Five minutes with… Liz Routhorn

January 24, 2020

We got to know Liz, former Chair of the AccessHE Care Experienced and Estranged Students (CEES) Forum, and Widening Participation and Outreach Manager at London Met. 

Describe your institution in a few words.
Inclusive, transformative, innovative.

Describe your role in one sentence.
Sorry I’ve gone for 2, but they’re short! I manage a brilliant team of Widening Participation and Outreach professionals who deliver educational programmes in the community. My particular interests are working with care-experienced students and in fair access to the creative arts.

What song would be the soundtrack to your life and why?
Always look on the bright side of life (Monty Python). It’s optimistic and a bit geeky. I can’t actually whistle though!

If you could go back and meet your 16-year-old self, facing decisions about your future education/career, what advice would you give?
1) You’ll be fine! Twenty years on I am still happy with my choice of uni and course, but I’d love to reassure myself to trust in my choices and worry less about following a different path to the one my parents/teachers would have preferred.
2) Be brave! I said no to a couple of amazing opportunities early in my career because I was scared of failure. But I’ve learned with age and experience that it’s better to face your fears and go for it as wonderful, unexpected things may happen as a result.
3) ‘Eat that frog!’ I.e. Stop procrastinating and do the task you are dreading first, then the rest of the day seems much easier. A team member quoted it to me and I love it.

If you could invite four people – living or deceased – to dinner, who would they be?
I love playing this game with friends, but my answers change regularly. Today I feel like a musical evening… Nina Simone, Leonard Bernstein, Otis Redding and Dave Brubeck. And a piano please!

If you’d like to feature in our next “Five Minutes With…”, please contact us.