The Women’s Power Gap at Elite Universities: Scaling the Ivory Tower

Overview

The goal of the Women’s Power Gap (WPG) Initiative is to dramatically increase the number of women from diverse backgrounds among CEO and C-suite leaders nationally. Our earlier study: The Power Gap Among Top Earners at America’s Elite Universities examined a key element of power — compensation — and the numerical representation of diverse groups among the most highly paid employees at the country’s 130 elite research universities (R1 as defined by the Carnegie Classification). This companion study: The Women’s Power Gap at Elite Universities: Scaling the Ivory Tower focuses on these same universities, identifies leaders and laggers with respect to diversity at the chief executive’s office, and the immediate pathway to that office. We hope that when universities are ranked against one another, it will create a race to the top, driving faster change.