International Journal of Academic Multidisciplinary Research (IJAMR) ISSN: 2000-006X Vol. 3 Issue 3, March – 2019, Pages: 56-68 www.ijeais.org/ijamr 56 The Status of Gender in Senior Leadership Positions in Higher Education Universities in Tanzania 1 Watende Pius Nyoni, 2 Chen He School of Public Administration, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1037 Luoyu Road, Wuhan, China Email of the Corresponding Author: nyoniwatende@yahoo.com Abstract: Women under-representation in senior management post inside academic organizations remains to be an issue which needs a serious concern at national and international levels. Thus, women leaders are not in place to champion the change process. Societies, organizations and people themselves have determined that, only the males make good leaders. The gender status in the senior management positions in HE in Tanzania is virtually nonexistent. Data was sourced through administered questionnaire, FGD and interview where's senior academic and non-academic staff, together with senior university management officials were involved. Results in all seven studied universities that is SUA, MU, UDSM, JUCO, MuM and UDOM, show the positions of VC, DVCA and DVCAF to be headed by men except OUT which has a female DVCAA. Basing on the findings of this study, the researcher recommended on the transparency of procedures for recruitment and promotion, empowering women to meet employment criteria, developing a gender management system as well as mentoring and establishment of the networks for women in order to close the prevailing gender leadership gap. Keywords: Gender, Senior Leadership Positions, Higher Education, Tanzania 1: INTRODUCTION Over the past decades, women have been underrepresented in many sectors despite their remarkable gains in education and workplaces. Men seriously outnumber women in leadership, especially senior positions. Statistics towards gender parity in higher education leadership is well documented, though the pool of administrative talents is not utilized. Besides, the absence of women in higher education leadership in Tanzania is notable, but only limited data exist. No detailed study has been conducted on the status of gender in higher education in Tanzania. The existing literature that was surveyed does not give a sufficient understanding of the gender leadership gap in universities especially the top leadership positions. Rather, most studies are based on gender imbalance looking at the impact of affirmative action‟s Pre-Entry Program (PEP) and Female Undergraduate Scholarship Program. Thus, women leaders are not in place to champion the change process; this is because women are facing challenges in getting opportunities for senior leadership ranks despite their experience and academic qualifications. Many literatures and articles have been offering theories on the nature of the problem and how women could be advised to stand, step, lean in and make their voices to be heard. (Bryant-Anderson & Roby, 2012; Kaiser & Spalding, 2015; Kiser, 2015; Longman & Anderson, 2016; Miller, 2017) ; (J. R. Young, 2012; M. D. Young & Skrla, 2012). As it has been emphasized in many international organizations, education has been identified as a very important part in the realization of gender equality. For resistance, Article 4 of the World Declaration on higher education for the 21st Century (El-Khawas, 1998) called for the elimination of all genders stereotyping in higher education at all levels and in all disciplines in which women are underrepresented. Women‟s active involvement in decision making in higher education has been worldly emphasized. Furthermore, the participants at the UNESCO conference recommended that by the year 2010, university chairs, professors, and heads of department posts should be filled by men and women on an equal basis. However, a meeting of higher education partners organized in 2003 assessed the progress made in the African region since the UNSECO 1998. The conference revealed that there had not been any marked improvement in the participation of women in higher education (Unterhalter, 2005). In September 2000 at the Millennium Assembly, more than 189 member states adopted the Millennium Declaration. Built into the Millennium Declaration was a set of priorities, including precise and time bound development goals, which are (MDGs). Eight goals were identified to be achieved worldwide between 1990 and 2015. MDG3 is concerned with Promoting Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. This goal recognizes the importance of gender equality and women‟s empowerment in effecting social change and transformation. Indicators linked to this goal aim to measure progress towards ensuring that more women become literate, have more voice and representation in public policy and decisionInternational Journal of Academic Multidisciplinary Research (IJAMR) ISSN: 2000-006X Vol. 3 Issue 3, March – 2019, Pages: 56-68 www.ijeais.org/ijamr 57 making and have improved job prospects in nonagricultural sector. Despite these declarations and global conferences, several studies have been developed with the aim of understanding the difficulties which women encounter in the progression of their careers, and in proposing actions that institutions should take to improve the situation. Yet, the proportion of gender leadership in HE universities has not promised as masculine system dominate the norm. Following this logic, this article, therefore, focuses on examining the "Status of Gender in Senior Leadership Positions in HE universities in Tanzania" and recommends the schemes for reaching to parity. 