How do student governors perceive power?

Our television screens are currently alight with the latest batch of business hopefuls fighting it out in the boardroom on The Apprentice.

For those who have never entered a board setting, the impression presented by reality television is that of a corporate battleground where (predominantly white, middle class) individuals speak over and desperately point the finger at one another.

Indeed, this may ring true with many individuals’ experience of serving on a board. In the world of higher education, there is however one particular perspective that is likely to differ from that of any other board member – the student governor.

The student governor(s) is typically (but not always) an elected representative of the SU, usually a recent graduate, several decades junior of the average age of the governing body.