Governing Boards and Their Relationship to Gender Issues in Higher Education

Managing the postsecondary education sector necessitates overseeing a complex organization of administrators, faculty, staff, and students with far‐reaching responsibilities, including academics and research, public relations, fundraising, athletics, and many others. This chapter begins with a review of the current understanding regarding female underrepresentation on governing boards and some potential factors contributing to it, focusing particularly on the United States. It then discusses in detail the association between female underrepresentation on governing boards and connections to corporate firms and industry. Women elevated to corporate board membership are typically expected to assimilate into White male culture, demonstrating that they are “one of the boys” while also simultaneously remaining feminine. The chapter concludes by considering how the lack of gender diversity on governing boards contributes to broader gender issues in other areas of higher education and delineating areas of future research and implications for higher education constituents.