Still a glass ceiling for women rectors in many European countries, EUA says

Despite major gains in equality at the highest levels of university management over the past eight years, some countries still do not have any female rectors heading their universities, according to data from more than 850 member universities and national rectors’ conferences of the European University Association (EUA).

The nine countries that have no EUA female rectors are relatively small – Iceland, Estonia, Latvia, Moldova, Montenegro, Kosovo, Albania, North Macedonia and Serbia. 

But the information is not exhaustive and only covers EUA members. Of Iceland’s seven universities, for one, five have female rectors. Others, such as Latvia, have record-breaking numbers of female vice-rectors.

On the other side of the scale, Norway is a leader with women running 41% of universities, followed by the UK, Croatia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

Overall, in the past eight years, universities have made major progress. There are 73% more female rectors today than eight years ago - though they still account for less than a fifth in all EUA member universities in 2022.

At the same time, more and more women are climbing up the ladder, almost reaching the top, with the proportion of female vice-rectors increasing by 24% since 2014. Still, they represent less than a third of vice rectors in EUA members.

A bit lower down the ladder, however, women hold almost 60% of senior management positions. One obstacle to women reaching the top, the EUA says, is resistance to change in the institutions. Another is a common requirement that only people with full professorships can hold top positions – which disadvantages women in those universities with women in the minority of professors.