Entity Magazine Explores the Higher Education Presidential Gender Gap

As of 2011, one in four college presidents were women, just 26 percent. That also means the needle has been moved only three percentage points since 2006. And because the total number of minority presidents hasn’t grown substantially, the proportion of all presidencies held by minority women also remains low.

A recent piece in Entity Magazine asks an important question: Why is the number of female university presidents still so low?

Through interviews with ACE President Molly Corbett Broad and others, the piece explores some of the reasons why women have struggled to ascend to the top higher education leadership position.

One potential challenge impeding women’s success may be the lack of a sponsor. Broad told Entity that a sponsor is “someone who knows of your good work and can say, ‘Have you thought of this person? She is very, very talented and has a lot of experience. I suggest you take a look at her.’”

To read the full piece, click here.

In January 2016, ACE launched a national call-to-action campaign that asks presidents of colleges, universities and related associations to commit to help achieve the goal that by 2030, half of U.S. college and university chief executives are women. To learn more about Moving the Needle: Advancing Women in Higher Education Leadership, click here.