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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Educ.
Sec. Higher Education
Volume 9 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2024.1485395
This article is part of the Research Topic Advancing Equity: Exploring EDI in Higher Education Institutes View all 8 articles

Female, Higher Education, and Leadership: A Multi-method Approach

Provisionally accepted
Alicia Correa Alicia Correa 1,2*María Gracia Glas María Gracia Glas 2Jana Opara Jana Opara 3
  • 1 Center for international Development and Environmental Research, University of Giessen, Giessen, Germany
  • 2 1Centre for International Development and Environmental Research, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Senckenbergstrasse 3, 35390 Giessen, Germany, Giessen, Germany
  • 3 Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Welthandelspl. 1, 1020 Wien, Austria, Wien, Austria

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Despite constituting more than half of higher education students globally, females remain underrepresented in academic roles, particularly in leadership positions that shape the future direction of higher education and impact society at large. This study, aligned with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals 4 and 5, examines the gender gap in higher education and leadership across regional, national, and institutional contexts. Through descriptive analyses, surveys, and interviews, the research assesses female representation at various academic levels and identifies key factors influencing career progression.The findings reveal that gender parity in enrolment has been achieved, with Latin America & Caribbean leading, followed by Europe and Central Asia. However, parity in academic roles, such as teaching positions, remains unmet, with Central Asia showing higher female representation than Europe and Latin America & the Caribbean. Parity in these roles is projected to be achieved well beyond 2030. Variations within regions, such as internal differences in Central Asia, emphasize the need for more granular analysis.Gender parity in senior and leadership roles is even further from being realized. Perceptions of obstacles faced by women in academia-such as work-life balance challenges and a lack of role models-are consistent across diverse regions and cultures. To address these issues, the results suggest improving visibility, offering mentoring programs, and promoting diverse leadership. Conducted across both developed and developing countries, the study concludes that achieving gender parity in leadership positions remains a distant goal, underscoring the need to reassess strategies to better align with the 2030 Agenda.

    Keywords: Gender equity, higher education, academic leadership, Multi-Method Approach, Regional disparities

    Received: 20 Sep 2024; Accepted: 06 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Correa, Glas and Opara. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Alicia Correa, Center for international Development and Environmental Research, University of Giessen, Giessen, Germany

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.