by Phuong Nguyen

Abstract:

This study examines the current status of women administrators in higher educational institutions, especially in public four-year universities and two-year community colleges in New England. It centers on the factors that shaped the women's career paths, the challenges and barriers they have been facing and strategies they have taken to crack the "glass ceiling" to move up in the hierarchical ladder over the last three decades, and currently in a new century.
Personal stories/interviews given by the women administrators who started to get involved in administration in the early 1970s and 1980s, and secondary literature relative to women administrators in higher education since the 1970s are utilized to examine their career paths, and to analyze their current status: the problems and solutions, their leadership styles and techniques, and the factors that contribute to their success.

Findings from this study observe the great changes and advancement that women have made and their positive attitudes about the future of women administrators, which enormously encourages more women to become administrators. A number of recommendations have been proposed by the women interviewed in this study. These and my own personal suggestions are also strongly recommended to the Vietnamese women counterparts.

Who might be interested in reading this work?
Potential audiences for this work might include: at UMB:
The William Joiner Center
The Women's Studies Program
The Higher Education PhD Programs in the Graduate college of Education
The Center for Collaborative Leadership

Outside UMB:
People interested in the current status of women administrators in the US, and people interested in the higher education system in public education over the last three decades, especially from a bicultural perspective.
Vietnamese people interested in the study of women in the academy and administration, especially Vietnamese women and men administrators in higher education