The study "Equality in higher education: statistical report" 

found that women are more likely to be unsuccessful compared to men when applying for leadership roles in the sector and that selection and recruitment processes at this level may be gender biased.

The women representation declines dramatically at senior academic management levels in the UK, where only 27.5% of managers are women. In vice-chancellor and principal roles, this is even lower: only 17% are women, or 29 out of 166 in 2013-14.

Some of the women who took part in the interviews felt that leadership in the sector was “too narrowly defined” and that there was a failure to acknowledge that there might be different ways of carrying out the chief executive role. 

This research involved an online survey which got 183 responses – 45% of them by women, with 42 in-depth interviews with a sample of 23 women and 19 men.

Source: The Conversation