Chartered ABS Annual Conference 2024

The yearly gathering of Deans and leaders of UK business schools

The Chartered ABS Annual Conference brings together over 350 business school Deans and senior leadership teams; and senior representatives of government, the wider higher education sector, and business.

This year's conference takes place against a backdrop of acute financial pressures and a tense political environment. It will be a valuable opportunity to reconnect with colleagues from across the sector; and join discussions about the future direction of business & management education, research, and school strategy in turbulent times.

Super Early Bird & Group Booking Discounts available

Conference themes include:

• Promoting environmental responsibility and sustainability

  Exploring the role that business schools can play through their education, research and business engagement, and in collaboration with students, businesses, and the official sector, in achieving tangible progress on promoting greater environmental responsibility and developing environmentally friendly technologies.

• Supporting international students

  How business schools can boost international student enrolments against a challenging political backdrop; and how the sector can work together to preserve and promote the UK’s attractiveness as a study destination; and the opportunities open to international students for post-study work.

• Boosting domestic participation sustainably and equitably

  How business schools, and the wider sector, can meet the demand for higher education from a growing demographic, and support increased participation in higher education in ways that are financially sustainable and which support fair access and outcomes for all.

• Deploying generative AI innovatively and ethically

  The opportunities for business schools to deploy AI to improve learning & teaching, research and business school governance; and address risks around inclusion, bias prevention, sustainability and academic integrity.

• Recruiting, nurturing and developing faculty

  How Deans and leaders of UK business schools can help foster supportive working environments for academic and professional services staff; build rewarding promotion pathways; and create cohesive communities and cultures of inclusion that assist faculty recruitment in constrained times.

• Driving prosperity and growth through lifelong learning

  How business schools are supporting economic growth, productivity and social mobility at local, regional and national levels through executive education, apprenticeships, short-course degrees, micro-credentials and post-graduate education; and the opportunities for the sector of the future of Help to Grow: Management, reforms in tertiary education, the Lifelong Loan Entitlement (LLE) and other initiatives.

• Strengthening the financial sustainability of the UK higher education sector

  How business schools are positioning themselves for long-term financial sustainability and supporting the financial robustness of parent institutions and the wider higher education ecosystem.

• Accelerating small business productivity and growth

  How business schools are supporting small businesses and entrepreneurs across the UK through Help to Grow: Management (HtGM) and in other ways; and new opportunities to help small business grow and prosper in the years ahead.