Over half of college campuses in the United States can expect their president to step down in the next five years (American Council on Education, 2023). The new leaders who assume these vacant roles will be expected to lead institutions through difficult and unexpected crisis situations. Campus crises can arise from political or financial…

There is a growing interest in the underlying mechanisms affecting female leaders in higher education. And this paper examines the problem by focusing specifically on Polish public universities which historically stands out by particularly low number of female university rectors. The core of the study is based on 15 in-depth expert interviews with…

This qualitative study utilized a phenomenological approach to examine the lived experiences female educational leaders' face, which may influence their career aspirations. Phenomenology allowed the researcher to explore the commonalities across female educational leaders' experiences. Female educational leaders from two school districts were…

The purpose of this study was to examine the lived experiences of Black/ African American women aspiring, serving, or having previously served in the role of Superintendent of Schools in the State of Texas. Additionally, the study investigated the perceived barriers and challenges that impacted the participant's ascent to the superintendency, and…

Native women in higher education have faced many challenges and disparities, specifically within 4-year institutions. This research used a qualitative method known as storytelling to identify ways of progression for Native women in higher education leadership while being supported by the theoretical framework of aspirational capital. Additionally,…

The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of Latina school administrators in their career pathway--specifically, the influences, resources, and supports they leaned on to navigate challenges as they pursued and persisted in educational leadership roles. The study also focused on the personal, professional, and spiritual…

Higher education institutions over the last half-century have invested in hiring student affairs personnel to administer student recruitment and retention efforts (Schwartz & Stewart, 2017). Mid-level student affairs and services managers play a critical role as leaders in administering programs, supervising staff, and reporting to…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how women of color college leaders born in the U.S. describe the influence of resiliency in overcoming challenges in their career. It was not known how women of color college leaders born in the U.S. describe the influence of resiliency in overcoming challenges in their career. The…

The issue of gender bias has been studied in many facets of society, including business, education, and leadership in general. Researchers and professionals working in the field have long had concerns over the issue of gender bias: if it is occurring, what does the rate and impact have on overall success in leadership? Women in upper-level…

This qualitative narrative study delved into the experiences and journeys of Dominican women ascending to administrative leadership positions within U.S. higher education institutions. The main purpose was to explore the challenges and successes encountered by these women, addressing the identified issue of their underrepresentation in such roles.…

This nationwide study of 532 female school district superintendents, the largest such sample to date, offers compelling evidence that unconscious gender bias exists on the job and further inhibits equitable female representation in the superintendency. A modified version of Tran et al.'s (2019) Perceived Subtle Gender Bias Index (PSGBI), was…

Historically, Black women have been excluded from higher education based on race and gender. Moreover, Black women face multiple barriers that stem from the impact of intersectionality, which has led to the underrepresentation of Black women in senior-level administrative positions within institutions of higher education. Although the experiences…

There is significant disagreement about the Senior Woman Administrator (SWA) designation and how it should function within the overall structure of the athletic department (Smith et al., 2020). The purpose of this policy analysis case study is to fill the gap in research and better understand what people in Missouri who hold the SWA designation do…

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to explore the early career pathways of women who are deans in academic medicine to understand how they perceived their developed leadership skills and how they identified strategies to advance women into dean leadership roles. Theoretical Framework: Social role theory states that societal expectations of…

In most higher education institutions, White men and women have dominated senior academic positions and are viewed as more capable of serving as senior administrators than women of color. In comparison, the number of women of color leaders in predominantly White institutions is lower than in historically Black colleges and universities. For…