Unraveling the Composition of Academic Leadership in Higher Education: Exploring Administrative Diversity at 2-Year and 4-Year Institutions‪.‬

Introduction Within the higher education system, racial and ethnic minority academic leaders, those individuals who hold faculty status whose principal activity is administration (e.g., deans, chairs, directors, etc.), tend to be underrepresented and more likely to serve in less prominent leadership positions than their White counterparts (Ball, 1995; Jackson, 2000, 2001a). In a study examining the number of African American males among the leadership ranks at colleges and universities, Jackson (2003) reported that White males, in 1998, occupied 90% of the academic administrative positions (e.g., chair, dean, and vice-president), which represented approximately a 1% increase since 1992. In contrast, Jackson also found that African American males occupied 5% of the academic administrative positions in 1998, a slight decrease from 1992.