Wave of university president retirements expected, says new report
U.S. college or university presidents are a fairly uniform bunch, according to new research by the American Council on Education. The American College President 2012 found that the typical university president in the U.S. is 61 years old, a white male and married. The data also showed that the average college president has been in the position for about seven years and has a doctorate in education. Much of this presidential profile has not changed over the last 25 years, according to the report.
Education experts say the data shows the ongoing need for and challenges surrounding diversifying the leadership in America’s colleges and universities.
“Leadership that is not only effective but reflective of the world around it will be key to managing the challenges of today and the unknown challenges of tomorrow,” said ACE President Molly Corbett Broad in a press release. “As students, faculty and staff become more diverse, we are reminded yet again about the importance of developing a more diverse pool of senior leaders — a task which remains one of ACE’s top strategic priorities.”
The latest report showed that the number of minority college presidents declined, falling from 14 percent in 2006 to 13 percent last year. Women saw their representation increase slightly, going from 23 percent in 2006 to 26 percent in 2011.
In addition to the need for more diversity in college leadership, the data also indicates that the average age of the U.S. college president continues to go up, making a mass exodus of university leaders inevitable.
“In 1986, the first year the study was performed, 42 percent of presidents were age 50 or younger and 14 percent were 61 or older,” explains the report’s release. “In 2006, these proportions were almost reversed — only 8 percent were 50 or younger and 49 percent were 61 or older. In 2011, the share of presidents who were 50 or younger increased slightly from 2006 to 10 percent, but the percentage of those who were 61 or older increased to 58 percent. “
Although a large number of simultaneous university president retirements is not ideal for the U.S. college system, experts affiliated with the report say it could provide a chance to make other wanted changes to the group’s makeup.
“The anticipated wave of retirements among college and university presidents is of great concern and may present challenges or even a temporary leadership shortage,” Bryan J. Cook, director of ACE’s Center for Policy Analysis, said. “However, it also presents a unique opportunity to diversify the leadership of American higher education.”
