Silent Witness: Why Are Women Missing in Hong Kong Academic Leadership?

The underrepresentation of women as academic leaders is a global phenomenon. Extensive research demonstrates that women fail to move through academic hierarchies and reach the most senior grades and leadership positions in higher education. The Hong Kong academy is no exception. Out of 110 positions at the level of Dean and above, figures from 2016 show that only 8 women (7.3%) are represented in the most senior leadership roles across the sector. Hong Kong does not currently have a woman President/Vice-Chancellor at any of its higher education institutions.

This seminar launches the findings from the first research study of this scale, focused on women academics, that has been undertaken in Hong Kong. Funded by the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education (UK) and the University of Hong Kong, Principal Investigator Dr. Sarah Jane Aiston will draw on the empirical data gathered in the form of survey responses from Hong Kong women academics and interviews with senior leaders across the high education sector to offer insights into why there are so few women in senior leadership roles in the Hong Kong academy. She will also present a series of recommendations, based on the research data, for the development of a women’s leadership programme to address this critical absence of women at the top in the sector.

Register at : https://goo.gl/forms/n7i9MId2oHvrWpKJ3