Making History? More Women Leading Higher Ed As Women’s Research Erased
During Women’s History Month, celebrating women leading top academic institutions is well-deserved. But it is at a time when gender, identity and race studies are defunded and erased by proclamation, all while more women in this country than ever are attending college, graduate school and earning law and post-doctoral degrees.
“Of the top 200 institutions in the THE World University Rankings 2026, 58 have a female vice-chancellor or president – 29 per cent of the total,” according to Times Higher Education. “This was up slightly from 27 per cent at the same point the year before, and the seventh consecutive annual increase. The proportion of female leaders has shot up from just 17 per cent in 2019, when there were 34.”
“Of top 200 institutions in the @timeshighered World University Rankings 2026, 58 have a female vice-chancellor or president – 29% of total. #womenleadership #highered”
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They include Sally Kornbluth at Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Maurie McInnis at Yale University; Claire Shipman at Yale University; Linda Mills at Columbia University. In the U.S., 15 of the 55 presidents of top universities are women. In 28 countries, 11 universities at the top have no women at the helm, Inside Higher Education Reports.
In Australia, Nicola Phillips is the first vice chancellor of the newly formed Adelaide University with 56,000 students, according to Australia Financial Review. Progress for women in academia is improving in Australia, Phillips says.
“In Australia, Nicola Phillips is 1st first vice chancellor of Adelaide University with 56,000 students, largest in country. #women #highered #leadership”
Read more in Take The Lead on women academic leaders
“Universities are far better now at accommodating different kinds of careers, different kinds of career trajectories and accommodating the circumstances of groups of people, including women,” Phillips tells AFR.
At Take The Lead, board chair Dr. Lily McNair has a 30-year career in higher education leadership. She served as the first female president of Tuskegee University. Prior to that, McNair was the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at Wagner College, and Associate Provost for Research at Spelman College.
“I know from my own experience that organizations are stronger and more successful when women have an equal voice in leadership,” McNair tells Take The Lead.
A clinical psychologist with degrees from Princeton University (A.B.) and the State University of New York at Stony Brook (M.A, Ph.D.), Dr. McNair has also served as associate professor of psychology and associate director of the Clinical Psychology Doctoral Training Program at The University of Georgia, where in 1999 she was the first African American woman to obtain tenure and promotion in the Department of Psychology.
“Dr. Lily McNair @takeleadwomen board chair, 1st female president @TuskegeeU: “I know from my own experience that organizations are stronger and more successful when women have an equal voice in leadership.” #highered ”
The advances women have been making in academic leadership are compromised by recent policy moves.
In the U.S., with the Executive Order in 2025 demanding elimination of any Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts, many women and gender studies departments were decimated and positions eliminated, affecting thousands of student and faculty across the country.
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According to U.S. News & World Report, the scores of top universities affected by funding freezes have responded with lawsuits, pushback and in some cases, compromise affecting hiring, retention, admission, curriculum and much more.
Universities and colleges affected include Ball State University, New College of Florida, University of Toledo, Wichita State University, University of California-Santa Cruz, Rhode Island College, York University and more, according to Ms. Magazine.
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“These rollbacks are unacceptable. They not only set back rights but also erase the knowledge of history that can inform continued progress toward fairness and equality,” says Gloria Feldt, co-founder and president of Take The Lead. “It is up to us to get together, discuss and create solutions,” Feldt says, “That’s why the August 26 Power Up Conference will focus on solutions. Come add your voice.”
“It is unacceptable to have these rollbacks in knowledge and history. It is up to us to get together, discuss and create solutions,” says Gloria Feldt, cofounder and pres @takeleadwomen #WomensHistoryMonth2026”
The images of women history makers have also been purged from the Pentagon, and any record of DEI efforts. The AP reports, “The vast majority of the Pentagon purge targets women and minorities, including notable milestones made in the military. And it also removes a large number of posts that mention various commemorative months — such as those for Black and Hispanic people and women.”
In an effort to restore key elements of history, Meryl Streep recently made a seven-figure donation to the National Women’s History Museum.
