The authors collected narrative data from 11 African American female college students at a predominantly White institution using the Career Construction Interview (Savickas & Hartung, 2012), the Future Career Autobiography (Rehfuss, 2009), and a qualitative career experiences questionnaire. Using the constant comparison method (Strauss &…

This paper examines the reworking of gender in the measured university and the impact this has on gender equality in academia. Neoliberal market rationalities and measurements embedded in academic publishing, funding and promotion have transformed Australian higher education and impacts upon the careers of academic women in ways that are gendered.…

In an exploratory qualitative study, the generational dispositions of tenured women faculty from the Boomer Generation were examined. As pioneers and now senior members in the academic profession in the Golden Era of American higher education, they exist in a common historical location characterized by cultural forces and events that helped to…

Little is known about Asian American women administrators in the public schools. The study sought to understand the pathways of Asian American women to school leadership. In-depth interviews and researcher reflective memos were the primary data sources. The participants included 15 Asian American female school administrators in two states. We…

University-to-work transitions tend to be discussed in terms of skills, outcomes and the readiness of graduates for an increasingly insecure and flexible labour market. Such a focus on individual attributes and orientations depicts graduates as lonely and ostensibly rational figures; disembedded from their intimate networks and devoid of emotional…

Purpose: This qualitative, phenomenological study explored the effect of mentoring in the degree attainment and career paths of first generation Mexican American women who are employed in senior administrative leadership roles at Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs). Methodology: This exploratory study employed a phenomenological research…

This study addressed the lived experience of corporate executive women who have had a trusted advisor. The relayed impact and significance of trusted advisors for their career development was portrayed. Traditionally, women lagged behind men in numbers in key corporate positions. Due to increased international efforts to level the playing field…

This article shares examples of how leadership opportunities, self-directedness, self-efficacy and self-determination developed in professional women who have been recognised as leaders. This study presents six women honoured as "Women of Achievement." Through narrative interviews, each woman described aspects of her life that guided…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the career paths and preparation of female vice-presidents employed in community colleges in the state of Mississippi. There is limited qualitative information available that describes the career paths of vice-presidents in the state's community colleges. Community colleges are making great…

This paper utilises the conceptual lens of intersectionality to explore gendered academic career trajectory in the context of one participant's challenge to a normative reading of the link between her private life and its relation to a "successful" academic career. The paper then charts the recalibrations that needed to take place to…

Part of the decolonisation and transformation of higher education institutions is the re-construction of its leadership. This requires not only a review but also a dissolution of traditions, conventions and organisational forms that universities have inherited, including a re-imagining of leadership in higher education. Equity in representation of…

This paper focuses on the dynamics that animate the situation of women inside academia and the social world of science. Based on a long-term ethnographic study we chose specific cases (scientists educated in Poland) to illustrate the complexity of the career-making process in the 21st century. In this country, in a social and professional…

This study reports on the perspective of mothers whose daughters underwent an extensive inquiry-focused interactive one-week science camp, which involved female middle school students and university scientists. This study focused on nine mother's perceptions of the impact the camp had on their daughter's science identities. Following the camp,…

Utilizing a phenomenological perspective and method, this study aimed to reveal the lived career mentoring experiences of Latinas in science and engineering and to understand how selected Latina scientists and engineers achieved high-level positions. Our in-depth interviews revealed that (a) it is important to have multiple mentors for Latinas'…

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the life and career paths of women higher education administrators in sub-Saharan Africa. Specifically, the study sought to interpret the women's experiences and identities, through the framework of intersectionality and gender performance, as ones that contributed to advancement within…