19 April 2023

Women in Higher

Education

Leadership

Professor Louise Morley

Centre for Higher Education and

Equity Research (CHEER)

University of Sussex, UK

http://www.sussex.ac.uk/education/cheer

19 April 2023

Snapshot Statistics: Women Vice-Chancellors

Aust EU HK India JP Mal Kuw Swe Tur UK

18% 13% 0% 3% 2.3% 15% 2% 43% 7% 14%

19 April 2023

Some Provocations

•The global academy = innovation and hypermodernism

•Male-dominated leadership = archaism.

(Morley, 2011).

19 April 2023

Missing Senior Women

Are women:desiringdismissing being disqualified

from senior leadership?

Are women:self-identifying identified

by existing power elites, as

having leadership legitimacy?

19 April 2023

Consequences of Absence of Leadership Diversity

• Democratic Deficit

• Distributive injustice

• Depressed career opportunities

• Wasted talent

• Knowledge Distortions

• Reproduction of Institutional

Norms and Practices

19 April 2023

Focus on East Asia

19 April 2023

Fastest Growing Higher Education Sector in the World

Men

• Gross undergraduate

enrolment ratio

• 11% in 1970 to 26% in

2009.

Women

• Tripled from 8% in 1970 to

28% in 2009.

• Now exceed male

participation.

19 April 2023

Quality not Equality

Hong Kong

• 8 universities

• 3 in Global Top 50

• No Female vice-chancellor

Japan

• 86 (national) universities

• 3 in Global Top 50

• 2 Female vice-chancellors

(1 women-only)

19 April 2023

Collecting New Evidence: British Council Global Education Dialogue Workshops in Hong Kong and Tokyo

• 47 Workshop Participants (China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia,

Singapore, Thailand, UK, Vietnam).

• 13 Questionnaire Respondents (Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, the

Philippines, Thailand)

• 9 Panel discussants (Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, the Philippines,

Thailand, UK)

• 4 papers (the Philippines, Malaysia Japan x2)

The rationale, attractions/ deterrents, enablers, impediments for women entering senior leadership.

19 April 2023

Why is Senior Leadership Unattractive to Women?

• The neo-liberalised, competitive,

performance-driven, globalised

academy.

• The ‘Ideal Leader’ = male.

• Leadership v Scholarship.

• Emotional Labour

• Women’s authority not recognised.

• Greedy organisations.

• Professional v domestic

responsibilities.

19 April 2023

What Enables Women to Enter Leadership?

19 April 2023

Recognition/ Investment

• Support

• Training/ Development/ Capacity-Building

• Mentorship, Advice and Sponsorship

• Rules of the Game

• Policy contexts

• Legislative frameworks

• Effective advocacy

19 April 2023

What Impedes Women from Entering Leadership?

19 April 2023

Cultural Climate/Hidden Curriculum

• Mis-recognition

women’s skillsknowledge potential

• Hostility

• Discrimination

• Toxic social relations

• Favouring of men

19 April 2023

Socio-Cultural Norms: The Educated Woman as the Third Sex

• Leadership/ HE = transgression

A saying that ‘people can be

classified into three categories:

male, female, and female PhD’ (Chinese respondent).

19 April 2023

Gendered Division of Labour

•Women’s caring responsibilities v the temporalities and rhythms of academia

• (Cheung & Halpern, 2010).

19 April 2023

Sex Role Spillover

•Women = teaching

and student

support.

•Male counterparts

= international

networks and

research.

19 April 2023

Summary of Research Findings

• Diversity = sustainability in a globalised knowledge economy.

• Women Not:

identified supported developed as senior leaders

• Women Are:

on career pathways that do not lead to senior positions

• Time for action for change.

19 April 2023

Manifesto for Change: Accountability, Transparency, Development and Data

• Equality as Quality - equality should be made a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) in quality audits, with data to be returned on percentage and location of women professors and leaders, percentage and location of undergraduate and postgraduate students and gender pay equality. Gender equity achievements should be included in international recognition and reputation for universities in league tables.

• Research Grants - funders should monitor the percentage of applications and awards made to women and to actively promote more women as principal investigators. The applications procedures should be reviewed to incorporate a more inclusive and diverse philosophy of achievement. Gender implications and impact should also be included in assessment criteria.

• Journals - Editorial Boards, and the appointment of editors, need more transparent selection processes, and policies on gender equality e.g. to keep the gender balance in contributions under review.

• Data - a global database on women and leadership in higher education should be established.

• Development - more investment needs to be made in mentorship and leadership development programmes for women and gender needs to be included in existing leadership development programmes.

• Mainstreaming - work cultures should be reviewed to ensure that diversity is mainstreamed into all organisational practices and procedures.

19 April 2023

Follow Up?

• Morley, L. (2013) International

Trends in Women’s Leadership

in Higher Education In, T. Gore,

and M. Stiasny (eds) Going

Global. London, Emerald Press.

• Morley, L. (2013) "The Rules of

the Game: Women and the

Leaderist Turn in Higher

Education " Gender and

Education. 25(1):116-131.

CHEER

http://www.sussex.ac.uk/education/cheer/