U.S. Takes the Lead in Diverse Academic Leadership, Yet Women Continue to be Underrepresented at the Top

NEW YORK, March 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The United States has the greatest percentage of women leading the world's premier universities and research institutes, according to a global study released today.  The study, conducted by Egon Zehnder International, the executive search firm, shows that a little more than 1 in 5 (22 percent) American institutions are led by women.  Scandinavian institutions rank second with 18 percent with women as leaders.

This is in stark contrast with overall findings which indicate only 12 percent of top academic leaders are women and only 10 percent are foreign nationals.  The report emphasizes that diversity is a major driver of innovation and excellence.  Diversity of viewpoint, beyond simply promoting representation of particular demographic groups, enriches discussion and decision-making among leadership teams and enables them to tackle familiar problems in new ways.

"We are encouraged that the findings show the U.S. in a leading position, yet we recognize there is still a lot that can be accomplished," said Joanne Yun, consultant, Egon Zehnder International.

To create a global fact base, Egon Zehnder International analyzed the curricula vitae of more than 300 Rectors, Presidents, Vice-Chancellors and CEOs at top academic institutions across Europe, the USA and Asia.  Expert interviews and in-depth analysis shed light on the underlying reasons for the findings and highlighted areas for action.

Additional detail:

The leaders assessed globally were overwhelmingly male and local-born, with an average age of around 60.  Only a third of them had spent two or more years of their career abroad.

• In Singapore, more than half of the academic leaders identified were foreign, reflecting a conscious drive by that country to recruit leading foreign academics in line with a vision to create top-ranked international universities.   
• To attract diverse, international talent, academia must overcome some serious barriers.  In many countries, for example academic salary scales are inflexibly linked to those of the civil service, making it very difficult to attract top international academics.  To address this, greater use can be made of arrangements such as job rotations and limited-term contracts.

The report was authored by a global team of consultants at Egon Zehnder International, among them Joanne Yun (US), Norbert Sack (Europe), and Hnn-Hui Hii (Asia).  They argue that one important step to strengthen the diversity of academic leadership must be to professionalize the search and selection process for top positions.  This involves actively searching for diverse talent across all major markets and adopting a structured evaluation process that avoids unconscious biases against nontraditional candidates.  Such an approach can bring a much broader and more diverse pool of candidates to the table.

More information at www.egonzehnder.com/global-academic-leadership.

About Egon Zehnder International
Egon Zehnder International is the largest privately-held executive search firm in the world with over 400 consultants operating from 64 wholly owned offices in 38 countries.  The firm specializes in senior-level executive search, board consulting and director search, management appraisals, and talent management. 

Egon Zehnder International's clients range in size from the world's largest corporations to emerging growth companies to government and regulatory bodies and major educational and cultural organizations.  Egon Zehnder International has sector specialists organized into global practices.  These include Industrial, Financial Services, Consumer, Life Sciences, Technology & Communications, Services, Private Capital and Sovereign Wealth Funds.  For more information visit  www.egonzehnder.com.

SOURCE Egon Zehnder International