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

Exploration of Current Status of Women Administrators and Barriers to Female Advancement

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

Though women today are earning 58% of all bachelor’s degrees and 45% of all doctorates, they are underrepresented at the highest levels of higher education administration. A recent study conducted by the American Council on Education found only 23% of higher education institutions presidents were women and only 13.8% of presidents at doctoral-granting institutions. These numbers are paralleled in the number of full-time professors that are female: only 19.3% full professor tenured positions at doctoral degree granting institutions, 28.3% at master’s degree granting, and 46.9% at associate degree granting are held by women. Though women are earning approximately half of all higher education degrees, very few are attaining upper administrative positions. The author wanted to see if the common thought reasons proved to actually create barriers to female advancement. Gender differences in career aspirations, professional assets, and personal variables are suggested to be the biggest contributors to this disparity.

Career aspirations include the types of positions administrators are interested in striving for. Some studies have indicated the possibility that women have lower positional goal aspirations, aspiring for middle level administrative roles. Though the statistical differences between women and men positional goals were slight, this variation may be a contributing factor. Women exhibit different leadership styles, qualities, and preferences than men. Men are less likely to share information, while women set aside time to share information within the organization. Traditionally men viewed themselves through their jobs while women viewed their position and self as more multidimensional. Though the style of leadership may differ between genders, the effectiveness is relative. Career aspirations also include career commitments, or what people hope to accomplish during their career. In a study of academic deans, a significant gender difference in the reasons why an individual chose the position was revealed. More women listed reasons such as contribute to the university, improve the college, help faculty develop, and personal growth. More men listed reasons such as advance career, financial gain, and power. These three factors of career aspirations each show differences between genders that may impact advancement.

Professional assets have been shown to be contributing factors in a woman’s career development and advancement. Career planning is developing a goal and a plan for how to achieve that goal. Most studies prove career planning has a positive correlation with achievement of high level leadership positions in higher education administration, and encourage more women to take part in career planning. Mentoring is a vital strategy for all staff members in the field of higher education. The author bring up a study where female college presidents were asked if they had mentors and 91% had primary mentors and were mentors to others. This proves the importance for women to gain a mentor early in their career as it may be an influencing factor in attaining high level positions. Networking in higher education includes getting to know administrators from different universities, attending conferences, and working with other departments. Females tend to use their networks to cope with frustrations or explore new ideas. Males tend to use their networks when making difficult personal decisions. Building a network early in a career can help women advance in the field. Leadership training is the final piece of professional assets. Leadership training can help women gain skills in negotiation, decision making, conflict resolution, and political posturing, setting them apart as valuable contributors to the institution.

Personal variables are commonly thought as the biggest contributions to the variations between women and men. The author chose three factors that can potentially create barriers for women in higher education administration. The first being gender, as gender stereotypes and biases have often played a role in various work settings, and it is no different in higher education. Data proves that women in academia are often paid less, promoted more slowly, and tenured more slowly. Marriage and children have often caused adverse effects on the career advancement to women. Studies show women are less likely to achieve tenure when they have children early in their career versus men in a similar family circumstance. 59% of married women with children were considering leaving the academia, and many indicated children being one of the influencing factors. Of college presidents, 89% of men were married and 91% had children while only 63% of female presidents were married and 68% had children. These surprising statistics show marriage and children may directly influence a women unfavorably. Two-thirds of faculty women feel overwhelmed from balancing their household and work responsibilities. The last personal variable that can create variances between men and women is the ability to move for a position. Higher education often requires a professional to have geographic mobility in order to advance in the field. This article found women were more geographically constrained than their male counterparts. The author's study proved these statistics, and found geographical mobility to be the most significant influencing factor hindering women’s career development and advancement.

This article breaks down the author's study into the three areas to figure out which is the most significant variable. Approximately 200 individuals in positions of deans or higher were surveyed around Minnesota in order to see whether these variables influenced their advancement to their current position. Slight statistical variances were found between men and women in each area, which when combined create real disparities. Career aspirations, professional assets, and personal variables cause inequalities between women and men in the field of higher education. The article gave insight to the current status of women in higher education, and the influencing factors.

Lepkowski, C. C. (2009). Gender and the career aspirations, professional assets, and personal variables of higher education administrators. Advancing Women in Leadership, 29(6), 1.