Aside from the obvious importance of wanting to improve diversity and inclusiveness in higher ed, the benefits that businesses experience after promoting or hiring more women into leadership positions and the data that proves the positive impact female faculty have on teaching and learning should be enough to convince college and university leaders on how women can transform their campuses for the better.

Businesses note a boost in problem-solving, improved business decisions, and impressive risk aversion with more female representation and leadership. Meanwhile, studies show that women in the classroom positively impact young female students without negatively affecting their male counterparts. However, only about 33% of women are full-tenured professors in higher ed, a 2020 American Association of University Professors study found.  Meanwhile, the number of female faculty, senior faculty, and administrators constantly fails to reflect the steady rise of female students over the past 25 years.

To understand these trends, Dr. Drumm McNaughton discusses the benefits of women and minority leadership in higher ed with CEO Elissa Sangster of the Forté Foundation, a nonprofit that helps women thrive as leaders and that has increased the percentage of women in MBA programs at universities from 25% to 42%.

Elissa tackles the benefits of leadership and thought diversity, transforming boards to attract more diverse leadership and students, the steps to build a more supportive atmosphere for women and minorities in leadership positions, how to attain 50/50 representation in the classroom, and best practices higher ed can emulate to support women and minority leadership.

Podcast Highlights

• Diversifying the board will attract more women and people of color and help address or even ask the right questions that need answers. To diversify, change recruiting locations if those places have only produced the same type of applicants. Ensure to include other sources for that talent. Look for professionals with different opinions and are comfortable pushing back. Recruit more than one member from each demographic, so they have power, feel they can push back, and that the institution wants genuine change.
• To reach 50/50 representation in faculty, ensure that the language in job descriptions reflects words and meanings that appeal to both men and women. Tamper down on traditionally interesting language to men versus women, especially aggressive or competitive speech. Many websites provide tips on how to make a gender-neutral job description, and various organizations provide advice or consulting.
• Look at preexisting candidate support systems. For women tenure-track faculty, use language like “We know this is when you have many things going on in your life. Therefore, we will give you access to additional teaching assistants or graduate assistants while you're writing your research.”
• Department chairs or leadership team members who sponsor faculty must physically go into the classroom and be that representative and voice for women and minority faculty. When they're not there to defend themselves, defend their research and the extra work they do as a faculty member. Create formal sponsor relationships for these candidates.
• Develop a promotion plan that includes professional development tailored for women and minorities. Research how previous faculty members have performed to identify if underrepresented faculty members are succeeding and achieving at the same rate as others. If not, identify their roadblocks and listen to these faculty members.
• Allow women and minorities to enroll in professional development and executive education courses taught across campus. Create gender equity groups where men and women talk about what implicit bias feels and looks like and how it plays out in their personal and professional lives.
• Study classrooms and ask how faculty are diversifying the conversation, representing speakers and their stories when they share their business experiences, thinking about whom they call on or if they call on those who look or think like them, considering different or contrary opinions, and asking for opinions from students who rarely participate.

Our Podcast Guest

Elissa Sangster serves as CEO of Forté and brings to the role extensive knowledge of issues affecting women's abilities to seek, prepare for and attain business leadership positions, drawn from her prior experience as Assistant Dean and Director of the MBA Program at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. There she oversaw all activities related to the full-time McCombs MBA program, including marketing, admissions, student services, and alumni relations. Before McCombs, Elissa was Assistant Director of the MBA Program at Texas A&M University’s Mays School of Business.

Elissa currently serves as Treasurer and Board Member for the Thirty Percent Coalition. She is the past Chair of the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) Annual Industry Conference and formerly served as Chair of MBA Student Services Professionals (MBA SSP). Elissa sits on the board of Forté as an ex-officio member. She enjoys reading, running, cooking, and Aggie football. She lives in San Antonio with her husband, Jeremy, and their daughter, Anna Leigh. Elissa received her MBA and her B.A. in English from Texas A&M University.

Elissa Sangster on LinkedIn

→ Download the podcast transcript

About the Host

Dr. Drumm McNaughton, host, and consultant to higher ed institutions. To learn more about his services and other thought leadership pieces, visit his firm’s website, https://changinghighered.com/.

The Change Leader’s Social Media Links

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdrumm/
• Twitter: @thechangeldr
• Email: [email protected]

Keywords: #DEIinHigherEd #WomeninHigherEd #HigherEducation