Women face unique challenges as they move into senior leadership roles at colleges and universities. This guide provides them with the frank, supportive advice they need to advance their careers and lead with excellence. For years, Marjorie Hass, now the president of Rhodes College, was approached by women in higher education looking for advice and support as they took on leadership roles and navigated challenging career paths. Eventually, she began offering online seminars so she could meet in small groups to answer questions and encourage women to develop mutually supportive relationships. In A Leadership Guide for Women in Higher Education, Hass draws on her sixteen years of senior leadership experience, her work with national higher education organizations, and her mentorship work with dozens of women to address fundamental issues women face when they lead in higher education. Aiming to level the playing field by giving women the insightful, supportive advice they need to advance in their careers and to lead with excellence, Hass combines practical information with career coaching. In this frank guide to launching, building, and advancing your academic career, Hass addresses a wide range of topics, including • deciding whether academic leadership is for you • developing a personal leadership style • becoming comfortable with power, ambition, and personal voice • navigating patriarchal assumptions • finding joy in leadership work • gaining experience with budget management, revenue generation, personnel management, and fund-raising—no matter your current job title • effectively managing conflict • aligning personal and career values and goals • winning your next job • and much more Women at any stage of their academic leadership career will find this guide insightful, useful, and empowering, as will anyone interested in supporting women leaders and diversifying leadership in higher education.

This book assists aspiring and current women leaders on how to advance into higher education leadership roles. Drawn from research and the lived experiences of women and non-binary people in higher education leadership, this book serves as a guide in understanding the gender disparity in higher education leadership and how women leaders forge pathways to promotion and success through systemic barriers, obstacles, and a lack of representation. A critical review of traditional leadership theory offers an opportunity to reimagine how effective leadership is framed and valued in higher education. Chapter authors and case studies explore the intersections of multiple identities and their impacts on leadership through lenses, including institutional type, functional areas, ability, gender identity, sexuality, race, and ethnicity. Focusing on a bridge from theory to practice that is designed to empower and inspire women leaders at all levels of the spectrum, this book is ideal reading for higher education scholars, students, and faculty aspiring to become leaders.

"This book aims to give women the frank, supportive advice they need to advance in their careers and to lead with excellence. Based on the author's fifteen years of senior leadership experience at three different colleges and her mentorship work with dozens of women, this book guides women through launching, building, and advancing an academic career"--

Women and Leadership in Higher Education is the first volume in a new series of books (Women and Leadership: Research, Theory, and Practice) that will be published in upcoming years to inform leadership scholars and practitioners. This book links theory, research, and practice of women’s leadership in various higher education contexts and offers suggestions for future leadership development strategies. This volume focuses on the field of higher education, particularly within the context of the United States—a sector that serves a majority of students at all degree levels who are women, yet lacks parity by women in senior leadership roles. The book’s fifteen chapters present both hard facts regarding the current demographic realities within higher education and fresh thinking about how progress can and must be made in order for U.S. higher education to benefit from the perspectives of women at the senior leadership table. The book’s opening section provides data and analysis in addressing “The State of Women and Leadership in Higher Education”; the second section offers descriptions of three effective models for women’s leadership development at the national and institutional levels; the third section draws from recent research to present “Women’s Experiences and Contributions in Higher Education Leadership.” The book concludes with five shorter chapters written by current and former college and university presidents who offer “Lessons from the Trenches” for the benefit of those who follow. In short, the thesis of the book is that our world is changing; higher education collectively, as well as institutions of all types, must change. Bringing more women into leadership is critical to the goal of moving our society and world forward in healthier ways.

Junctures in Women's Leadership: Higher Education brings into sharp focus the unique attributes of women leaders in the academy and adds a new dimension of analysis to the field of women's leadership studies. The research presented in this volume reveals not only theoretical factors of academic leadership, but also real time dynamics that give the reader deeper insights into the multiple stakeholders and situations that require nimble, relationship-based leadership, in addition to intellectual competency. Women leaders interviewed in this volume include Bernice Sandler, Juliet Villarreal García, and Johnnetta Betsch Cole.

