As of 2011, 26 percent of college presidencies nationally were occupied by women, just a three percent increase since 2006.
A group of women at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is working to change that number by forming the Alabama Network for Women Leaders in Higher Education. This new initiative is part of ACE’s Women’s Network, a national system of state networks established in 1977 to advance and support women in higher education.
Each state network is led by a state coordinator who works with institutional representatives and a presidential sponsor. Together, they develop programs that identify, develop, encourage, advance, link and support women in higher education careers within that state.
The founding coordinator of the UAB group is Janelle Chiasera, who also is a current ACE Fellow. UAB started its network in mid-May with the goal of helping aspiring women leaders throughout Alabama grow and develop. Plans are in the works for an inaugural meeting in October.
To learn more about ACE’s Women’s Network, click here. Also, see ACE’s Moving the Needle: Advancing Women Leaders, a collaborative, multi-association initiative that seeks to increase the number of women in senior leadership positions in higher education through programs, research and resources.