 2018)

Gillespie, H and Fincham, G (2017) Developing Multimodal Approaches to Actionable Insight in a Widening Participation Strategy, Higher Education Institutional Research Conference (Aberdeen, 13-14^th September 2017)

Gillespie, H and Ylonen, A (2017) Investigating marking mindset as part of a learning gain project, Society for Research in Higher Education (Newport, 6-8^th December 2017)