Women comprise the majority of both the college-educated workforce (Fry, 2019) and higher education professionals (Silbert & Dube, 2021), yet a proverbial glass ceiling remains intact for female leaders within this industry (Bichsel & McChesney, 2017; DeFrank-Cole et al., 2014; Diehl & Dzubinski, 2016; Gagliardi et al., 2017;…

Colleges and universities appoint interim leaders to fill key leadership vacancies during periods of organizational transition and change. Although a widely accepted practice within higher education, there is limited literature related to the topic of interim leadership or on the experiences of those who navigate the role. Therefore, the purpose…

Interim leadership appointments in higher education are a common strategy used to fill leadership gaps in executive positions. Because student affairs executives are particularly vulnerable to high turnover rates, interim appointments are becoming more widespread. Even with the prevalence of this trend, little attention has been given to the…

It has been estimated that, due to increased turnover, an aging population, growing complexities and sizes of institutions, as well as the bureaucratization of searches, college and universities will see a continued increase in the utilization of interim leadership (Padilla, 2004). Student affairs divisions are not immune to this phenomenon and…