There is a growing interest in the underlying mechanisms affecting female leaders in higher education. And this paper examines the problem by focusing specifically on Polish public universities which historically stands out by particularly low number of female university rectors. The core of the study is based on 15 in-depth expert interviews with female university rectors and vice-rectors. The paper argues that the large deficit of female rectors has been influenced by the traditional masculine figure of a university rector deeply embedded in the Polish academic culture. We demonstrate evidence that the masculine figure of a rector still strongly affects the perception of who is destined to perform the role.