Editorial: Women’s Experiences and Gender Bias in Higher Education

Stella L. Smith ^*

• Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, United States

brief research reports highlighting women's challenges and emphasizing the need for systemic changes to create a fairer, more inclusive environment. This theme is purposefully broad, and our editorial provides a brief overview of the essential findings from the papers published in this research area.In "STEM and Gender Gap: A Systematic Review in WoS, Scopus and ERIC Databases (2012-2022)", Beroíza-Valenzuela and Salas-Guzmán reveal how STEM fields remain male-dominated, with biases discouraging women from entering these areas. Their systematic review identifies strategies to help bridge the gender gap, such as fostering a growth mindset in scientific learning environments. They argue that more targeted efforts are necessary to counteract the ingrained barriers women face in STEM. In "Gender Bias Interacts with Instructor Disfluency to Negatively Affect Student Evaluations of Teaching," LaPaglia et al. investigate how gender bias intersects with speech fluency in academic evaluations. Their findings reveal that female instructors receive significantly lower ratings than their male counterparts when exhibiting disfluency, shedding light on how such biases can adversely impact female instructors' career prospects and their perceived competence.Finally, Kruse's "'I am the Chair': Women and Department Leadership in the Academy" examines the experiences of female department chairs navigating academic leadership. Through qualitative interviews, the researcher highlights the ongoing challenges women face in these roles, including the "glass ceiling" and "glass cliff" phenomena, which often require balancing institutional and personal challenges. The researcher advocates for structural and cultural reforms that would better support women in leadership positions.Each of these articles enriches our understanding of the unique obstacles women encounter in academia and provides a roadmap for addressing these inequities. Together, they form a powerful call to action, urging institutions to examine and address gender biases that limit opportunities for women and to foster a more equitable and inclusive academic landscape.Overall, these studies provide a clear directive: the academic sector must intensify efforts to identify, address, and eradicate gender-based disparities. By fostering greater equity, transparency, and inclusivity, higher education can become a more supportive and empowering environment for women and all underrepresented groups. By tackling these challenges, institutions can work towards creating a more equitable and inclusive environment in higher education, benefiting women and the entire academic community.