Abstract
Women remain outsiders in university leadership and management. The literature indicates that discipline base, career mobility, experience outside academia, selection processes, and gender stereotyping may impact on women becoming senior managers. This article reports on research with current and former Vice‐Chancellors, senior managers, and recruitment firms to identify skill requirements for effective leadership and management. Our research indicates gender is an issue in higher education leadership, in recruitment and selection, exclusion from male camaraderie, and preference for transformational leadership. This research will produce a skills benchmark to assess future leadership positions and hopefully cut across current gender bias.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alimo-Metcalfe, B. (2005). Developments in leadership: A masculine past, but a feminine future. Presentation to Women to Management Conference Leeds.
Bagilhole, B. (2005). One step forward and two steps back: A case study of a strategy to promote gender equality in a UK university and the resistance it encountered. In V. Maione (Ed.), Gender equality in higher education (pp. 13–52). Milan: FrancoAngeli.
Bagilhole, B., & White, K. (2003). Created in their image: An analysis of male cultural hegemony in higher education in Australia and the United Kingdom. In B. Groombridge & V. Mackie (Eds.), Re-searching research agendas: Women, research and publication in higher education (pp. 1–12). Proceedings of the ATN WEXDEV Conference, Curtin University, Perth.
Bagilhole, B., & White, K. (2005). Benign burden: Gender and senior management in the UK and Australia. Paper presented at the 4th European Conference on Gender Equality in Higher Education, Oxford.
Bagilhole, B., & White, K. (2006). Making it to the top? Towards a gendered skills analysis of senior leadership and management positions in UK and Australian Universities. In C. Chesterman (Ed.), Change in climate: Prospects for gender equity in universities (pp. 45–55). Proceedings of the ATN WEXDEV Conference, Adelaide.
Barker, P., & Monks, K. (2003). Women in senior academic positions: Two case studies. Paper presented at the 3rd European Conference on Gender Equality in Higher Education, Genoa.
Chesterman, C. (2004). Senior women executives and the cultures of management: A brief cross-comparison of public, private and higher education organisations. Sydney: ATN WEXDEV.
Currie, J., Thiele, B., & Harris, P. (2002). Gendered universities in globalized economies. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Doherty, L., & Manfredi, S. (2005). Women’s progression in English universities. Paper presented at the 4th European Conference on Gender Equality in Higher Education, Oxford.
Eveline, J. (2004). Ivory Basement Leadership: power and invisibility in the changing university. Perth: University of Western Australia Press.
Finch, F. (2003). Foreword: Why be interested in women’s position in academe? Gender, Work and Organisation, 10(2), 133–136.
Huisu, L. (2000). Gender discrimination in the promised land of gender equality. Higher Education in Europe, 25(2), 221–228.
Lafferty, G., & Fleming, J. (2000). The restructuring of academic work in Australia: Power, management and gender. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 21(2), 257–268.
Neale, J., & White, K. (2004). Almost there: A comparative case study of senior academic women in Australian and New Zealand. Proceedings of the NAWE Pay and Employment Equity for Women Conference, Wellington. Retrieved August 12, 2007 from https://doi.org/www.nacew.govt.nz/conference2004/papers.html
O’Meara, B., & Petzall, S. (2005). Vice Chancellors for the 21st century? A study of contemporary recruitment and selection practices in Australian universities. Management Research News, 28(6), 18–35.
Pellert, A. (2002). New challenges to the university. In C. Wiedmer (Ed.), Sound changes: An international survey of women’s career strategies in higher education (pp. 201–210). Zurich: University of Zurich.
Rees, T. (2005). Keynote address to the 4th European Conference on gender equality in higher education, Oxford.
Rosener, J. (1990). Ways women lead. Harvard Business Review, Nov–Dec, 119–125.
Ryan, M., & Haslam, A. (2004). Obstacles beyond the glass ceiling: The glass cliff and the precariousness of women’s leadership positions. Presentation to ATN WEXDEV, Sydney.
Thanacoody, P., Bartram, T., Barker, M., & Jacobs, K. (2006). Career progression among female academics: A comparative study of Australia and Mauritius. Women in Management Review, 21(7), 536–552.
Universities UK. (2004). Appointing senior manager in higher education: A guide to best practice. London: Universities UK.
Valian, V. (2005). Keynote address to the 4th European Conference on gender equality in higher education, Oxford.
van den Brink, M., & Brouns, M. (2005). Does excellence have a gender? A national research on recruitment and selection procedures for professorships at Dutch universities. Paper presented at the 4th European Conference on Gender Equality in Higher Education, Oxford.
White, K. (2003). Women and leadership in higher education in Australia. Tertiary Education and Management, 9(1), 45–60.
White, K. (2005). Surviving or thriving in academia: Women, teaching, research and promotion in Australian universities. In V. Maione (Ed.), Gender equality in higher education (pp. 391–406). Milan: FrancoAngeli.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bagilhole, B., White, K. Towards a Gendered Skills Analysis of Senior Management Positions in UK and Australian Universities. Tert Educ Manag 14, 1–12 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1080/13583880701814124
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13583880701814124