Women's Leadership

Although women have made great progress in attaining leadership positions, challenges remain.  For instance, the 2005 Women’s Leadership Index—a report by Inforum and Michigan State University—found that, among the top leaders of the 100 largest publicly held companies headquartered in Michigan, women executives earn only 49% of the wages of their male peers. Furthermore, women hold fewer than 6% of the top officer positions and fewer than 10% of board seats. Fortune 500 companies based in Michigan had no women officers at all.  The number of women corporate executives had dropped by 20% since the first Women’s Leadership Index study, carried out in 2003 by CEW and the Women’s Leadership Forum.

At the University of Michigan in 2007-2008, women represent half the regents, almost half the executive officers, including the president and provost, and 42% of the deans. Although women are increasingly being appointed to academic leadership positions such as department chair, their representation is limited by women’s relatively low proportion of the senior faculty.

Data compiled by the University of Michigan in 2007 found the following gender distribution relative to pay among professional and administrative staff:

Pay Range	Percentage of Women
Less than $25,000	67%
$25,000-49,999	71%
$50,000-$74,999	66%
$75,000-99,999	55%
$100,000-124,999	53%
$125,000-149,999	39%
Greater than $150,000	38%

An expected wave of Baby Boomer retirements in the next five to ten years is likely to provide increased opportunities for women’s advancement.

CEW is active in state and national organizations designed to develop and promote women leaders.  CEW director Carol Hollenshead is a member of the Executive Boards of the Michigan Women’s Network sponsored by the American Council on Education Office of Women in Higher Education and the ACE State Network. She is also a member of the national steering committee of Campus Women Lead, a project of the Association of American Colleges and Universities.

The purpose of the American Council on Education State Women’s Networks is to identify women leaders and to help them develop their leadership abilities, advance their careers, and secure mentoring and support as they move into higher-level positions. 

The Michigan Network sponsors an annual career and leadership development conference.  To become involved, contact State Coordinator Christine Hammond.

Campus Women Lead is an alliance promoting a multicultural women-led agenda for the sustained transformation of higher education for the twenty-first century. 

The Center is also a founding member of the National Council for Research on Women, a network of more than 100 leading U.S. research, advocacy, and policy centers devoted to building a more inclusive and equitable world for women and girls.