Campus Location
Dallas Campus (Online)
Date of Award
4-2026
ORCID
https://orcid.org/my-orcid?orcid=0009-0001-9559-1637
Document Type
Dissertation
Department
Organizational Leadership
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Committee Chair or Primary Advisor
Linda Wilson-Jones
Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor
Sandra Hightower
Third Committee Member or Committee Reader
Mary Gannotti
Abstract
Women represent the majority of students and faculty in higher education students in higher education in the United States, yet they remain underrepresented in executive leadership positions. Women pursuing these roles encounter unique challenges, and institutions have increasingly recognized the value of mentoring and sponsoring women who aspire to leadership. Guided by Kumar’s CR8 resilience theory, this qualitative descriptive study explored how women leaders in higher education in the United States describe their career pathways to leadership, the challenges they encounter, and the impact of mentoring/sponsoring in developing their resilience for career progression. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 11 women executive leaders, four provosts, and seven women in provost line positions, at both private and public institutions from across the United States from December 2025 to February 2026. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to identify codes and themes that described participants’ leadership pathways and the resources that supported both advancement and resilience in the face of barriers. Participants often described their progression as less dependent on traditional faculty routes and more influenced by relational advocacy and high-visibility opportunities such as interim roles and committee work. Many reported embracing opportunities that both utilized their strengths and challenged them to learn new things. Participants also described barriers associated with gendered organizational culture, including sexism, exclusion, and gendered power dynamics. Relational buffers, including family relations, mentors, and role models, served as important buffers, along with strategies of self-regulation efforts and strategic adaptation. Although sponsorship was not directly reported as a buffer, participants described opportunities that emerged through the advocacy of others. Findings suggest that the resilience women leaders draw upon to navigate barriers in higher education arises from the interaction of multiple v interpersonal, cognitive, and relational factors, rather than a single strategy. Recommendations for practice include institutional initiatives that promote mentorship and sponsorship relationships and increase women’s access to high-visibility service opportunities.
Keywords: resilience, confidence, clarity of focus, mentoring, sponsoring, committee work
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Brown, Angela M., "Exploring the Way Up: Career Paths, Challenges, and Resilience Among Women Leaders in Higher Education" (2026). Digital Commons @ ACU, Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 1010.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd/1010