Assessing the Progress of Women as College Presidents

The Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) is a national association representing 640 small and mid-sized, liberal arts-oriented, nonprofit colleges and universities. It recently published a report entitled, A Study of Presidents of Independent Colleges and Universities.

The survey found that 25 percent of member institutions had a woman as president in 2011. The percentage has remained unchanged since the CIC’s last survey in 2006. In 1986, 17 percent of member institutions had a woman as president.

The percentage of women as presidents of CIC colleges is about the same as it is for state-operated colleges and universities nationwide and slightly higher than is the case for private doctoral institutions. However, the percentage of women serving as president of both private and state-operated doctoral institutions rose sharply between 2006 and 2011.