The Changing Face of the California Presidency

Descriptive research on California community colleges indicates that women and minorities have been underrepresented in the presidency (Winter, 1964). The research described in this report investigated demographic changes in the presidency at 71 California community college districts and 42 campuses in multicollege districts (the authors compared data from the state's community college directories for 1975, 1985, and 1995). Between 1985 and 1995, the percentage of women holding the presidency almost tripled, and the percentage of minorities had more than doubled. For women, increases in upper level administrative positions that can lead to the presidency have paralleled the increase in presidencies held by women.