Is working at a public institution advantageous to African American women? It does seem that African American women experience more success in becoming a college president when they are employed at institutions in the public sector than in the private sector, However at private institutions, despite having to have more jobs than their sisters in the public sector, African American women seem to spend less time in higher education before becoming presidents of those institutions. White women do not share this experience.
Becoming a college president is not a simple task, and clearly, there is no specific blueprint of jobs to do so. There were no significant differences between the careers of African American and White women, but is it possible that each of these not so significant differences can add up to make one big difference.
So far, I can say that an African American woman who wants to become a college president apparently needs to consider not only the jobs she has previously had, but where she has had them -- two- or four-year institution, and public or private institution.
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