2: THE STUDY INTENTION AND IMPLICATION This article intends to look at the status of women in HE senior leadership positions in Tanzania as female leaders in universities have been assumed to be nonexistent. The upshots of this paper will add-on to the current literature on women under-representation in higher education senior leadership positions, and contribute to the aggregate body of knowledge on women in higher education leadership in Africa as well as other developing countries. However, the study contributes to, approve or refute the existing concepts on gender disparity in senior leadership positions in higher education in Tanzania and provide a blueprint for getting to parity. 3: LITERATURE REVIEW This section reviews the appropriate literature associating to the study topic. It focuses on related theories and empirical studies on the status of gender in senior leadership positions in higher education, specifically Tanzanian universities. The section presents what is already known about the status of gender in higher education and gives a boulevard to a researcher to identify the existing research gap which leads the need for this study. The focus of these literatures are being justified by the way women have been involved in issues concerning decision making in different countries. Hence, the information obtained add-on the analysis on the "Status of Gender in Senior Leadership Positions in Higher Education Universities in Tanzania". 3.1 Theoretical Stances The formulation of theories in academic writing usually intends to explain, predict, and understand phenomena and, in many cases, to challenge and extend existing knowledge within the limits of critical bounding assumptions (Abend, 2008). In reference to this concept a study on the status of gender in senior leadership positions in higher education universities in Tanzania looks at theories grounded in women under-represented in a senior leadership position. In this case theories are used as analytical tools to recognize and clarify issues related to the study topic (Priede, Jokinen, Ruuskanen, & Farrall, 2014). In this research, theory has been used to get the existing knowledge which was useful in supporting or opposing the clarification of the field findings in relation to the status of gender in in senior leadership positions in HE universities. Therefore, the wider knowledge of this study relied on the application of liberal feminism as it helps in understanding a certain aspects of gender difference and gender inequality by considering the aspects of social and political power relations together with the promotion of women's rights in the society. Besides, it creates the feeling that there is something wrong with society‟s treatment of women and tries to find out the reason and dimensions of women's oppression. The Liberal Feminism theory asserts the equality of men and women through political and legal reform. This school of thought is reformist in nature, seeking to improve the status of women within the system, but not fundamentally contesting either the system‟s operation or its legitimacy. It is an individualistic form of feminism which focuses on women‟s ability to show and maintain their equality through their own actions and choices. According to liberal feminists, all women are capable of asserting their ability to achieve equality, and therefore it is possible for change to happen without altering the structure of society. Liberal feminism concentrates on the interaction between men and women as it can be fruitful to bring gender equality. It states that women and men should not be differentiated on the basis of a biological factor. If women and men are not so different, they should not be treated differently in the society under the law. Women and men should have equal rights regarding legal matters, education and work opportunities. It tries to remove the gender system as it has discriminatory effects on women in the society. It appeals the society to recognize past achievements of women and their current capabilities in many fields. Thus, the above clarification highlights the diversity of feminist theories and linked assumptions centering on gender disparity, for example on race, class and ethnicity, on which the study could have been based. Though, given the setting of this study I decided to focus on gender disparity basing on gender discrimination and used only liberal feminist theory to clarify and understand the status of gender in senior leadership positions in higher education universities in Tanzania, since