Women's status in higher education : where are woman presidents in Chinese universities?

Abstract

Abstract Historically, higher education has been men’s domain and was characterized by strong masculine value. Few women were seen successfully entered and survived in higher education institutions (HEIs), not to mention those who got the opportunity of promoting to senior administrative positions like university president. Women used to be underrepresented in all levels of higher education. To our pleasant, this situation was ameliorated with the large enrollment expansion and the wakening of women’s self-conscious as independent human beings. Today, the equilibrium is being restored in higher education. And the participatory rates of females are increasing rapidly, especially in the student body. Although the percentage is still low, more women get employment inside higher education, and some of them became full-time professors and acquired senior professional title successfully. However, survey result in 2006 shows that only 4.5% of university presidents in China are women. It raises our curiosity on women’s status in higher education, especially those in presidential leadership. Where are woman presidents in Chinese universities? This paper can be seen as an effort we are taking to the examination of the status of academic women in higher education. It starts with the recounting of females labors serving in HEIs, and proceeds to the discussion of adverse factors preventing women’s promotion into senior administrative positions. Women’s competency in presidential leadership will be analyzed to see if the underrepresentation of females in leadership positions is justifiable. Affirmative actions being implemented and favorable policies enacted are inspected and possible solutions are recommended at the end of this paper. Key words: higher educational institutions; women’s status; university president; culture; barriers and obstacles; competency; affirmative actions