Lonely at the top. Being president is arguably the toughest job on campus. But do women leaders have to overcome unique challenges?

Diverse Issues in Higher Education, Nov 16, 2006 by Patricia Valdata

That a college or university president has a challenging position is a no-brainer. Presidents (or chancellors, depending on the institution) get paid the big bucks to worry about the big picture: capital campaigns, attracting and retaining students, creating and sustaining quality academic programs, shared governance. It's a demanding job even when everything goes well. And when problems arise, challenges can turn into controversies that make the job a lot less rewarding. When the controversies coincide with physical or mental illness, the outcome can be disastrous. Such was the case this summer, when University of California, Santa Cruz Chancellor Denice D. Denton, apparently suffering from depression, committed suicide.

For a university president to take such a drastic step is extremely rare. The vast majority of higher education leaders meet their challenges with energy and enthusiasm. But stress and controversy are an inescapable part of the job. And for women or minority presidents, the inevitable skirmishes can take on a whole new dimension.

According to a survey published in 2002 by the American Council on Education, the number of female college presidents has more than doubled since the mid-1980s, from 9.5 percent to 21.1 percent. The percentage of minority presidents increased from 8.1 percent to 12.8 percent in the same period. Women were in the president's office at 27 percent of two-year colleges and 18 percent of four-year schools. Of minority presidents, 6.3 percent were Black, 3.7 percent were Hispanic, 1.2 percent were Asian American and 1.1 percent were American Indian.

Are there challenges unique to women presidents? And are those challenges multiplied when those women also happen to be minorities? Diverse asked six minority women presidents these questions. While they have much in common, these women also bring unique experiences and skills to a very demanding and often lonely job.

Leadership Training: Dr. Ding-Jo Hsia Currie, Coastline Community College

Coastline Community College, which serves more than 11,000 students in Southern California, does not have a traditional campus. Instead, it offers instruction in nine cities and online. With about 80 percent of its students older than 25, Coastline offers a wide range of distance learning, evening and weekend courses. The college's nontraditional approach comes naturally to Dr. Ding-Jo Hsia Currie, who is one of only 13 Asian American college presidents in the United States. In 1987, she attended the National Institute of Leadership Development, which offers conferences and networking opportunities for female community college leaders. Currie considers that experience "a turning point in my career, in terms of coming to some understanding, appreciation and validation as a woman and woman leader."

Now a member of NILD's board of directors, Currie says leadership training can provide role models for women across the academic spectrum, whether faculty, staff or students. That's one reason why Coastline now hosts the Kaleidoscope Leadership Development Institute for young minority women. Currie says she strongly believes that female leaders need to form their own networks.

"We are now being accepted much more than before," she says, "but we are still not part of the 'boys' network: So we have created our own networks. The American Association of Women in Community Colleges is a clear example," she says.

Currie acknowledges that women-only support organizations don't necessarily make it easier to navigate a male-dominated field. When she interacts with local CEOs, who are primarily male, she says she often finds herself the only woman--or the only Asian American--in the boardroom.

"The advice I always give other leaders is to know yourself," she says. "I don't talk sports, so when that conversation comes up, I don't participate. I bring in other examples that I can relate to. Sometimes I say, 'I don't know anything about football, but in tai chi ...' I try to divert the conversation and bring an awareness."

Currie values the importance of mentors whether they are male or female. "Men and women are two wings of the bird," she says. "You can't put the right wing on the left wing; we're different. But if you have one wing not as strong, think how that bird will fly. The bird is not going to achieve its highest flight until the two wings are equally strong."

Infectious Enthusiasm: Dr. Juliet Garcia, University of Texas at Brownsville

The University of Texas at Brownsville is a partnership between the University of Texas system and Texas Southernmost College, where Dr. Juliet V. Garcia was president for six years. The campus is located in Cameron County, one of the nation's poorest counties, in a border area where Mexican and American cultures coexist.

Garcia is the first Mexican-American woman to become president of an American college or university. Under her leadership, the campus has doubled its classroom space and acquired a $3 million endowment for scholarships. She credits her success to an ability to "infect" people with enthusiasm and build teams that tackle big projects successfully.