Against the Tide: The Career Paths of Women Chief Academic Officers of American Colleges and Universities

The career paths that have led women to the position of chief academic officer (CAO) of American colleges and universities have, in many cases, been diverted by societal influences. However, there are particular milestones with respect to educational background and academic administrative positions that most of those women CAOs have reached. Before generalizing to a statistical profile of women who have reached the highest academic positions in colleges and universities, perhaps the following case study of an individual female CAO would be instructive.