This article focuses on the ever-present pressures, tensions and opportunities for women leaders in education, and the link between identity, pursuit of excellence and the pursuit of a complete, worthwhile life. It highlights the experience of three women in educational leadership who are undertaking Doctoral studies while balancing the needs of…

The California State University (CSU) system is the largest public university system in United Sates. In 2014, female student population was 56% and 42% were male. Overall, there are higher percentage of female students than male students in the CSU system, yet there are only 10 female Provosts in the CSU system. The purpose of this qualitative…

Issues of gender imbalance in leadership have long been a significant issue in universities, as is the case across most industries. This paper explores the experiences of seven females who have successfully achieved senior leadership positions at a regional university in Australia. While the experiences of these women differ in many ways, there…

In the last three decades, growth in the education of women in Iran has led to a significant increase in demand for women professionals and administrators in Iranian universities. However, the path to the top is not easy and numerous challenges must still be overcome. This study explored the challenges of women's participation in senior…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the barriers women identify to their promotion in international schools and also the ways in which women can overcome these barriers. Design/methodology/approach: The field of enquiry is international schools, with the study drawing on qualitative research. The researchers interviewed 11 women from…

The fields of gender and educational leadership have been enriched recently by analyses of national case studies from non-western contexts. By contextualising women's career development, these studies highlight the importance of including experiences other than those generated from Anglo-American-Australian contexts, thus broadening our knowledge…

Women educational leaders struggle to achieve and sustain success in senior positions due to their attempts to manage societal expectations for balancing work and family. Societal expectations of being the primary caregivers result in working women attempting to navigate multiple professional and personal roles. Those who have attained the highest…

Women leaders in education struggle to balance work and family life. Historically, this struggle has stemmed from attempts to manage societal expectations of balancing work and family. In managing these expectations, women leaders face many challenges, which have made it difficult to maintain home responsibilities and deal with increasing demands…

Eighty percent of public school teachers are females, but only 24% of school superintendents are females. This upward trend from a low of 1.3% in the early 1970s has not mirrored the increase of females in executive level positions in other professions. A mixed-methods design identified the barriers that contribute to the under-representation and…

Even though female teachers in Kenya municipal primary schools are majority and highly qualified, they fill fewer administrative positions than men. This study assesses the extent of women's participation in leadership positions, society's perception of female leaders, selection criteria of educational administrators, and barriers that affect or…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to interview women presidents and leaders in private, nonprofit universities regarding commonalities of perceptions and experiences in the leadership role, to examine the meaning of reactive behavior in the perceptions about their role, how they react or behave in their role, and if they perceived gender…

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to illustrate the ways in which female university presidents navigate the male-dominated world of higher education. The pathways female university presidents followed in order to reach the upper tiers of higher education administration were explored through interviews with presidents of 4-year…

In contemporary society women leaders in education have struggled to balance work and family. While some women have succeeded in finding that balance, many others are still struggling. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the experiences of three Armenian women in senior-level leadership positions in higher education in the United…

South African democracy precipitated many changes and excavated many dormant issues, one of which was equity in the workplace. This extended into the sphere of education - a sector in which women were rarely seen in leadership positions. Following the implementation of several redress policies, women have managed to penetrate the gender equity…

This research examined the career progression journey of three women who had held executive administrative positions in a land-grant, doctoral institution of higher education. This qualitative study used portraiture, field notes, and document review to examine the career journeys of these three women. The guiding question of the study was, What…