Women of color in academic administration: Trends, progress, and barriers

Abstract

Women of color in academic administration are a recent phenomenon due to their double oppression as women and people of color. Their small numbers are intimately tied to American history, legal restrictions, and traditional customs. Legislation, court orders, and executive orders have greatly increased the number of minorities in higher education, although they are still substantially underrepresented in the academy. Women Ph.D.s—and to a lesser extent, administrators—are growing as a proportion of all Ph.D.s, but there will be required the continued removal of burdens of sexism, lower salaries, and career impediments to achieve parity for women in general, and women of color in particular, in academic administration. The recent laxity of enforcement of affirmative action has added to the slow growth of their numbers. However, the historically black colleges can play a major role in empowerment of women of color in administrative positions.