Hollins University has signed on to the Moving the Needle: Advancing Women Leaders in Higher Education call to action campaign to work toward ensuring that 50% of chief executives of our nation’s higher education institutions will be women by 2030.
The campaign was launched in January 2016 by the American Council on Education (ACE), the coordinating body for all the nation’s higher education institutions. It encourages colleges and universities to increase awareness by signing a statement of support to advance women into senior leadership positions in higher education.
Hollins President Nancy Gray joins a group of over 100 leaders that recognize that there is a pivotal opportunity to help advance women into the CEO position at America’s colleges and universities as higher education is beginning to see turnover of a generation of leaders.
The campaign notes that although women now earn the majority of all college degrees, they have made surprisingly little progress when it comes to gaining the top job at colleges and universities, moving the needle just three percentage points since 2006. As of 2011, only 26% of college and university presidencies were occupied by women.
When presidents sign the Moving the Needle: Advancing Women Leaders commitment, they pledge to:
- Nominate qualified women to the highest positions of leadership in higher education wherever and whenever possible.
- Provide opportunities for emerging women leaders to gain access to the skills and experiences necessary to advance.
- Educate others, including boards, on the benefits of a gender-diversified leadership.
- Empower leadership teams in their own institutions to sponsor women leaders.
