A personal journey of a long and winding road to Professorial status: An alternative pathway and the challenges, trials and tribulations.

For many years, the awarding of a professorial title was seen as a realistic objective and target for those with a substantive international portfolio of research publications and grant income success. With the changing landscape in Higher Education and a drive within the UK for Universities to show much more social responsibility and engagement we are beginning to see much needed change. In this chapter, I reflect on my personal journey to professorship and how my numerous experiences and diverse portfolio of activity finally came together to have personal and professional meaning. In telling my story, I am to raise awareness of the numerous challenges I encountered as a female, from my early years entering higher education through to my professorial application and beyond. I also reflect on my thoughts and feelings and provide ideas about what we can do to help more women thrive and succeed within academia