Slow growth in numbers of women and minority college presidents

Academe, Jul/Aug 1998

DESPITE INCREASES OVER THE past decade in the appointment of women and minorities to institutional presidencies, their numbers continue to lag behind those of white males, according to a report by the American Council on Education. The American College President: A 1998 Edition is based on surveys of chief executives of higher education who were in office during 1995.

The report found, as did two previous studies conducted in 1986 and 1990, that most of the nearly 2,300 presidents surveyed were white males in their mid- to late fifties. Women held 16.5 percent of the presidencies in 1995, up from 9.5 percent in 1986 and 11.8 percent in 1990. They made up 22 percent of new appointees between 1991 and 1995. Over the past decade, the proportion of presidents from minority groups grew by only 2.3 percent. In 1995, minorities held 10.4 percent of the presidencies, while in 1986, they held 8.1 percent. Members of minority groups accounted for 13.2 percent of presidential appointees between 1991 and 1995.