its notion seems to be International Journal of Academic Multidisciplinary Research (IJAMR) ISSN: 2000-006X Vol. 3 Issue 3, March – 2019, Pages: 56-68 www.ijeais.org/ijamr 58 more appropriate in this study compared to other theories which have been discussed in various literature. Meanwhile, the study on the status of gender in senior leadership positions in higher education universities in Tanzania could fit in liberal feminist theory as it aims at exposing the real situation of senior management in universities and find out the right intervention towards the stated discrimination (Lorber, 2010). This means, the theory needs equal chances for both men and women ((Mbepera, 2015) without looking on their biological differences rather taking them in view of qualification, talents and determination (Dean, 2008).The theory also was revealed by (Marlow & Patton, 2005) who insisted on how to address gender disparity in organizations so as to speed up leisurely advancement of women without relying on sex. But this theory does not reflect on the harmful factors in the society which hinders women‟s progression in leadership (Alvesson & Billing, 2009). Women are deprived, likened to men. This situation weakens their experience in striving for leadership positions. For example, glass ceiling, sexual harassment, a lack of mentors and networking opportunities (Calás & Smircich, 2003) sex discrimination, bias and stereotyping all together pull back the efforts of women to the leadership ranking. Furthermore, the liberal feminist theory believe in the same mental capability between men and women, thus equal rights should be given to, both in terms of political, economic and social sphere (Kark, 2004). However (Lorber, 2010) asserts that, in the society women are discriminated and oppressed by men because of having a masculine mind that supports men in power. Sharing this view, most of the top positions in organizations are held by men while women are limited by structural glass ceiling for appointment and promotions. Their underrepresentation in senior leadership positions is due to bias against them in recruitment and promotion. As reported by (Lorber, 2010) that, liberal feminism explains also about the perseverance the gender separation of occupations and stratification of administrative ladders whereby males are always placed at the top. This theory can be applied in African countries as far as Tanzania is concerned, even though the theory originated from the USA. It is a misconception to view feminism theory as western philosophy which mirrors western culture due to the fact that, feminism is like other western theories which resulted from colonialism and have been worthwhile when applied in the African context (Higgs, Higgs, & Wolhuter, 2004). The author keeps on arguing that, feminism has its origins in the African conditions whereby African women have been aware of the oppression basing on gender but they have been challenging the situation throughout history. Basing on what have been discussed, liberal feminist theory is appropriate to fit in the study on the status of gender in senior leadership positions in higher education universities in Tanzania as it mirrors issues relating to gender disparity in leadership, hence opens the room to come up with sustainable strategies which will add value in closing the gender leadership gap in Tanzania‟s universities. However, liberal feminism theory fails to address the unseen harmful factors originating from societal values, beliefs, norms, attitudes and stereotypes and those within women themselves that hinders their struggles to reach senior leadership positions in organized while men leading to top positions (Lorber, 2010). Liberal feminist theories also do not take into account how majority women (including Tanzanian women) postulate patriarchy, work and reproduction, as these theories treat women as the same group regardless their unique roles practiced by women. Regardless of these faults, built on liberal feminist theory, its strengths discussed in this study have added value for gaining knowledge on the status of gender in senior leadership positions in higher education universities in Tanzania and how the gender leadership gap can be closed and bring parity into top leadership positions in universities. 3.2 The status of gender in senior leadership position on International perspective Women have been under-represented in the senior leadership position worldwide despite the great gains they made in earning more degrees. Gender disparity in leadership positions can be seen in different sectors as it has been revealed by (Derks, Van Laar, & Ellemers, 2016) that, in 2015 there were only 5 percent female chief executive officers who were managing Standard and Poor‟s companies of about 500 directories. In additional to that, women in the nonprofit sectors continue to be under-represented, though, are expected to be in leadership positions. For instance, the study done by Massachusetts in 2015 discovered that, only 21 out of 151 nonprofit organizations had boards with at least 50 percent