The American Council on Education has published a series of interviews featuring St. Mary’s College of Maryland President Tuajuanda C. Jordan and four other women presidents titled, “Voices from the Field 2023: Experiences of Women Presidents in Higher Education.” The five women were asked about their respective career paths, pivotal mentors and development as leaders over the course of their presidencies.
In her interview, President Jordan spoke of the mentors she had along her path and the importance for others who aspire to be leaders in higher education to seek out mentors early. She also spoke of the importance for women to network with and advocate for one another.
“Women must find a way to be better advocates for what type of leadership is needed, band together, become a leading voice in reshaping higher education leadership, and then do it,” said Jordan.
When asked about what it would take to achieve parity by race and gender in the American college presidency, Jordan voiced several challenges women face and a particular challenge specific to women of color with the recent Supreme Court of the U.S. [SCOTUS] decision [Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. Harvard University and SFFA v. University of North Carolina.
“Even though that decision is focused solely on race, when you look at most of the people of color in the pipeline, specifically considering Black and Latina individuals, most are going to be women.”
For a more in-depth look at President Jordan's interview see the full piece at the ACE website.
Additionally, this series of interviews was featured on ACE’s blog, Higher Education Today in a post titled “Beyond March: Supporting Women on the Path to the College Presidency.”
