Perspectives on Women’s Higher Education Leadership from around the World

At this time in world history, numerous scholars have emphasized the importance of having greater diversity in leadership, and specifically having greater representation by women in leadership. In particular, providing women with greater access to higher education—and having role models for women in higher education leadership—has a beneficial ripple effect, given that postsecondary institutions shape the lives of future generations. Individuals, nations, and the world collectively pay a price when women are not given full opportunities to develop and contribute their talents by serving on senior-level leadership teams. This Special Issue, titled “Perspectives on Women’s Higher Education Leadership From Around the World,” offers an array of articles that present research findings from both qualitative and quantitative studies, along with narratives and best practices gleaned from the lived experiences of women in academic leadership from countries on four continents: the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, India, China, and Saudi Arabia. Taken together, these articles offer a helpful overview of the literature related to women in higher education leadership worldwide, thus addressing previous concerns that much of the research has too often taken a Western perspective that reflects inaccurate assumptions for other cultural contexts

European Union Approaches to Human Rights Violations in Kosovo before and after Independence

This article examines European Union (EU) approaches to the question of human rights violations in Kosovo before and after its proclamation of independence, in February 2008. While the 1999 NATO-led humanitarian intervention in the region was often justified as necessary due to the continuous abuses of human rights, perpetrated by the Serbian forces against the ethic Kosovo Albanians, the post-interventionist period has witnessed a dramatic reversal of roles, with the rights of the remaining Serbian minority being regularly abused by the dominant Albanian population. However, in contrast to the former scenario, the Brussels administration has remained quite salient about the post-independence context – a grey zone of unviable political and social components, capable of generating new confrontations and human rights abuses within the borders of Kosovo. Aware of this dynamic and the existing EU official rhetoric, it is possible to conclude that the embedded human rights concerns in Kosovo are not likely to disappear, but even more importantly, their relevance has been significantly eroded