Collins DeLeonardo, Melissa

Perry, Mary-Elaine

English

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Conversations on Jesuit Higher EducationVolume 41 Faculty Life Issues Article 189-1-2011Rising Voices: Women's Leadership in JesuitHigher EducationMary-Elaine PerryMelissa Collins DeLeonardoFollow this and additional works at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/conversationsRecommended CitationPerry, Mary-Elaine and Collins DeLeonardo, Melissa (2012) "Rising Voices: Women's Leadership in Jesuit Higher Education,"Conversations on Jesuit Higher Education: Vol. 41, Article 18.Available at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/conversations/vol41/iss1/1828 ConversationsThe role of women inleadership in Jesuit high-er education in theUnited States has beenstudied for nearly 20years. In 1993, AliceHayes did the first study and concludedthat more women need to be encour-aged to pursue and prepare for leader-ship positions in Jesuit institutions. Thiswas followed by a work done by Sr.Maureen Fay O.P. in 1999. She reportedthat there was a higher percentage ofwomen in mid-level administrative posi-tions and that the lower the positions onthe hierarchy, the higher the percentageof women who occupy them. In 2003,Mary Beadle did an analysis of thewomen in leadership positions as listedin the 2002-2003 AJCU Directory. Sheconcluded that there was an increase ofwomen in higher-level administrativepositions, but that the vice presidentiallevel continued to have fewer womenthan the lower level administrative posi-tions. Each of these studies has shownan increase of women in administrativepositions with the exception of vicepresidential positions in academic affairsand finance. How the study was doneThe current study was initiated in thefall of 2008 and set out to determinewhat progress women have made inachieving higher-level positions, andidentify what makes a difference towomen in their quest for leadershipopportunities.The study began with a review ofthe AJCU Directory and confirmation ontitles and gender of administrators listedin each.  According to the data, womenheld 39 percent of the administrativepositions (assistant dean through thepresident) in 2008-09 compared to 32percent in 2002-03 and 22 percent in1992-93. When the study group addedwomen administrators in the followingareas – mission and identity, campusministry, library, registrar, enrollmentmanagement, admissions, financial aid,athletics, and human resources – thepercentage of women administratorsincreased to 40 percent. These cate-gories were added to have baselineinformation for future studies. Although the number of women inadministration is greater compared toearlier years, there were no womenpresidents at AJCU institutions in 2008-09, and there was still a lag in the num-ber of vice presidents in the areas ofacademics (18 percent) and finance(seven percent).In the second phase of the study,the Human Resources (HR) Director oneach campus was asked questions aboutdevelopment programs for faculty andstaff, the existence (or not) of aWomen’s Center on campus and thenames of two or three prominentwomen on their campus who could beinterviewed for this study. (The HRDirectors were chosen as the point per-sons for this information based on theirobjectivity and their knowledge of keyleaders in all areas on campus.) Five HRDirectors indicated programs and/or for-mal mentoring for women administra-tors. Four indicated programs and orformal mentoring of women faculty.Eight schools indicated they haveWomen’s Centers. Often these centersare focused around student issues andsupport for education.The names of at least two womenwere gathered from each of the 28schools; in some cases, more than twonames were suggested. From the seven-ty-four names that were collected, thestudy team reviewed each of the namesand departments to ensure there wasa cross-section of women being repre-sented. At least 56 (two from each U.S.Jesuit institution) were invited to partic-ipate in the study, and the final listturned out to be 49, with at least onefemale interviewee from each AJCUinstitution. Ten volunteers conductedinterviews with the womenleaders, who were asked a series ofeight questions. Through the interviews,several themes emerged. Considering both the number ofwomen in leadership roles and the Circumstances have improved, however …Rising Voices:Women’s Leadershipin Jesuit HigherEducationBy Mary-Elaine Perry and Melissa Collins DeLeonardoMary-Elaine Perry is assistant vice president for student development,Saint Joseph’s University, and MelissaCollins Di Leonardo is director of communications, Association of JesuitColleges and Universities (AJCU). Theauthors thank the generous volunteerswho helped with the interviews.A SPECIAL REPORT1Perry and Collins DeLeonardo: Rising Voices: Women's Leadership in Jesuit Higher EducationPublished by e-Publications@Marquette, 2012Conversations 29climate for women, the study pointed out thatcircumstances for women have improved overtime; however, it is also clear thatwomen sometimes feel that they are not heldin the same regard as men. What emergedfrom the interviews were stories of womenwho were the first female members of theirdepartment, first chair, dean or vice presidentor who were the only women currently in par-ticular roles. In the last 20 years, there has been a shiftfrom departments or programs that are male-dominated and inhospitable to women tomore departments where women are seen ascontributing members and often serve asdepartment chairs. While some faculty mem-bers felt embraced by their departments, oth-ers discussed the slow nature of changeand how some older male faculty had beenreluctant to welcome women.The Importance of MentoringWomen in the study indicated the importanceof supervisors, Jesuits and other mentors insupporting women’s development and advo-cating for their promotion within their institu-tions. Supervisors, in many