ProfessorJaclyn Broadbent

Professor Jaclyn Broadbent is an award-winning educator, internationally recognised higher education researcher and senior university leader. As Pro Vice-Chancellor Academic Experience at Deakin University, she leads university-wide transformation of the academic workforce, shaping the systems, cultures and career structures that enable academics to thrive and deliver an outstanding education for students.

A purpose-driven and collaborative leader, Jaclyn is committed to creating fair, sustainable and high-performing academic environments. She has led some of Deakin’s most significant academic workforce reforms, including the Academic Workforce Program, the University’s decasualisation strategy, and the development of new academic roles and career pathways. Her leadership has encompassed the establishment of education-focused academic roles, the design of contemporary workload models, institutional promotion reform, and strengthened frameworks for sessional academic employment.

Through this work, Jaclyn has helped translate ambitious institutional strategy into practical and enduring change. Her approach is distinguished by her ability to navigate complexity, build partnerships across faculties and professional divisions, and bring academic and senior leaders together around a shared purpose. She is particularly passionate about ensuring that institutional systems recognise the full diversity of academic contribution while supporting excellence, equity and meaningful career development.

Jaclyn is also an internationally recognised higher education researcher whose scholarship has advanced understanding of how students learn and succeed in online and blended environments. With PhDs in both Psychology and Education, she brings a distinctive interdisciplinary perspective to her research and leadership. Her expertise connects an understanding of human behaviour, motivation and self-regulation with the design of effective educational environments, enabling her to approach complex institutional challenges through the complementary lenses of psychological science, educational research and academic practice.

This interdisciplinary foundation has shaped a research program spanning self-regulated learning, assessment and feedback, online education, and effective university teaching. It also informs Jaclyn’s institutional leadership, particularly her focus on developing academic systems and cultures that support individual agency, professional growth and collective excellence. She is ranked among the world’s top 2% of scientists in the Stanford University–Elsevier rankings and has published more than 70 journal articles and book chapters. Her work has attracted more than 12,000 citations, with an h-index of 38 on Google Scholar.

Jaclyn’s research is grounded in an enduring commitment to educational practice. Her leadership and impact as an educator have been recognised through multiple institutional and national awards. She has twice been named Deakin Teacher of the Year and has received both an Australian Award for University Teaching Teaching Excellence Award and an Australian Awards for University Teaching Citation.

Before taking up her current position, Jaclyn held a series of senior academic leadership roles at Deakin, including Pro Vice-Chancellor Sessional Academic Experience, Deputy Head of School, and Associate Head of School (Teaching and Learning). These roles have given her deep operational and strategic experience spanning academic workforce transformation, educational leadership and institutional change.

Across her leadership, research and teaching, Jaclyn has remained focused on a consistent goal: building universities in which academics are supported to do their best work and students experience the benefits of excellent, evidence-informed education.

www.jaclynbroadbent.com