Professor Paula Moffatt is one of the ambitious, inspirational women working at Nottingham Trent University (NTU). She studied law at University College London before qualifying as a solicitor in a City practice where she was an associate in the banking department. Since joining Nottingham Law School, she has since taught on the postgraduate vocational and master’s programmes, focusing on banking and insolvency law.
In addition to her important day-to-day work, Paula is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and has experience of both academic and vocational curriculum design and development. She has also developed specialist training for paralegals working in the capital markets division of the European Investment Bank. As a member of the Law School’s Senior Management Team, she is strategically involved in the school’s response to the introduction of the Solicitors Qualifying Examination.
Paula has published a number of articles on banking and insolvency matters and edits a termly Insolvency Bulletin for Nottingham Law School’s Centre for Business and Insolvency Law. Her research is in the field of bank insolvency and secured transactions and she has delivered papers at conferences around the world.
In the following interview, Paula shares exclusive insight into her academic and legal career.
How would you describe yourself professionally and personally?
Cheerful, hard-working, enthusiastic, interested, communicative
How would you summarise your area of academic interest?
Banking and insolvency law, with a particular interest in bank insolvency and secured lending transactions.
What's a particularly interesting element about the field you operate in?
That ultimately, it’s all about human beings. Just look at Thomas Cook.
Which of your published works are you most proud of and why?
The standardisation of conflicts of laws rules for intermediated securities within the EU: Holy Grail or red herring? NIPR 2018 (1).
Because I had been thinking about a particular problem since about 2002 and I finally worked it out.
What challenges might women academics face more so than men?
There are probably fewer very senior role models for women than there are for men, particularly when it comes to leading big research teams and obtaining research funding. It is probably also the case that women tend to downplay their abilities whereas men are less inclined to do so; if this is translated into applying for promotions, women are more likely to apply for promotion at a later stage than a man would and so see their careers progress more slowly than a man might.
What's your advice for women academics considering promotion?
The first thing is to understand the process. There is a lot of information and it is very detailed. You need to think about the routes carefully and identify which one is most appropriate for you and where you see yourself in the longer term. You then need to work out where the gaps are (if any) in what is needed and work on filling them. Talk to other colleagues about the role you are applying for to make sure that you understand what it entails (and even if it is what you want!) should you be successful. Very importantly, you need to talk to your research mentor (get one if you haven’t got one already) and then at a more formal level, you will need to talk to both the Associate Director of Research and the Dean to obtain their view of any application that you make.
If you receive a recommendation to defer an application, play the long game and consider whether there is any other development support that you could benefit from that will help you to build up your CV for a future application. Recognise that, even if you do apply, it is not a given that you will get through, so at the outset, it is worth managing your own expectations. If you are unsuccessful, you should obtain feedback on what you needed to have demonstrated, or done differently, and you can work on that (as you would if you applied for a job that you didn’t get) for next time.
How does NTU actively support women's advancement?
I am aware that NTU sponsors a number of women each year on the Aurora Leadership programme.
What's an interesting fact about you?
After several aeons of child-rearing, I finally caved in to having a family pet provided that I didn’t have to walk it. We now have four rescue chickens. They are very funny.
What's your top tip for other working women?
If you feel as though you aren’t making progress in one direction, don’t be afraid to try something else. No experience is ever wasted.
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Disclosure: Where Women Work researches and publishes insightful evidence about how its paid member organizations support women's equality.