women (Vinnicombe, Doldor, Sealy, Pryce, & Turner, 2015). Meanwhile, women in higher education still track in top academic leadership. They are under-represented among the positions of tenured faculty and full professors, who exercise much of the power to employ and contract colleagues as well as to International Journal of Academic Multidisciplinary Research (IJAMR) ISSN: 2000-006X Vol. 3 Issue 3, March – 2019, Pages: 56-68 www.ijeais.org/ijamr 59 prioritize areas of research. Their underrepresentation in turn limits their chances to progress into formal leadership positions at colleges and universities. It is therefore not surprising that men outnumber women even among newly appointed deans, provosts, and presidents (Raskin, Edina, Krull, & Minnetonka, 2015) Nevertheless, studies done in New Zealand also show that, on the position of professors and associate professors, women represented only 16.9 per cent (Casey, Skibnes, & Pringle, 2011) and in the United States only 23% of women were full professors (Guskey, 2009; Samble, 2008).The situation was worse in England where only 13% were mentioned as full professors (Doherty & Manfredi, 2010). This condition tells clearly how women are being diminished in leadership positions at all levels in higher education. There are a number of challenges and limitations which are being faced by women academics in universities like chances for promotions and even access for taking administrative responsibilities. Literature shows that talented women continue to have difficulty advancing their career worldwide (Burke & Major, 2014). The barriers women face in universities include those related to male definitions of "merit" and a "chilly" organizational culture premised on male lifestyles (Boud & Solomon, 2001). Moreover (Su & Gaughan, 2014) recognized the experiences of female academics, even though the university management has not been responsive to the challenge collectively. However, the efforts made to date does not show the positive impact on gender parity, especially for senior leadership in higher education. 3. 3 The status of gender in senior leadership position in African perspective While academic staff employment and retention remain a challenge across the globe, the situation in many African countries appears to be particularly urgent. Leaders of African universities recognize the overwhelming impact of staff deficiencies on the goals of institutions of higher education and caution that if something is not done very soon, the African academy will not only lose its ability to produce proper employees to support the countries‟ human resource needs but also to sustain and defend the excellence of intellectual life in the Africa region. The contribution and experiences of senior women in higher education can bring unique impact if could not be ignored. Their inputs could help to develop an understanding on the development of strategic growth for women in higher education. Meanwhile, the continuation of traditional norms which rely on maledominated leadership has created a big gender gap which needs serious action. Literatures show that, in 2007 three of the 23 vicechancellors (13%) and five of the 23 registrars (21%) in South Africa were women. They also encompassed 21% of the deputy vice-chancellors, while another 21% were executive directors. Though women set up over 50% of the higher education personnel in South Africa they are still underrepresented in senior positions (Ogunsanya, 2007) (Nwajiuba, 2011) stated that, despite the efforts which have been taken to close the gender disparity gap, higher education needs special attention whereby the gender gap which have been created over the years seem to be a natural gender role distinction all over the world. The situation of women, under-representation is more worse in Nigeria where women academics were denied maternity leave under the University Law and in some cases, they were not allowed to get married or have children (Olaogun, Adebayo, & Oluyemo, 2015) while others were even refused employment despite the fact that they were qualified (Eboiyehi, Fayomi, & Eboiyehi, 2016). In additional to that the percentage of women academic employed in some of African universities are also shocking. For example, women employed as full time academic staff range from the high of 50% in Jamaica to the least of 9.5% in Ghana, with a Commonwealth average of 24%. The smallest percentages were found in Ghana 9.5%, Nigeria 13.6%, Tanzania 11.0%, Zambia 10.9% and Zimbabwe 9.8% (Olaogun et al., 2015). Overall, studies have shown that women generally are under-represented in top leadership positions in Africa. This fact has been revealed by the survey done across 10 African countries in 2007 Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, Zambia, Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe and found that "even though women constitute over 50 percent of the higher education , workforce, only eight percent were vice chancellors and 12 percent were registrars; while 21 percent of women were appointed as deputy vice chancellors and executive directors" (Madimbo, 2016) Besides, (Morley, 2013) witnessed that only 10% of professors in Ghanaian universities were women, while Uganda had 12% in 2008. In Kenya, (Onsongo, 2004) noted that there were no woman vice chancellors and only one female deputy vice chancellor in 2002. According to (Onsongo2004), more women in Kenyan universities were heads of International Journal of Academic Multidisciplinary Research (IJAMR) ISSN: 2000-006X Vol. 3 Issue 3, March – 2019, Pages: 56-68 www.ijeais.org/ijamr 60 departments (13.2%), deans of faculty (18.2%) and registered female students (25%) in 2002. 