{"id":26865,"date":"2021-09-23T00:58:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-23T00:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=26865"},"modified":"2021-09-25T01:03:51","modified_gmt":"2021-09-25T01:03:51","slug":"female-leaders-in-higher-education-have-created-more-inclusive-and-open-institutions-here-are-3-key-figures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/female-leaders-in-higher-education-have-created-more-inclusive-and-open-institutions-here-are-3-key-figures\/","title":{"rendered":"Female leaders in higher education have created more inclusive and open institutions \u2013 here are 3 key figures"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Thalia Plata<\/a>, The Conversation<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How have female leaders in higher education shaped the state of the field today, and what broader lessons can be learned from them? Recently, Carmen Twillie Ambar<\/a>, president of Oberlin College and Conservatory, and Carol T. Christ<\/a>, chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, explored this question with Michele Ozumba<\/a>, former president of the Women\u2019s College Coalition and board member of The Conversation, during a webinar hosted by The Conversation. They approached the issue through the lens of \u201cJunctures in Women\u2019s Leadership: Higher Education<\/a>,\u201d a book the three edited jointly and to which they each contributed chapters. The speakers discussed trends in female leadership, practical advice and takeaways from the women they interviewed for their book. Below are the stories of three women the editors discussed, with edited remarks.<\/em> https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kZvh5p1DPxI?wmode=transparent&start=0 Women\u2019s Transformative Power in Higher Education and Beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Bernice Sandler \u2013 Opening the door for women in higher education<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Bernice<\/a>
Bernice Sandler is honored at halftime as a champion of Title IX at the NCAA Women\u2019s 2012 National Championship in 2012, at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Col. AAron Ontiveroz\/The Denver Post via Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Starting their book with Bernice Sandler\u2019s story was a purposeful decision, according to the editors. \u201cEven though she wasn\u2019t a university president, she offered a pathway for many of the women featured in the book because of her work on Title IX,\u201d Ozumba remarked. Bernice Sandler has been nicknamed the \u201cGodmother of Title IX\u201d for her pioneering work in education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following completion of her doctorate at the University of Maryland, Sandler applied to a variety of teaching positions for which she was qualified, but kept getting rejected. She was told she \u201ccame on too strong for a woman,\u201d Ozumba said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While upsetting to hear, this comment eventually led Sandler to fight against sex discrimination and advocate for equal rights in education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the support of members of Congress, in 1972 Sandler helped shepherd the passage of Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or other education program receiving federal funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat groundbreaking work opened the door for this whole conversation around gender equity, as well as racial equity in higher education,\u201d Ozumba said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Ruth Simmons \u2013 Social change and authenticity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Ruth<\/a>
Ruth Simmons. Jemal Countess\/WireImage via Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 2003, Brown University became one of the first universities to address its relationship with slavery, thanks to then-President Ruth Simmons, the first Black president of an Ivy League university.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simmons appointed a committee to investigate Brown\u2019s history with slavery, a controversial decision that made headlines, according to Oberlin\u2019s Ambar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the youngest daughter of sharecroppers born in rural Texas during the Jim Crow era of segregation, Simmons by her own account is \u201cbarely three generations removed\u201d from her slave ancestors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her background is \u201cpart of her authentic self,\u201d Ambar said, discussing her interview with Simmons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The committee issued a report detailing Brown\u2019s founders\u2019 involvement in slavery and how it benefited the university, which led to implementation of several diversity initiatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlmost every institution is thinking about [social] issues [now]. Ruth just did 20 years earlier,\u201d Ambar said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ambar\u2019s interview with Simmons not only helped her understand the impact of women in higher education but also informed her own leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe said [about her decision], \u2018It didn\u2019t feel bold, it just felt right.\u2019 And it\u2019s something that I keep on my mind a lot as a leader,\u201d Ambar said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Hanna Gray \u2013 The power of communicating<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Portrait<\/a>
Hanna Gray. Bettmann\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hanna Gray, the first female president of the University of Chicago, stepped into that leadership role in 1978 at a time when the university was facing declining enrollment and financial troubles, according to UC Berkeley\u2019s Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her interview with Christ, Gray acknowledged \u201cthe temptation to fix everything that\u2019s wrong immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut [she] understood that you have to be selective about your issues [and be able to] pick them well,\u201d Christ said, recounting her interview with Gray. \u201cAnd picking well depends both on understanding the landscape and higher education and also really understanding the institution that you\u2019re leading,\u201d Christ said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Christ, a major reason behind her success as president was delegating and communicating with faculty at the university and understanding the governing structures in place already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUniversities are very complex organizations and the authority tends to be really distributed,\u201d Christ said in analyzing Gray\u2019s success. \u201cSo if you want to create a major change, you have to be able to get people to join your parade and actually think that your parade is the best.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thalia Plata<\/a>, Editorial Intern, The Conversation<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thalia Plata, The Conversation How have female leaders in higher education shaped the state of the field today, and what broader lessons can be learned from them? Recently, Carmen Twillie Ambar, president of Oberlin College and Conservatory, and Carol T. Christ, chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, explored this question with Michele Ozumba, former […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":26866,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[292],"tags":[687,943,10281,185],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26865"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26865"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26865\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26867,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26865\/revisions\/26867"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}