Professor Helen Driscoll

I am Pro Vice-Chancellor (Learning and Teaching) and responsible for providing strategic leadership across the University in learning and teaching, the student experience, student outcomes and quality and standards. The role encompasses the diversity of the University of Sunderland's provision – at our campuses in Sunderland, London, and Hong Kong, our online provision, and our collaborative provision both here in the UK and across the globe.

My previous role was Academic Director of Educational Partnerships. In this university-wide role, I provided leadership on the student experience, student outcomes and quality across our extensive collaborative provision, both in the UK and at our many transnational partners across the world.

My academic background is in Psychology. I graduated from Newcastle University in 2001 with First Class Honours in Psychology and the Mary McKinnon Prize. I completed a PhD in evolutionary psychology at Durham University (thesis title: Sex differences in aggression: the role of inhibitory control). I previously held academic positions at Durham University and Northumbria University.

I was appointed as Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Sunderland in 2006 and went on to be Principal Lecturer (Team Leader) in Psychology (leading the undergraduate psychology and counselling provision), and Acting Head of the School of Psychology (which includes Psychology, Counselling, and Public Health).

I have significant experience of innovative and transformational programme design, development and leadership, and of higher education quality assurance and enhancement. I also have a track record of leadership in external engagement (particularly media engagement), leadership in equality, diversity and inclusion (having led the School of Psychology's successful Athena Swan award, the first departmental award in the University), and leadership of learning and teaching projects at School and institutional level.

I was recently awarded a prestigious international leadership scholarship by Santander to take their Emerging Women Leaders programme with the London School of Economics and Political Science. 

I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a Chartered Psychologist and an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society. I currently hold external examiner positions at London Metropolitan University and Bishop Grosseteste University and was previously Chief External Examiner for Psychology at Birmingham City University.

Following several years contributing to the British Psychological Society's Psychology of Sexualities Section committee, I now sit on the BPS Male Psychology Section Committee.

Internally, I support women in leadership as an Aurora Champion.