Why So Few Women College Presidents

Women are significantly underrepresented among higher education presidents. Today, only 26% of the college presidents in the U.S. are women while more than 57% of the students in colleges and universities are women. Women have been in the majority among undergraduate students since 1980 and among graduate students since 1988. Women made up 10% of the college presidents in 1980 and 23% in 2006. They have increased their share of presidencies by 1 percentage point every two years; if they continue to increase their share of college presidencies at this rate, it will take 48 years to hold half of the college presidencies; that is a very, very long time.