Gender parity among authorities in the Ecuadorian system of high education

Abstract

In this article, the parity of genders is analyzed among authorities of the Ecuadorian system of higher education. The objective is to evaluate the temporal evolution of the incorporation of women into university leadership positions. University authorities are understood to be rectors, vice-rectors, and intermediate positions, such as deans, directors, and coordinators. For the theoretical discussion, the concepts of glass ceiling and vertical segregation are taken into account for explaining the findings. Two databases were analyzed that were constructed with information from reports that universities provide to the Board of Higher Education (Consejo de Educación Superior), which regulates the system. With these data, a descriptive statistical characterization was developed of the relative composition of men and women in leadership positions, considering the following variables: academic title, age, type of institutional financing, time in the university, and time until promotion. The final two variables are necessary requirements for accessing a leadership position. It is shown that the relative composition of men in senior positions has been a tradition in Ecuadorian higher education, a situation that has been reverted in recent years, in particular in intermediate positions, but that has still not changed in terms of the most prominent positions, such as rectors.

Keywords

• authorities
• ecuador
• higher education
• gender
• vertical segregation
• glass ceiling