Challenging the assumptions of leadership: Women and men of the academy

Abstract

Higher education systems must change to include women administrators because huge pools of creative and effective talent should not be ignored. The increasing complexity of higher education requires the talents of women and men working together.

Gender and the Career Aspirations, Professional Assets, and Personal Variables of Higher Education Administrators

“…Leadership development training has been recognized as important to higher education administration advancement (McDade, 1990;Touchton et al, 1993). No gender difference in the reported rate of participation in leadership development programs was found in Hypothesis 5.…”

“…Career planning has been defined as having a goal and a plan for how to achieve that goal. Research has shown that career planning has a positive effect on women's career development and advancement (Hirsch, 1994), as well as on the achievement of high level leadership positions in higher education (LeBlanc, 1993;Touchton et al, 1993). No studies were found comparing the rates or nature of male and female career planning in higher education, which if such differences exist, could impact the disparity in advancement.…”

“…Researchers have suggested that leadership training is important to career advancement of higher education administrators (McDade, 1990;Touchton et al, 1993). Harrow (1993) recommended that women administrators "take every opportunity to practice and reflect upon leadership skills of communications, negotiations, analytical thinking, decision making, conflict resolution, political posturing, and analysis" (p. 156).…”

“…Career planning has been found to have a positive impact on women's career advancement (Hirsch, 1994) and is helpful in achieving high level leadership positions in the higher education setting (LeBlanc, 1993;Touchton et al, 1993). Hypothesis 3 resulted in the fact that females and males did not differ in their level of career planning suggesting the gender disparity may not be due to women having less clear goals and plans to advance.…”

“…At doctoral-granting institutions, women comprised only 13.8% of presidents. Increasing the number of female administrators and thus decreasing this gender disparity in higher education leadership has been recognized as critically important (Nidiffer, 2001;Touchton, Shavlik, & Davis, 1993). As Harrow (1993) argued, "Leadership, when dominated by one segment of society, suffers from a narrow perspective, a lack of richness of ideas and ideals" (p. 146).…”