Despite the gains women have made in higher education over the past few decades, and an increasing number of well-qualified female candidates, they are still underrepresented in tenure-track positions and higher level administration roles. By carefully examining the challenges and problems within the higher education system that cause this inequity, opportunities for positive change can be found.
Overall, education is a field still dominated by women, yet women do not typically pursue or attain leadership positions at the administrative level. Research has revealed some of the reasons for this: women still experience gender discrimination in education careers, experience higher attrition rates, and have slower career mobility than do men. Additionally, women in education are apparently less valued, and their performance is more critically evaluated, as in other fields. This insightful text shows the gender-based inequities and discrimination women face when aiming for leadership positions in education, and lays out a plan to bring success to this level of the field that is still male-dominated.
Women as Leaders in Education: Succeeding Despite Inequity, Discrimination, and Other Challenges is the result of a team of leading feminist educators and scholars. It delves into feminist women’s leadership in education from kindergarten to graduate school. This two-volume work assesses the historical and current political landscape with regard to women hitting a “glass ceiling,” issues of social justice, and the unique challenges women face in educational leadership as well as the new field of teacher leadership.
