The purpose of this qualitative research study was to explore how African American female college presidents were socialized to work as senior-level administrators at higher education institutions in the United States and to understand how race and gender impact their professional identity development. My goal is that this research study will…

Followers grant legitimacy to leaders whom they perceive to be a good fit for the role, yet the conceptual framework for this study illustrated how dominant discourses related to gender and leadership continue to negatively affect a woman's potential in achieving legitimacy as an academic president. This study examined the predominant discourses…

Black women remain underrepresented in higher education leadership roles, especially in the college presidency. Since the middle of the 20th century, women have emerged as leaders throughout every field of human endeavor; however, their rise to the college presidency remains slow and steady. The number of women college presidents has increased…

This qualitative hermeneutic phenomenological study explores the lived experiences of first-at-institution female community college presidents in the United States, focusing on the social influences they encountered. Despite community colleges serving a large number of female, underrepresented, and low-socioeconomic students, leadership roles are…

During the first months of 2020 and throughout the following two years, the COVID-19 pandemic spurred changes in daily life for people worldwide and placed stress on the global economy. The crisis was one of the most impactful and unpredictable global events in recent history. The COVID-19 pandemic catapulted institutions of higher education…

This qualitative hermeneutic phenomenological study was designed to gain insight into the lived experiences of female executive leaders in career pathways that lead to the college presidency regarding their menopause transition while working in the community college workplace. Men outnumber women in the role of the college president even though…

Efforts to address the myriad challenges facing the world today have been dominated by White men at the exclusion of women, particularly Black, indigenous, and women of color. To address the gender inequity in leadership, women must gain the skills necessary to be authoritative leaders. An important place for young women to develop as leaders is…

For higher education to be responsive to the changing national and student population, its leadership must be "reflective of the world around it, (which) will be key to managing the challenges of today and the unknown challenges of tomorrow" (American Council on Education, 2017, para. 4). Unfortunately, despite the increasing diversity…

On average, the American university president is a white man in his early 60s. Progress has been slow for women in this role. This study examined the university presidency with a focus on the woman president experience. The hypothesis was that based on factors such as the glass ceiling and glass cliff, gender affects the experiences of women…

This qualitative content analysis study explored how women of color in college presidencies in the United States exhibit their leadership style and values in their publicly available leadership communications. Public leadership communication includes, but is not limited to, speeches, announcements, website materials, articles, and public…

This qualitative multi-case study explored the experiences of nine women serving as presidents of community and technical colleges in seven different Midwestern states to understand how they serve students with an increasingly diverse background and ultimately work to close the education opportunity gap. The data collection process consisted of…

African American women college presidential leadership is more than bureaucratic or technical leadership styles, or a set of skills or traits. African American women college president's leadership is pedagogical, meaning it is rooted in teaching and learning. The purpose of this research investigation is to amplify the role that African American…

While women have made great strides in leadership and academia over the last several decades, women continue to lag behind men in executive leadership positions. In universities, women students are vastly underrepresented in executive leadership roles; however, at community colleges the trends are reversed as women are actively taking on executive…

The role of a college president continues to present new and evolving challenges. Cuts to federal and state funding, declining enrollment, rapid changes in technology, and the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, paired with ongoing retirements, have left higher education leaders with a new set of challenges. While women are beginning to…

While women may occupy the majority of administrative roles on college campuses, the glass ceiling persists as an obstacle for female leaders aspiring to the presidency (Warner et al., 2018). The American Council on Education (ACE, 2017a) reports that as of 2016, women represented 30% of college presidents in the United States. Although the number…