Master of One

Education wasn’t always my priority, and my school years were spent dreaming and scheming up ways to get out of classes, studying and generally attending school…. as a teenage girl fast cars were far more interesting!

Whilst the love of motor racing hasn’t changed my aversion to studying is now a real passion of mine, not only for myself but for encouraging others to enrich their own education both personally and on a professional level.

Back in 2019 I had just finished a yearlong Council led programme in partnership with the Institute of Government studies (INGLOV) at the University of Birmingham, it was a challenging course that was unstructured, on purpose, and pushed local government leaders to think in a systems leadership way rather than the usual siloed approach. Link provided for further reading Systems Leadership Guide: how to be a systems leader – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Not long after I finished this course an opportunity to take on a Masters degree in Public Leadership & Management was presented to me, it was like the proverbial carrot being dangled in front of me.  I knew that I wanted to do it, however with a fulltime job, and my granddaughter now living with me I had to ensure that I could balance studying with my other responsibilities.  After very careful consideration and unconditional support from my family and colleagues I started my degree course in September 2019.

It may be worth pointing out at this stage that whilst I was extremely excited to be taking on a Masters degree, there were a few cultural shocks to begin with…

• There is an enormous amount of reading to undertake, some of which is fairly dry
• Academic style of writing is so far removed from the usual report writing most of us will be used to
• Tutor feedback on written assignments is brutal!
• Training for an ultra-event is not possible as Sundays are now spent reading even more research papers

Despite this, I was in my element, until early 2020 when Covid changed how we accessed learning, no more campus days just lots of chaotic Team’s meetings and distance learning, not what I had signed up for. However, I adapted and got on with continuing my journey, albeit through a computer screen and various WhatsApp groups for support and progressed to my final dissertation and research project.

As this was an apprenticeship there was the added element of preparing a portfolio of evidence of Behaviour, Skills and Knowledge that had been demonstrated over the last three years. This was then presented to the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) through an End Point Assessment. Once both the Degree apprenticeship elements were completed this is then marked and your degree presented to you through the usual graduation ceremony.

So, was it all worth it, absolutely! Systems leadership probably best describes my way of working and I’m not entirely sure it did before, my top takeaways from taking on a Masters degree are:

• The opportunity to immerse yourself in a world of learning
• Professional enrichment through networking
• Challenging your perspective on leadership within a local government setting
• The opportunity to apply new models and approaches to your industry

So, in short, if you get the opportunity to educate yourself, grab it with both hands and then shout about it to inspire others to do the same 😊

About the author 

A passionate and motivated parking management professional, with strong business and community links and relationships. Having worked in the sector for over 15 years, Zoe started her career as a Civil Enforcement Officer in 2008 and forged her career in parking gaining experience in parking management and design. Zoe’s passion for professional development has recently seen Zoe elected as a member of the Professional Development and Standards board of the British Parking Association.