Women becoming leaders : the case of Lebanese women in higher education -

Abstract

Although we are in the twenty-first century and women comprise almost half of the teaching workforce, women are still underrepresented in senior faculty and administrative positions in higher education institutions (Bain and Cummings, 2000; Hannum et al., 2015). Throughout the history of the field of educational administration, women didn’t have a steady increase in their representation in administrative positions. In addition, women's representation in administration is greatly influenced by the events and political changes that occurred. According to BlackChen (2015), one of the plausible explanations for women’s underrepresentation is the glass ceiling effect. To examine women’s representation in senior leadership positions in higher education institutions in Lebanon, this research study explored the Lebanese women educational leaders’ experiences and their perspectives on the factors that positively and negatively influenced them to obtain senior leadership positions in higher education. In addition, the study investigated the deliberate actions that the women leaders undertook such as formal training and personal problem-solving tactics to attain their high-ranking positions. To conduct this research study, a qualitative research design and specifically a case study approach (Merriam, 2009) was utilized. In-depth interviews were conducted with 20 women from these high-ranking positions: associate provost, dean, associate-assistant dean, director of a department-center-initiative-program-institute, associate-assistant director of a department -center-initiative-program-institute, and chairperson-director of an academic unit. By conducting this research study, practical and theoretical recommendations were suggested. Practically, the university’s senior administration is recommended to revise and improve the policies and procedures pertaining to recruiting and promoting women, provide formal leadership training to women leaders by creating leadership development and mentorship prog