cases, can eithersupport women or hold them back. Severalwomen praised the support and encourage-ment of supervisors, some of whom wereJesuits. Other women had a different experi-ence with people in the same roles. Somewomen saw men who were less experiencedand less qualified advance over themselves orother women. Still others felt excluded fromconversations and were therefore deniedaccess to information that could influencetheir work. In a recent quantitative study, involving484 men and women from AJCU institutions,(“Women’s Career Advancement in JesuitHigher Education Institutions,” Ran,Zimmerman-Oster, Zarkowski, 2011) womenwith a mentor who functions as an informa-tion source are seen as more likely to advancein their careers than those without mentors orwith mentors who perform other functions.However, a higher frequency of men thanwomen in this study felt their mentor was aninformation source for them. Similarly, Ran, Zimmerman-Oster, Zarkowskifound that significantly fewer women thanmen felt that their skills and abilities wereappreciated at their institution, that they weredelegated an appropriate amount of responsi-bilities and that they were offered leadershipdevelopment opportunities. In addition, signif-icantly more women than men believed that ifthey applied for a higher-level position at theirinstitution, they would not be selected due totheir gender.Support from the PresidentThe theme from the 2008 study that appears tohave a strong impact on the advancement ofwomen and the potential for women in lead-ership in the future is the relationship thatpresidents have with women on their campusand the atmosphere that a president createson a campus. Women spoke of presidents who tookthem under their wing, recognized their skillsand talents and opened doors for individualwomen that would not have otherwise hap-pened. Others indicated that their presidentlooked for the right person for a job, whetherthat person was a man or a woman. One inter-viewee was clear in her message about thepresident’s impact on women’s advancement,“If the president wants women’s equity to bea priority, it will be.” Raising awarenessWhile there have been positive changes in theclimate for women on Jesuit campuses, thequestion has been asked, “Why so slow?” Howdo we move toward being more inclusive andmore supportive of women’s advancement? The Ran, Zimmerman-Oster, Zarkowski studyindicates that a good place to start is raisingawareness about some of the existing barriersto women’s career progression, particularlyamong male leaders. Another consideration is that as Jesuit insti-tutions attract more lay leaders, they need to doa better job of considering strong women can-didates for key leadership positions, includingthe presidency. Further, support structures forwomen (i.e. mentoring, extended tenure clocks,child care) are lacking in many institutions, andfinding the resources to put these programs andpolicies in place can help. There is a need to abolish what has beendescribed by some women as a “culture offear” that keeps the status quo in place, andwork towards understanding the needs ofwomen in the workplace. If women are notencouraged or supported on the road to lead-ership, they may choose to stay on the side-lines not because of their lack of talent andambition, but because the path is not as obvi-ous or welcoming to them.Starting the dialogueAs mentioned earlier, Jesuit institutions haveseen increases in the number of women inkey leadership roles, and the Ran,Zimmerman-Oster, Zarkowski study indicatesthat men and women survey respondents hadan overall positive impression of careeropportunities at work. But if Jesuit institutionsare striving for cura personalis for all mem-bers of the campus community (and not juststudents), how can we address some of thechallenges to women’s advancement in Jesuithigher education? It starts with a conversation or dialogueon the subject.The AJCU study team points out that nosolution or set of solutions will work foreveryone since institutional cultures varyacross the 28 Jesuit campuses, but each insti-tution can encourage discussions among theirfaculty and staff about what women see as thesupport systems and obstacles in place thataffect their performance and their careers. Department and division heads, deans,vice presidents, and even presidents, all haveopportunities on a daily basis to advise, men-tor and encourage women in their profession-al development. Including women on searchcommittees, being open to considering familyneeds, and mentoring women through allphases of their career can have a major impacton women’s advancement. While Jesuit colleges and universities canprovide support, women must be their ownadvocates and play an active role in promot-ing themselves and asking for support. Theymust look for mentors who can both encour-age them and assist with their advancement.Furthermore, they must demonstrate theirleadership by initiating conversations aboutwomen’s issues on their campuses.Moving forwardIf we use the increase in the number ofwomen administrators since 1992 as a barom-eter, women’s advancement on Jesuit campus-es is moving in a positive direction. However,it becomes clear when women share theirexperiences that there is still more work to do. Several women in the study cited that one ofthe main reasons they were attracted to work-ing at a Jesuit institution was its mission andits commitment to social justice. As Jesuit insti-tutions move forward, that commitment canserve as a guiding force in addressing the con-cerns surrounding women’s leadership. ■2Conversations on Jesuit Higher Education, Vol. 41, Iss. 1 [2012], Art. 18http://epublications.marquette.edu/conversations/vol41/iss1/18

Rising Voices: Women\u27s Leadership in Jesuit Higher Education

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Rising Voices: Women\u27s Leadership in Jesuit Higher Education

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