More women selected to head universities

and Mike Madden As the only Ivy League school with a woman at the helm, the University is leading an expanding national trend, according to an American Council on Education study released last week. The Council's Office of Women in Higher Education found that the number of female presidents of colleges and universities has more than tripled since 1975, when 148 women held the position. Now, 453 women -- 16 percent of all college and university presidents in the country -- serve in the chief executive officer role, the study found. But despite the significant increase, only 7 percent of woman presidents serve institutions with an enrollment greater than 10,000 students. University President Judith Rodin, who fits into that category, noted that the ACE report shows that women have made "major strides." "There is clear recognition that women are capable of leading universities," Rodin said this week. "It also shows more women have been in the pipeline and have demonstrated more leadership." Although the ACE report does not look at the caliber of universities in considering the number of women presidents, Rodin noted that very few institutions accredited with the Association of American Universities can boast female presidents. According to Rodin's description, the AAU includes all "top research institutions" in the United States. Until recently, three AAU-accredited schools had female presidents but the University of Colorado's leader recently resigned, leaving only Penn and Duke University with women at the helm, Rodin said. And Vice President for Government, Community and Public Affairs Carol Scheman was quick to point out that Rodin is a leader amongst the University's peer institutions. "Whereas there are more and more women in academic leadership, not many are heads of large research universities," Scheman said. "I think it is changing, but from Penn's point of view, Penn is really the pioneer and [Rodin] is a pioneer." Rodin voiced similar sentiments, noting that there are too few women even in the pipeline for top positions at large, high-caliber research institutions. "I am inevitably a trendsetter," she said. "It's my hope that what is now noteworthy will become commonplace so there will be enough women that people won't need to comment on it." According to the study, 16 percent of female presidents are racial or ethnic minorities. The ACE report also noted that three out of five female leaders preside over four-year institutions and that 52 percent of all female presidents are at independent colleges and universities as opposed to public ones. According to the ACE, this represents a dramatic change since 1975, when over 80 percent of all female CEOs led private institutions.