The position of Dean of Women was created in response to novel exigencies rising from women's acceptance to coeducational institutions of higher learning in the late nineteenth century. While these early women administrators had a profound impact on women's higher education in the United States, their work has received relatively little attention.…

In recent years, black women have begun to take more prominent university leadership roles at predominantly white institutions. Unfortunately, their progress is relatively slow, and their experiences have not garnered much historical attention in the university leadership literature. Hence, the purpose of this study is to describe the leadership…

The purpose of this research study was to explore the strategies African American women use to navigate systemic barriers faced in academia in order to attain and retain higher education positions at the level of academic dean and higher. A narrative inquiry approach was taken using Black feminist theory to explore this phenomenon. A total of…

Capturing the voices of Black women on their experiences leading to senior-level leadership positions in higher education warranted research. University leaders must ensure that units implement fair and equitable hiring practices to promote diversity and leadership from all backgrounds. Therefore, this study intended to take an in-depth look into…

This research study explored the strategies six Black women academic deans used to sustain themselves at historically white institutions (HWIs). The theoretical framework used to understand the women's experiences included Critical Race Feminism (CRF) and Crenshaw's intersectionality (1989). The purpose of this study was to understand these…

Higher education historians agree that the earliest direct antecedents to today's student affairs professionals were deans of women (DOWs) and deans of men (DOMs), administrative positions that first arose in the 19th century. While DOWs were expected to supervise women students within newly coeducational environments, they professionalized the…

A democratic South Africa guarantees equality to all regardless of gender, religion, beliefs, and race. However, leadership status of women in general is still suffering as there is unequal representation in leadership positions between men and women in institutions of higher learning. This phenomenological study sought to understand the female…

The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to understand the perspectives on career success of female assistant and associate deans at a large research university on the east coast of the United States. To that end, the following research questions guided this study: 1. What does career success mean to female assistant and associate deans at…

This article considers the ambivalent and contradictory positions that women in senior leadership roles in universities occupy. And while women continue to be numerically in the minority in senior leadership positions, this relative invisibility can work to their advantage; they are neither inside nor outside of the university hierarchy.…

Females are underrepresented at the level of dean in business schools, comprising only 25.7% of business school deans (AACSB, 2020). The purpose of this qualitative, transcendental phenomenological study was to explore the experience of female deans of business schools regarding their advancement to leadership positions. The purpose and research…

Marie Hoepl is a Professor and Associate Dean of Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. She responds to questions about her past experience as an industrial arts teacher to what recommendations she has to create a more inclusive classroom and working with underrepresented populations. She concludes how she wants to do more…

The primary purpose of this interpretative phenomenological inquiry was to uncover the lived experiences, both professional and personal, of Black female academic deans across Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs). Black Feminist Thought (Collins, 2000) served as a guiding theoretical framework in light of the unique experiences of Black women…

There is a significant gender disparity in the highest leadership levels in Dominican universities. Research argues that in traditionalist societies and in some developing countries particularly, it is increasingly challenging for women to make it to top leadership. To achieve a fuller understanding of the current context for female leadership…

The study examines the personal, social, and organizational barriers facing women in university leadership positions in South Asia, building on the cases of Malaysia and Bangladesh. We discussed the topic through the lens of interactionist feminist theory. Semi-structured interviews with 20 female deans from 12 public universities in Malaysia and…

Feminist scholars have critiqued neoliberal meritocracy as discriminating against female academics through the persistence of gender-biased assumptions, closed procedures of recruitment and promotion, and patriarchal network connections. While these scholars demand fairer meritocratic competition, we explore possibilities to (re)imagine academic…