FIRST EDITION SPECIAL RECOGNITION:Winner of the 2018 Sue DeWine Distinguished Scholarly Book Award, National Communication Association, Applied Communication Division REVIEWS OF THE FIRST EDITION“The book provides frameworks and resources that would be highly relevant for new and aspiring department chairs. In fact, this text is ideally designed to serve as a selection for a book discussion group.”—The Department Chair“Succeeds in providing accessible and useful resources to individuals across different leadership roles... As a midpoint between textbook and reference work, it is successful at both and provides a clear and unbiased background to issues facing current leaders.”—Reflective TeachingDuring a time of unprecedented challenges facing higher education, the need for effective leadership – for informal and formal leaders across the organization – has never been more imperative.Since publication of the first edition, the environment for higher education has become more critical and complex. Whether facing falling enrollments, questions of economic sustainability, the changing composition of the faculty and student bodies, differential retention and graduation rates, declining public confidence in the enterprise, or the rise in the use of virtual technologies – not to mention how COVID-19 and an intensified focus on long standing issues of racial and gender representation and equity have impacted institutions and challenged many long-standing assumptions – it is clear that learning on the job no longer suffices. Leadership development in higher education has become essential for advancing institutional effectiveness, which is the focus of this book.Taking into account the imperative issues of diversity, inclusion, and belonging, and the context of institutional mission and culture, this book centers on developing capacities for designing and implementing plans, strategies, and structures; connecting and engaging with colleagues and students; and communicating and collaborating with external constituencies in order to shape decisions and policies. It highlights the need to think broadly about the purposes of higher education and the dynamics of organizational excellence, and to apply these insights effectively in goal setting, planning and change leadership, outcomes assessment, addressing crises, and continuous improvement at both the level of the individual and organization.The concepts and tools in this book are equally valuable for faculty and staff leaders, whether in formal leadership roles, such as deans, chairs, or directors of institutes, committees, or task forces, or those who perform informal leadership functions within their departments, disciplines, or institutions. It can be used as a professional guide, a textbook in graduate courses, or as a resource in leadership training and development programs. Each chapter concludes with a series of case studies and guiding questions.

Although much has been written about leaders and leadership, we unfortunately know little about the women who fill this particular role. This book—the first in a series that explores women leaders in different contexts—remedies this gap by presenting the reflections of nine women community college, college, and university presidents on what they see as key tenets of leadership, illuminated by pivotal events in their careers.These presidents know the power of words, and in telling their stories through these interviews with the authors, they let us know who they are, what their visions are, and what they value.While they express some differences in their emphases on particular leadership characteristics, they show remarkable unanimity in their beliefs as to which are the most important—competence, credibility, and communication. The participants discuss the growing opportunities for women in higher education administration, without minimizing the barriers that still exist, nor the potential for backlash against powerful and assertive women. They stress the need for women to be very careful about making the correct choices for themselves; to balance personal life and work; and to appropriately prepare for leadership. This book both breaks new ground, and offers guidance for women who aspire to positions of leadership—in any field of endeavor. The Presidents: Gretchen M. Bataille, University of North Texas, Denton, TexasBarbara Douglass, Northwestern Connecticut Community College, Winsted, CT Mildred García, California State University, Dominguez HillsCarol C. Harter, University of Nevada, Las VegasMamie Howard-Golladay, Sullivan County Community College, Loch Sheldrake, NYMartha T. Nesbitt, Gainesville State College, Gainesville, GeorgiaPamela Sue Shockley-Zalabak, University of Colorado, Colorado SpringsBetty L. Siegel, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GAKaren Gayton Swisher, Haskell Indian Nations University, Lawrence, KS Each confronts her world with grace, her work with passion, and her life with enthusiasm. The Series: Pathways to Leadership is a series about successful women who have reached the pinnacle of their careers. It features stories about extraordinary women who have found paths to success—whether it’s leading a college or university or becoming successful scholars in science and engineering or thriving in some other male-dominated arena.