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Monash University Vice-Chancellor Professor Margaret Gardner . Picture : David Geraghty / NewsCorp Australia .
Rising leaders
One quarter of top global universities led by women .
By Emilie Lauer
Monash Vice-Chancellor Margaret Gardner and University of Queensland Vice-Chancellor Deborah Terry are the only two Australian women leading a top global university , according to the latest higher education rankings .
For International Women ’ s Day in March , Times Higher Education analysed data from their 2023 World University Rankings .
The publication found that only 48 of the 200 highest ranked global higher education institutions are led by women - a figure that has nearly doubled over the past five years .
In Australia , only two universities in the top 200 were led by female vice-chancellors .
Monash University ’ s VC and former G08 chair Professor Margaret Gardner ranked in ninth place globally .
Appointed to the top job in 2014 , Professor Gardner previously held the positions of vice-chancellor and president of RMIT University .
She has previously been Chair of Universities Australia and Museum Victoria .
University of Queensland Vice-Chancellor Professor Deborah Terry , who was appointed in 2020 , ranked in tenth position .
Professor Terry began her academic career at the University of Queensland during the 90s where she studied psychology , before moving up ranks to become Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor in 2012 .
Professor Terry was also Curtin University ’ s Vice-Chancellor in 2014 .
Her passion for tertiary education led her to join Universities Australia as a board member in 2015 before serving as its chair in 2019 for a two-year term .
In 2015 , she was made an Officer in the General Division of the Order of Australia for her distinguished service to education in the tertiary sector .
While the Times Higher Education ranking noted an increase in women leading universities , half of the universities included in the top 200 were run by men .
Out of the 27 countries included in the ranking , 12 had no women leading higher education institutions .
Globally , the United States had the highest numbers of women leading universities , with 16 institutions out of 58 led by women .
In the UK , eight of the 28 universities in the top 200 were led by women , including Oxford University which ranked first worldwide .
France has the highest percentage of elite universities run by women , with three of the higher education institutions employing women in the top job .
Of the top 200 universities , 10 per cent of female-led institutions were run by women of colour .
Over the past two decades , women have made up more than 50 per cent of the Australian tertiary workforce , according to the Australian Bureau of Statistic .
The number of women in academic leadership positions in Australia has doubled over the last decades , from 15.5 per cent in 2001 to 37 per cent in 2021 .
By comparison , women in professional leadership positions grew from 36.7 per cent to 52.8 per cent over the past 20 years . ■
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