The underrepresentation of women in senior
administrative positions in academe, particularly at
research-intensive institutions, is problematic, in that
it results in the waste of administrative talent at a time
when higher education faces serious challenges that
will be met only with strong, effective leadership. The
challenges call for new ways of viewing the core mission,
how higher education will be funded, how instruction
will be delivered, and how findings from research will be
disseminated and applied. Women possess great potential
to be transformative leaders in the academy at a time
when their talents are much needed. Because they have
not been socialized in accordance with the male-centric
leadership model, they are relative outsiders who must
forge new ways of leading. Women have more freedom
than their male counterparts to “role-make” as opposed to
“role-take.”