Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore the lived experiences of women leaders in higher education, specifically women who served as the first female presidents of colleges and universities. This study identifies ways in which patriarchal constructs of power mediate higher education spaces and how women leaders make meaning of, interact with, and respond to the phenomenon of patriarchal mediation. The patriarchy has been mediating and controlling women's voices, bodies, and behavior for centuries, and the work of this project is to identify through the perspective of women leaders to what degree patriarchal mediation persists and what it looks like in higher education spaces.

Using systems and social systems theory to situate higher education spaces as gendered organizational systems, this study considers women leaders’ perceptions of patriarchal mediation in higher education spaces. Using a basic interpretive design within a framework of social constructionism and interpretivism, I examined the perspectives of eight former women presidents who served as the first female president of their respective institutions. I utilized a series of three semi-structured interviews following Seidman’s (2006) interviewing model, which works to ground the interviewee in her lived experience, effectively bringing more meaning and understanding to the context of her experience.

The findings indicate that participants experienced patriarchal mediation to varying degrees at various points in their careers: as early and midcareer faculty and when transitioning into the leadership pipeline, and indeed, as they served as presidents. Early and midcareer experiences indicate that the technological process of socialization into the academy was key to participants achieving the agency that allowed them to advance professionally. Formal and informal socialization practices and mentoring and role modeling influence effective organizational socialization as new faculty transition into the academy (Acker, 1990; Bird, 2011; Bowman, Mazerolle, & Kilbourne, 2018; Lester, 2008; Ritt, 2004; Tierney, 1999). Findings also indicate that there is evidence to suggest that women leaders interpret contemporary environmental influences in ways that disrupt patriarchal mediation. Significantly, findings indicate that even as advancements have been made, patriarchal mediation persists.