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The Stained Glass Ceiling: Women College Presidents In A Catholic Higher Education Context, Nicole Giglia

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Women are underrepresented in executive leadership positions across different industries, including higher education. The literature suggests that there are many gender-based barriers making it difficult for women to achieve executive-level leadership within higher education. Further, gendered organizations that promote the authority of one gender over another present additional barriers for women to access leadership roles. Catholic organizations are inherently gendered organizations given the Church’s exclusive male leadership. This creates a “stained glass ceiling” making it difficult and, in some cases, impossible for women to rise to the top of Catholic higher education leadership. This interpretive phenomenological study explores the experiences …