Vol. 38, No. 18

3-17-2004
By: Joni Bentz Seal

Women’s leadership development blossoming

Each March, the nation celebrates Women’s History Month to applaud and celebrate the accomplishments of women. Each day, Ohio State takes another step toward better recognizing the contribution of women in creating a diverse university community.

The Academic Plan states that to create that rich learning environment, Ohio State must recruit and retain greater numbers of women and minorities in faculty, staff and administrative positions — especially at the senior level. While close to 50 percent of the university’s students are women, only 27.6 percent of the faculty and 13 percent of department chairs are women — gaps that, while closing, still have a distance to go. And retaining the women who currently occupy 53.7 percent of executive/administrative positions at Ohio State also is critical.

“Creating a diverse institution requires progress not only in the recruitment and retention of a diverse population of students, but the recruitment and advancement of women faculty and staff,” said Judy Fountain, assistant vice provost of women’s policy initiatives and director of The Women’s Place.

Historically, the academic portion of the university has driven the need for professional development opportunities for faculty, and for men — the traditional leaders in academia. But Fountain said women’s development initiatives are gaining recognition at Ohio State, spurred on by the goals stated in the Academic and Diversity Action plans, the creation of bodies such as The Women’s Place and the President’s Council on Women’s Issues in 2001, and by the increasing prominence of women in senior positions.

Barbara Snyder is one of those women. A vice provost in academic affairs, she served as interim vice president of university relations in 2002, and last July, was named interim executive vice president and provost upon the departure of Ed Ray.

“Investing in the development of faculty and staff is an investment in the future of the university,” Snyder said. “Leadership can and must come from all segments of our institution. We need all of the talented leaders we can find at Ohio State to ensure the university’s future success.”

In 2002, Ohio State made another bold statement in support of women’s leadership with the appointment of President Karen Holbrook. Leadership development — especially for women — has become a cornerstone of her presidency.

“Coming up through the ranks in my own career, I’ve experienced the challenges and indeed, some of the barriers, to success,” Holbrook said. “Mentorship and targeted professional development for women has not always been an accepted practice, and now that I’m in a position to underscore its importance, I’m committed to helping create opportunities to develop potential leaders from all groups.”

Her advocacy has re-established or created a number of initiatives.
One is the sponsorship of American Council on Education (ACE) Fellow Ruth Dyer, an assistant provost and professor of electrical and computer engineering at Kansas State University, who is spending a one-year residency at Ohio State in preparation to return to her home institution with advancement in mind. Through the ACE Fellows Program, which was established in 1965 and serves today as one of the premier higher education senior leadership preparation programs, Dyer is working directly with Holbrook, Snyder, Vice President for Government Relations Ellyn Perrone, and other senior leaders, observing first-hand the inner-workings of Ohio State.

“Ohio State was my top choice because it fit all my requirements,” Dyer said, adding that she felt the university’s budget model, land-grant mission and on-site medical school were critical components. “I also liked that it is a place where women occupy a number of top leadership positions.”

Snyder said that while Dyer will take her newly acquired knowledge back to her home institution, it’s a mutually benefiting arrangement. Dyer, for example, has been working with the Office of Government Relations to develop a communication piece for state and national legislators that addresses how Ohio State remains true to its access mission and affordable in the face of increasing tuition costs.

Another initiative, though still under development, is the creation of a cohort of the 24 women presidents of Ohio’s two- and four-year institutions to champion the advancement of women in higher education across the state. Holbrook recognized the need during the state conference for the Office of Women in Higher Education (OWHE), the state chapter of ACE’s National Network for Women Leaders, last fall and decided to create programming to increase the group’s interaction. “The women realized they couldn’t support others effectively if they had no cohesion among themselves,” Holbrook said. “Many had never even met before. The goal is to create a vital resource to partner with the women of ACE/OWHE in support of their professional aspirations.”

Some women’s development initiatives enjoy a solid history at Ohio State. Since 1986, both the Critical Difference for Women (CDW) and the Kathryn T. Schoen Awards programs have provided funding for the pursuit of women’s leadership development. CDW offers financial support in the form of grants and scholarships for faculty, staff and students within all institutional levels and disciplines seeking advanced education and enhanced professional lives. The Schoen awards provide faculty women with leadership and career enhancement opportunities.

Fountain notes that creating and improving initiatives that pave the way for women’s advancement are enabling the institution to implement a new era.

“The activities of the council and The Women’s Place are working to persuade the academic structure to recognize the value of women’s leadership potential,” she said. “We like to think we’re extending an existing pipeline, not building a new pipeline.”

Snyder agrees that a new dimension in career preparation is taking hold at Ohio State. “While leadership growth opportunities are important, it is what happens after people return from them that is essential,” she said. “If these individuals do not have the chance to use their newly acquired skills, then neither the university nor the individuals received the maximum return on their investment.”

Re-entry has become the key to successful professional development. Fountain said that the integration of new skills into the current environment is a component often missing. “As you begin to have learning opportunities that help you go to the next level, you come back changed, but others don’t see that,” she said. “There is a tendency for women to get pigeon-holed. Others become reliant on you for so much that when you try to make this shift, there is resistance.”

Recognizing this, the Schoen awards recently were restructured to better meld with Ohio State’s commitment to the leadership development effort currently being designed by the Office of Human Resources. The new structure provides two separate awards bearing Schoen’s name: a Presidential Leadership Award, which will support a prestigious and high-level leadership development opportunity (currently the Bryn Mawr Summer Institute for Women in Higher Education Administration) for a tenured faculty woman ready to move into an academic leadership position; and the Kathryn T. Schoen Award, which will provide another tenured faculty woman an opportunity for professional growth and leadership development not necessarily aimed at administration. More importantly, the Presidential recipient will put her learning to use upon her return to campus through additional leadership exercises.

“The shift in the Schoen awards exemplifies our current efforts to bring people back after their experience so they can link up with the leadership agenda and become connected to the strategic focus of the university,” Snyder said.

In addition to “establishing individual professional development plans for faculty and increasing the opportunities for personal and professional development for staff” as recommended by the 2000 SRI Report on the Retention of Women and Minority Faculty and Staff, and referenced in the Diversity Action Plan, the Office of Human Resources is working to incorporate planned development experiences beyond the current position for those pursuing career progression. “However, this requires cooperation from the individual’s direct supervisor, their department and their unit,” said Larry Lewellen, associate vice president for human resources.

“In the past, people sought out their own experiences, and came back and tried to weave themselves into leadership roles wherever they could,” Lewellen said. “Not only is OHR working to improve the selection of development opportunities, but we are taking a more strategic approach to enhance our capacity and are working to ensure that as people re-enter after these opportunities, they can continue their experience at OSU.”

Snyder said the goal is for the university to reap maximum return on the investment by retaining these increasingly talented employees. “If you look at our fiscal resources and how much of those are tied up in human capital, you will have a sense of how important this is to the university. We are all about people and about serving, and when you’re in this kind of business, you have to be committed to developing all people to their fullest potential. Of course we try to do that with students, but it’s imperative that we do it as well with faculty and staff.”

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