Women\u27s Leadership in Higher Education: Status, Barriers, and Motivators

Advancing more women into institutional leadership roles in higher education matters. Although numerous studies have documented the value of involving diverse perspectives in decision-making processes (Donovan & Caplan, 2019; Gero & Garrity, 2018; Williams, 2013; Woolley & Malone, 2011), many individuals and organizations—ranging from the corporate sector and the political realm to postsecondary education—have voiced commitments to increasing the representation of women in higher ranks, yet they have been stymied in achieving measurable results. A variety of examples in the research-based literature reflect the glacial pace of progress for women into leadership roles across a variety of fields. Examining the field of higher education, noted leadership scholars Kellerman and Rhode (2017) have debunked the myth that the oft-touted pipeline theory, which argues that over time, a larger number of women on lower rungs of organizational hierarchies will yield a larger number of women on higher ones (p.11). Yet these authors note that even after more than 30 years in which this theory has held currency, the number of women in positions of leadership and management has remained dauntingly and depressingly low (p. 11)