Women in Higher Educational Leadership: Representation, Career Progression, and Compensation

Abstract

Men in university administration repeatedly outnumber women in leadership positions. The problem under investigation is that this gender gap exists due to barriers to advancement and discrimination in both the hiring process and in the workplace. With less representation of women in higher education leadership, there is a higher risk of bias for women in this field. This study used an ex-post facto methodology and gathered public data from the University of California (UC) Annual Payroll Compensation database. Three separate studies were run to determine the level of gender differences in the representation of educational leaders, compensation, and career progression. Significant differences in gender equity existed, with more men represented at several levels of educational leadership. Significant differences were also found in compensation levels, where men earned more money than women in the same position. Lastly, a small effect, although not significant, was observed when comparing early career gender representation to non-early career gender representation. There are more women recent graduates than men in leadership positions. Together these results suggest that while there are gender gaps in representation and compensation, there may be slow progress towards better representation in early career leadership positions in the UC system. The implication of this research supports further research into factors which impact the compensation of women leaders in academia. Higher education hiring professionals and candidates for leadership positions could benefit from further development of theories around gender equity and representation.