{"id":67730,"date":"2023-04-05T03:42:33","date_gmt":"2023-04-05T07:42:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=67730"},"modified":"2023-04-05T03:42:33","modified_gmt":"2023-04-05T07:42:33","slug":"6-of-8-ivy-leagues-will-soon-have-women-as-presidents-an-expert-explains-why-this-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/6-of-8-ivy-leagues-will-soon-have-women-as-presidents-an-expert-explains-why-this-matters\/","title":{"rendered":"6 of 8 Ivy Leagues will soon have women as presidents \u2014 an expert explains why this matters"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/em><\/p>\n

Felecia Commodore, an associate professor of higher education at Old Dominion University, explains what this means for gender equity in the college presidency \u2013 and why U.S. colleges and universities still have a long way to go.<\/em><\/p>\n

Why does this matter?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

While women make up about\u00a060% of undergraduate<\/a>\u00a0as well as\u00a0master\u2019s and doctoral students<\/a>\u00a0in the U.S., only about\u00a032% of presidents<\/a>\u00a0of American colleges and universities are women.<\/p>\n

However, the Ivy League is not new to selecting female presidents \u2013 they have been doing so for a few decades. Judith Rodin was the first, in 1994, when she became president of the University of Pennsylvania. She was followed by\u00a0Ruth Simmons at Brown University<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Shirley Tilghman at Princeton University<\/a>, both in 2001. Rodin was succeeded by another woman,\u00a0Amy Guttman<\/a>, in 2004.<\/p>\n

Still, one reason this moment may be one to watch is that Ivy League institutions are often seen as exemplars of elite, complex institutions. So seeing what one could consider a critical mass of female leaders in the Ivy League could signal the benefit of women in leadership to other boards that are hesitant or slow to hire women as presidents.<\/p>\n

How unusual is this across higher ed?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

I think it would be more surprising to see mostly female presidents at the majority of large public research universities, or at a majority of the schools in the\u00a0Power 5 athletic conferences<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Despite what may seem like a boom in women leading institutions, the percentage of women in the presidency at colleges and universities more broadly has plateaued at\u00a0between 25% and 30%<\/a>\u00a0for the past decade. This was after increasing from\u00a09.5% in 1986<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a019% in 1998<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A number of factors contribute to this low percentage, including\u00a0barriers within the college presidential pipeline<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 such as exclusion from networks that provide mentorship \u2013 reward and\u00a0promotion structures<\/a>\u00a0that are not equitable across genders, and\u00a0bias against women<\/a>\u00a0in academic leadership roles<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A recent analysis of\u00a0data on college presidents<\/a>\u00a0explains how this bias against women occurs, specifically when it comes to academic leadership roles. This is important because college presidents typically\u00a0find their way to the presidency<\/a>\u00a0through\u00a0academic leadership roles<\/a>\u00a0such as deans, vice provosts and provosts.<\/p>\n

What are the biggest challenges that college presidents face?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The biggest priority or challenge really depends on the individual college or university. However, all institutions must ensure they are financially healthy and identify opportunities to strengthen their financial resources. College presidents have reported that they spend the most time on\u00a0budget and financial management<\/a>, followed by fundraising.<\/p>\n

Particularly in the current\u00a0higher education marketplace<\/a>, where the average cost of college runs\u00a0over US$35,000 per year<\/a>, college leaders must work to keep their institutions fiscally strong and also competitive and affordable. This may involve, for example,\u00a0building new infrastructure<\/a>, creating new programs and cultivating new sources of funding.<\/p>\n

What effect does having a woman in the top seat have?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

For colleges that have only ever had a man in the president\u2019s role, hiring their first woman as president can signal that the institution embraces change and evolution. This can be an especially important message to send to funders, alumni donors, philanthropists, state legislators and corporate partners, who all play a role in ensuring a particular college\u2019s financial vitality.<\/p>\n

Female presidents add to the diversity of the college presidency. They\u00a0add different perspectives<\/a>\u00a0to conversations that shape practices and policies both within their college and across higher education. They might, for example, provide their particular perspective regarding compensation for female faculty members of color, who tend to\u00a0engage in more unpaid service work<\/a>\u00a0on campuses.<\/p>\n

Organizational scholars and business leaders affirm that\u00a0diversity strengthens the decisions<\/a>\u00a0made by organizations and\u00a0contributes to innovative solutions<\/a>. A more diverse group of decision-makers can generate\u00a0more decision alternatives<\/a>\u00a0than a homogeneous group that may be susceptible to group think.<\/p>\n

And lastly, having women at the helm of academic institutions\u00a0shows other women who aspire to become college presidents<\/a>\u00a0that it is indeed possible.<\/p>\n

Author Bio:<\/strong> Felecia Commodore is Assistant Professor of Higher Education at Old Dominion University<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Felecia Commodore, an associate professor of higher education at Old Dominion University, explains what this means for gender equity in the college presidency \u2013 and why U.S. colleges and universities still have a long way to go. Why does this matter? While women make up about\u00a060% of undergraduate\u00a0as well as\u00a0master\u2019s and doctoral students\u00a0in the U.S., […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[434372],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-67730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-higher-education","tag-female-presidents"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n6 of 8 Ivy Leagues will soon have women as presidents \u2014 an expert explains why this matters - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/6-of-8-ivy-leagues-will-soon-have-women-as-presidents-an-expert-explains-why-this-matters\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"6 of 8 Ivy Leagues will soon have women as presidents \u2014 an expert explains why this matters - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Felecia Commodore, an associate professor of higher education at Old Dominion University, explains what this means for gender equity in the college presidency \u2013 and why U.S. colleges and universities still have a long way to go. 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