Academic Leadership and Counseling Psychology: Answering the Challenge, Achieving the Promise

In this article, we address the challenge and promise for counseling psychologists (CPs) in leadership in U.S. higher education. We summarize leadership challenges in contemporary higher education, including contextual difficulties and those emanating from within the academy. We contend that CPs offer promise in higher education leadership, as they are well suited to provide leadership in the difficult context of the academy due to their training, values, disciplinary foci, and professional experiences. We attend to diversity as one of counseling psychology’s core strengths, presenting the example of feminist multicultural mentoring as a leadership task that obviates the challenge and enhances the promise for counseling psychology leaders in academic settings. We offer suggestions for CPs considering or moving into higher education leadership, and conclude with a brief examination of future trends in counseling psychology that support our contention that CPs are much needed and can succeed as leaders in the academy.