In recent weeks, a number of women have been elevated to top leadership posts at colleges and universities across the nation, signaling a dramatic shift across the higher education landscape that at one time, was exclusively dominated by men.
Experts acknowledge that the fight for gender equity in leadership posts across higher education is far from over, but they say that they are encouraged that women are breaking the glass ceiling and advancing into prominent roles on campuses across the country. The fact that women of color are among that group is increasingly encouraging, particularly at a time when some have expressed concerns about the rising number of Black women, more specifically, who are leaving academe in droves.
“The numbers are not where we need them to be, but thankfully, they are not where they used to be,” said Naomi Scott, an educational researcher whose scholarship focuses on women in the academy. “Albeit slowly, progress is being made. These most recent appointments signal that colleges and universities are recognizing the significant contributions that women are making to advancing higher education and are being rewarded for their hard work and diligence.”
The University of Maryland, College Park (UMD) recently announced that Dr. Jennifer King Rice — currently the dean of UMD’s College of Education and professor of education policy—would be the school’s next senior vice president and provost.
“It is an honor to be selected as Provost at the University of Maryland, a place and community that I love and am proud to serve,” said Rice. “With our president’s overarching commitment to excellence in all that we do, we are seizing a moment of great potential to contribute to our state and broader society in new and innovative ways. I look forward to partnering with stellar academic colleagues and administrators to cultivate a diverse and inclusive environment where everyone has the opportunity to fully participate and succeed.”
Last week, The New School announced that Dr. Renée T. White, currently provost and professor of sociology at Wheaton College in Massachusetts, will be the university’s next provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. An accomplished higher education administrator and scholar on race, gender, and social inequality, White will begin at The New School August 1, 2021. She will serve alongside Dr. Dwight McBride, a prominent literary scholar who marked his one-year anniversary as president of The New School last month.
There have also been other notable appointments too.