While this is an excellent move to remedy the problem, the number of colleges for women is shrinking. At one time, there were more than 200 women’s colleges in the U.S., Pew Research Center reports, “Today, there are 31 women’s colleges in the U.S., two of which are also historically Black colleges or universities (HBCUs).”
“Were more than 200 women’s colleges in the U.S., @PewResearch, but now 31 women’s colleges in U.S., 2 are #HBCUs. #highered #womenleaders #education”
Read more on addressing Black women in history
Newsweek recently released the ranking for America's Best Colleges for Women 2026, with Spelman College, a historically Black women’s liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia, at the top. “Other top colleges include St. Catherine University, Thomas Jefferson University, Miami Dade College, California State University – Los Angeles and CUNY York College.”
“Female students pay just under $2 billion for their education annually,” Newsweek reports, and equal opportunity needs to be a concern.
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Female students have fewer female tenured faculty to look up to, historically and currently. According to a 2024 research study, “Women have fewer chances to be hired as tenure-track faculty promoted to tenure, elected to leadership roles, or rewarded for their impact in science. This is the result of multiple and interrelated barriers placed at each stage of the academic career trajectory.”
“Women have fewer chances to be hired as tenure-track faculty promoted to tenure, elected to leadership roles, or rewarded for their impact in science. #faculty #genderbias #racebias #tenure #highered ”
Women of color have the lowest tenure rates of all faculty. The University of Michigan research shows that in 2024, 67% of tenured faculty in the U.S. are male with 33% female. Also in 2024, 70% of tenured faculty are white, with 30% POC.
The good news is that a new study from Princeton Review, demonstrates that several top law schools in the U.S. report data that shows women stand on equal footing with their male classmates.
Those law schools include UC Davis School of Law; UCLA School of Law; Florida State University College of Law; Charleston School of Law; CUNY School of Law; Vanderbilt University Law School; New York Law School; University of San Francisco School of Law; Samford University Cumberland School of Law and Stanford University School of Law, according to Above The Law.
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Some of those schools are mentioned in a new U.S. News & World Report study showing where the world’s 12 most powerful women, according to Forbes’ list, went to undergrad, graduate, and possibly law school.
U.S. News reports that” the women on the 2025 Power List represent $37 trillion in economic power, and many gained knowledge in college that helped them start and succeed in their professions. Here's where the top 20 on the list pursued formal higher education –- including one who didn't—and that is Giorgia Meloni, the Prime minister of Italy.
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Amy Hood, Executive Vice President and CFO of Microsoft went to Duke undergrad and Harvard Business School. Gail Boudreaux, President and CEO of Elevance Health, is a Dartmouth College alum and then attended Columbia University Graduate School of Business. Melinda French Gates, Founder of Pivotal Ventures, also went to Duke. Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors, went undergrad to Kettering University, then Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
A similar study published in Pitchbook dives into the number of highest earning female founders and investigates where they went to undergraduate, graduate and business school.
Top three undergraduate universities for female founders are University of California-Berkeley, with 291 founders; Stanford with 250 and Harvard with 231. The top graduate programs for female founders were Harvard with 684; Stanford with 616 and MIT with 360 female founders.
“Study @Pitchbook: Top grad programs for female founders: @HarvardU with 684; @StanfordU with 616 and @MIT with 360 #female #founders. #highered”
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The top MBA programs were Harvard with 384, Stanford with 244 and University of Pennsylvania, Wharton with 171 female founder alums.
So women are making history as graduates, while more women are running top universities, at the same time that university departments and curriculum focusing on gender are being eliminated. So the history of women is not being studied in as many venues.
“More women #students, more women running #universities, yet university departments, and curriculum focusing on gender are being eliminated. #History of women is not studied in as many venues.#WomensHistoryMonth @takeleadwomen”
This goes back to a 1988 study of women’s history research books published since 1960.
“In 1960 anyone interested in studying American women’s history could draw on 13 books, of which five dealt with colonial women, three with Southern women, and only one book, attempted a general overview of the field. By 1980, there were 291.”
While this was considered enormous progress in 20 years, “But until we redefine the paradigm and find the true relationship between female and male actors as agents in history, we will not have succeeded,” the study shows.
The good news is today under the category of “Women’s History” in books sold on Amazon, there are more than 70,000 books listed.
