A new report from the Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions (CMSI) at the University of Pennsylvania explores the dearth of women in presidential positions at Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs).
While approximately 50 percent of college students in the United States are women, the people who occupy the presidency of those institutions of higher learning don’t reflect the student population. A report from CMSI notes that less than 30 percent of all college presidents are women, and that number is less than 12 percent at 650 MSIs. This includes HBCUs, Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), Native and tribal colleges and Asian American/Pacific Islander-serving institutions.
“There are still a vast amount of antiquated stereotypes that surround women in leadership,” said Amanda Washington Lockett, a research associate at CMSI and lead author of the report. “When we’re thinking about the relationships that are necessary for women to build while getting into and maintaining these positions…there is a lot of information not being transferred to women who are interested in being presidents.”
Many male and female college and university presidents would say they didn’t envision themselves as presidents when they began their careers in academia. Their leadership talents were recognized by mentors and/or colleagues who set them on that path. Unfortunately, the number of women being identified and put on the path is in the extreme minority.
“You cannot handle or solve gender issues without men,” said Dr. Atiya S. Strothers, a research associate at CMSI. “If you’re trying to solve any type of issue that involves marginalized experiences or people that are within certain oppressed groups, if you deal with it with just those persons, you’re really not dealing with the issue. We can’t keep it just amongst women. You need advocates and allies who are willing to push the envelope and agenda.”
The report, Missing, but Vital: Strategies for Women Presidents at Minority Serving Institutions, identifies many of the challenges that women deal with. It sets out how to face and navigate those challenges.
“This report came about because we were thinking about women who have taken on presidencies recently and run into sexism on the job,” said Dr. Marybeth Gasman, director of CMSI and the Judy & Howard Berkowitz Professor of Education at Penn. “We started thinking about what kind of message does it send to women who want to be presidents when they see the women who go before them encountering sexism and their leadership being called into question.”
