Moving the Needle Together:
The Demographics of the Higher
Education Leadership Pipeline
Diana I. Cordova, Ph.D.
Assistant Vice President, Leadership Programs
WHEMN Conference – February 2012
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The American Council on Education
(ACE)
• Only higher education organization that represents
presidents and chancellors of all types of U.S. accredited,
degree-granting institutions: community colleges and fouryear institutions, private and public universities, and
nonprofit and for-profit colleges.
• ACE seeks to provide leadership and a unifying voice on
key higher education issues and to influence public policy
through advocacy, research, and program initiatives.
2
ACE Leadership Programs
• Executive Leadership Group
– Institute for New Presidents (coming July 2012)
– Advancing to the Presidency
– Institute for New Chief Academic Officers
• Emerging Leaders Group
– ACE Fellows Program
– Dept. Chair Workshops (coming summer 2012)
• Inclusive Excellence Group
– Regional Forums for Mid-Level Women Administrators
– National Forums for Senior-Level Women Administrators
3
Key Questions
• Why focus now on leadership for the
future?
• What is the state of the higher education
leadership pipeline - for women, in
particular?
• How are we doing compared to other
sectors?
4
Why leadership for the future?
• Those who retire (eventually) will need to
be “replaced.”
• Higher education as an enterprise is
expanding.
• Higher education is in a high stakes
environment, facing serious challenges
with no tested solutions.
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A Growing Higher Education Enterprise
1993
2006
3,632
4,314
Enrollment
14,305,000
18,205,474
Degrees Awarded
2,167,000
3,469,942
Number of Faculty
915,400
1,290,426
Number of Staff
771,900
2,088,661
Number of Institutions
Source: Department of Education, IPEDS
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A High(er) Stakes Future
“…this country needs and values the talents of every
American. That is why we will provide the support necessary
for you to complete college and meet a new goal: by 2020,
America will once again have the highest proportion of
college graduates in the world.”
- President Barack Obama
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The View from the Top
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The American College President: 2007 Edition
• Sixth national study since 1986
• 2,148 respondents, 70% response rate.
• Most comprehensive survey on the
characteristics and career paths of college
presidents.
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The Aging of Presidents: 1986 and 2006
100%
90%
13.9
80%
49.3
61 or older
70%
60%
44.4
51 to 60
50%
31 to 50
40%
30%
20%
42.6
41.6
10%
8.1
0%
1986
2006
10
Average Years in the Presidency: 2006
11
Women Presidents by Institution Type:
1986 to 2006
Doctorate-Granting
Master's
Baccalaureate
Associate's
Special Focus
35.0
30.0
28.8
25.0
23.2
21.5
20.0
15.0
16.6
13.8
16.1
10.0 10.0
5.0
7.9
6.6
3.8
0.0
1986
1990
1995
1998
2001
2006
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Progress on Presidential Diversity Has Been Slow
Women and People of Color
as a Percentage of All Presidents: 1986 and 2006
1986
23%
2006
14%
10%
8%
Women
Source: ACE. 2007. The American College President: 2007 Edition.
People of color
13
Minority Presidents: 1986 and 2006
8
Total Minority
14
5
African American
1986
6
2006
1
1
American Indian
0
Asian American
1
2
Hispanic
5
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
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Minority Presidents: 2006
White
African American
Hispanic
Other
3.9
2.6
90.6
Non-MSI
2.8
41.1
MSI
0
10
20
27.4
30
40
50
22.9
60
70
80
8.5
90
100
15
Marital Status of Presidents: 2006
100%
4
80%
3
10
Never Married
14
Never MarriedReligious
Divorced or
Separated
60%
40%
Widowed
89
63
20%
Domestic Partner
Married
0%
Men
Women
16
Family Responsibilities: 2006
100
Any children
91
90
Children 17 or younger
80
68
70
Altered career to care for
family
60
50
40
30
20
19
12
15
5
10
0
Men
Women
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Most Recent Position: 2006
Outside Higher
Education, 13%
Chair/Faculty, 4%
President/CEO,
21%
Sr. Exec - Other,
3%
Sr. Exec
Development, 4%
Sr. Exec Student
Affairs, 4%
Sr. Exec
Finance/Admin,
8%
Other Sr. Exec
Academic Affairs,
12%
CAO/Provost,
31%
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Long-Standing Presidents’ Time Demands:
Areas Most Likely to Occupy More Time: 2006
Fund raising
78
Accountability/assessment
72
Capital improvement
71
Technology planning
62
Strategic planning
62
Budget/financial mgmt
59
Entrepreneurship
58
Enrollment management
57
Community relations
52
Operating costs
52
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
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Time Demands: Areas Most Likely to Occupy Less Time
Academic Issues
37.1
Crisis management
23.3
Student life/conduct
21.2
Faculty issues
15.5
Athletics
12.5
Personnel issues
12.3
Risk management/legal issues
11.7
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
80.0
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Areas Insufficiently Prepared for First Presidency
Fund raising
23
Risk management
17
Capital improvement
15
Entrepreneurial
ventures
15
Budget
Governing board
relations
Athletics
15
12
12
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The Contemporary Presidency
Slow progress in diversity.
Experience matters.
