A Study of Women in Academic Leadership positions in Higher Educational Institutions in India

Abstract

There has been a steady growth in women’s participation in the workforce, marking an affirmative shift in balancing the gender dynamics across sectors. However, despite the growing number of women, their representation in leadership positions has not been commensurate with their workforce representation.While this disparity is widespread, it is particularly evident in the Higher Education sector, where although women are earning educational degrees at a faster pace as compared to men and entering the academic workforce in various faculty capacities like Lecturers, Assistant Professors, Associate Professors and Professors; they have been unable to achieve a substantial representation in leadership roles. This issue has been widely recognised, leading to several policies and interventions to mitigate the persistent disparity. However, these policies have largely failed to achieve the desired results, pertaining to the much-needed inclusion of women in academic leadership roles. The limited efficiency of the existing policies warrants a critical investigation of the gaps. Consequently, it was realised that the majority of the existing policies are structured on the premise of ‘fixing the women’, underlining that women have certain perceived shortages that have to be overcome in order for them to achieve leadership positions. This perspective is problematic as it isolates women as the focal point of the issue, conveniently overlooking the ingrained systemic and deep-rooted issues rooted in society, institutional structures and individuals, which largely characterize women’s leadership trajectory. Moreover, the predominant discourse on women’s leadership in academia is shaped by a Western-centric lens, which does not comprehensively capture the nuances of gendered experiences from intersectional perspectives like the role of culture, traditions and socio-economic factors. This lack of contextspecific analysis results in generalised inferences and ‘one-size-fits-all’ strategies, which may be ineffective in addressing the issue across diverse settings. Without a thorough understanding of the contextual factors, efforts to mitigate gender disparity are merely superficial, with limited impact and sustainability.