Conditions enabling women’s leadership in community colleges

Abstract

The percentage of women presidents in Maryland’s two-year colleges has been increasing since 1989 and been above the national average of women presidents in associate’s institutions since 1998. This comparatively high number was the result of several interrelated factors that mitigated or removed gendered barriers for women academic leaders. In this chapter, we analyze the complex set of structural, human resource, political, cultural, and feminist factors that supported the appointment of such a high percentage of women community college presidents in Maryland between 1989 and 2006.