When Two Universities Merge, Who Really Pays the Price?

When two universities merge, the press talks about scale and innovation.

What rarely makes the headline is what it does to the staff - colleagues suddenly pitted against each other for fewer roles.

This week’s announcement that the Universities of Kent and Greenwich will merge to form the UK’s first “super-university” is a case in point. BBC article here.

On paper, the new London and South East University Group looks ambitious. It promises resilience in a sector where 40% of institutions are in deficit. It promises stability for students, with existing degrees protected and campuses retained. It promises efficiency through “streamlined” senior management. But here’s my first impression reading it: behind every efficiency lies a person. And in this case, the efficiencies mean fewer leadership posts.

That’s where the human cost begins.

Because what happens when two universities that each have their own deans, directors, and heads of school suddenly become one? Someone’s role disappears. Or two colleagues who’ve worked side by side for years find themselves competing for a single job.

And competition of that kind doesn’t just test CVs or track records. It tests confidence.

I see this pattern constantly in my work with senior staff. Job descriptions expand, responsibilities shift, and the first instinct is self-doubt.

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• “I’ve never led that kind of project before.”

• “I haven’t got the right letters after my name.”

• “Someone else is bound to be a better fit.

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That quiet talk is what keeps talented people from even applying. They look at the criteria and focus on the one line they can’t fulfil instead of the twenty they already excel at.

The nervous system plays its part. Under threat, our body doesn’t ask, “Could you learn this skill in six months?” It says, “Retreat. Stay small. Don’t risk failure or exposure.”

But in times of restructure, retreat is costly. Staying quiet can mean being overlooked for years. Visibility - being able to stand up and say “I can step into this, I can grow into this” - becomes survival. And this is where confidence needs to be redefined. It isn’t about certainty. It’s about the capacity to hold your nerve when the ground shifts. To enter a competitive interview with peers you admire without shrinking. To tolerate the discomfort of growth in full view of others.

That is the real test behind the merger headlines. Not just the financial viability of a new “super-university,” but whether the staff inside it can withstand the psychological pressure of fewer seats at the table. Mergers reshape institutions. But for the people living them, they reshape identity. Do you remain the reliable safe pair of hands who never speaks up? Or do you take the risk of visibility, even when you feel unready, and claim a place in the new structure?

That decision - more than ministerial approval or budget forecasts - will determine who thrives on the other side.