Position is:
• More complex and time-consuming;
• Externally focused;
• Driven by the competitive marketplace and
the need for revenue.
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The Pathway Up
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On the Pathway to the Presidency
• Follow-up study to The American College President:
2007 Edition.
• First-ever attempt to describe characteristics of
senior leaders other than presidents.
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Research Questions
• What is the age profile of senior leaders?
(Will the last person out please turn off the lights …)
• Are those in position to be the next
generation of presidents more diverse than
the current group?
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Methods and Data
• Surveyed HR directors at 4,300 regionally accredited, degreegranting institutions.
• Used CUPA-HR position taxonomy and ACPS results to
identify 35 positions “on the pathway.”
• Asked for information in HR databases.
• 850 institutions responded with info on about 9,700 positions
(20% response rate).
• Response rate varied by institution type. Data weighted to
reflect national distribution of institutions.
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Senior Administrators are Younger than Presidents
Distribution of Presidents and Other Senior Administrators by Age
19%
29%
61 or older
49%
51 to 60
47%
52%
50 or younger
43%
34%
19%
8%
Presidents
All Senior Administrators
Chief Academic Officers
Sources: ACE. 2007. The American College President: 2007 Edition. ACE. 2008. On the
Pathway to Presidency: Characteristics of Higher Education’s Senior Leadership.
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And more likely to be women …
Percentage of Presidents and Senior Administrators
who are Female
45%
38%
23%
Presidents
All Senior Administrators
Chief Academic Officers
Sources: ACE. 2007. The American College President: 2007 Edition. ACE. Sources: ACE. 2007. The American
College President: 2007 Edition. ACE. Forthcoming. On the Pathway to Presidency: Characteristics of Higher
Education’s Senior Leadership.
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Senior Administrators
No More Likely to be People of Color
Percentage of Presidents and Senior Administrators
who are People of Color
14%
16%
14%
10%
Presidents
All Senior
Administrators
Chief Academic
Officers
Sources: ACE. 2007. The American College President: 2007 Edition. ACE. 2008. On the Pathway to Presidency:
Characteristics of Higher Education’s Senior Leadership.
Deans
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Gender Diversity Among
Senior Administrators by Institutional Type
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Racial/Ethnic Diversity Among
Senior Administrators by Institutional Type
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CAOs’ Presidential Aspirations, by Gender
and Race/Ethnicity
25%
33%
28%
35%
34%
48%
28%
23%
24%
Intend to
seek a
presidency
Undecided
33%
30%
27%
47%
44%
47%
25%
Women
Men
White
African
American
33%
36%
Asian
American
Hispanic
Source: ACE.2009. The CAO Census: A National Profile of Chief Academic Officers.
Do not
intend to
seek a
presidency
32
Select Reasons for Not Aspiring to a Presidency,
by Gender
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23
Don't want to live "in a fishbowl"
Want to return to academic work
and/or classroom
18
26
27
Time demands of position
Too old to be considered
Ready to retire
Nature of work is unappealing
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13
Women
Men
26
33
31
68
65
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Steps Taken to Prepare for Presidency:
Spoken to a Mentor?
35%
41%
36%
43%
50%
86%
65%
59%
64%
57%
No
Yes
50%
14%
Women
Men
White
African
American
Asian
American
Source: ACE.2009. The CAO Census: A National Profile of Chief Academic Officers.
Hispanic
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Steps Taken to Prepare for Presidency:
Spoken to Search Consultants?
26%
52%
51%
61%
62%
No
Yes
93%
45%
48%
49%
39%
38%
7%
Women
Men
White
African
American
Source: ACE.2009. The CAO Census: A National Profile of Chief Academic Officers.
Asian
American
Hispanic
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How are we doing relative to other
sectors?
• The White House Project Report:
Benchmarking Women’s Leadership
– www.thewhitehouseproject.org/documents/Report.pdf
• Motivation for the Report
– Belief that most people think “Women have made it; it’s no
longer an issue.”
– Need to document that women are not adequately represented
in top leadership positions across sectors.
– Need to motivate conversations and actions around this issue.
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Percent of Women in Leadership
Positions by Sector
50%
40%
30%
23%
20%
22%
16% 16%
21%
18%
11%
17% 15%
21%
18%
10%
0%
Source: The White House Project analysis
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38
Sources: Catalyst 2005, 2006 (a), (b), 2007(b); Catalyst 2008 (a), (b); Catalyst 2009 (a); Daily et al. 1999
Source: The Face of Corporate Leadership by Toni Wolfman in the New England Journal of Public Policy, Spring 2007
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Source: Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB)
Why Women? The Business Case
• Catalyst Report: Fortune 500 firms with higher
percentages of women corporate officers
experienced a 35% higher return on equity and
a 34% higher return to shareholders.
• Ernst and Young Report: Diverse groups
outperform homogenous groups even if the
members of the homogenous group are more
capable.
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For Discussion
• What are some of the major factors that
stand in the way of women’s advancement
to top leadership positions in higher
education?
• How can we overcome some of these
barriers? How can ACE and the State
Networks more effectively support, advance
and sustain women leaders?
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Diana I. Córdova
Assistant Vice President for
Leadership Programs
dcordova@acenet.edu
(202) 939-9481
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