3.4 Women and leadership in Higher Education in Tanzania Despite the efforts which have been taken for a number of years now, women‟s participation in Higher Education senior leadership positions in Tanzania is still low, specifically in positions that traditionally belongs to a male. The pattern of male prevalence in senior leadership positions in Higher Education is visible in countries with diverse policies and legislation for gender equality as far as Tanzania is concerned. Looking at the oldest university in the country, the University of Dar es Salaam (56 years old) for example, the top four leaders that is, VC, DVCAA, DVCR and DVCA are men (Ishengoma, 2016). Nevertheless, gender parity in colleges and schools of the same university is miserably low, where schools and centers women is out of 166 heads of colleges, are 34 in total (Muhanga, 2016). These results are contrary to the initiatives which are being taken to present equity as far as gender parity is concerned. Statistics show that, all female Vice Chancellors are for small private universities with less than 2,000 students. Among all the public universities and colleges that admit more than 75% of the Higher Education students in the country, there is no single female Vice Chancellor and there is only one DVCAA in one public university. The situation is even worse when one assesses the composition and the academic ranks of faculties, which would form the pool of potential women academic leaders. The number of women Professors and Associate Professors is very low. Using the example of the University of Dar es Salaam again, which could actually serve as the best example, given its age and diversity of academic disciplines, the number of female Professors is in fact shockingly low. Among more than 110 professors only 10 of them are female (less than 10%). Even for those senior female professors, many of them have already reached mandatory retirement age of 60 years and cannot be appointed into any leadership positions in the public sector and thus disqualified from leadership positions at the universities. The situation cannot be left unchecked and without redress and thus calls for immediate intervention. If the situation is abandoned, the universities will continue perpetuating gender imbalances without role female models and senior professors who have influence to push the agenda forward. 4. SELECTION OF THE STUDY AREA AND SAMPLE DEPICTION The study was conducted in the Eastern Zone of Tanzania. This zone was purposely chosen because it has many universities which involve old government and religious universities that could provide detailed information about the study. Besides, most of the universities located in this zone teach gender courses and few of them have gender faculties like the University of Dar-es salaam, which is the oldest university in the country with a high concentration of the student from all over the world. Meanwhile, this study comprises the sample of 250 respondents; 7 Vice Chancellors from seven selected universities, 125 senior academic staff and 118 non-academic staff Table 1: Number of participants by gender and sampling methods which were used Category Type of sampling Males Females Total Vice Chancellors Purposive sampling 7 7 Senior academic staff Simple random sampling 65 60 125 Non-academic staff Simple random sampling 62 56 118 TOTAL 134 116 250 4.1: Approaches, Data Collection Instrument and Analysis This study used the mixed methods approach, whereby qualitative and quantitative methods were blended in a single study (Johnson & Onwuegbuzie, 2004). The use of mixed methods approach provides a better understanding of research problems resulting in better effects for solving the discovered issue (Molina-Azorin, 2012). Thus, with the use of mixed methods approach some weaknesses which may arise in one method can be overwhelmed by another method. Likewise, this study used semi-structured interviews (key informant interviews) and FGDs to obtain qualitative data and questionnaires which were designed in a Likert-Scale format (mostly with closed but a few open-ended questions) to obtain quantitative data. Similarly, Data in this study were analyzed based on research questions, where‟s qualitative data were triangulated by quantitative technique. Therefore, International Journal of Academic Multidisciplinary Research (IJAMR) ISSN: 2000-006X Vol. 3 Issue 3, March – 2019, Pages: 56-68 www.ijeais.org/ijamr 61 open-ended questions and qualitative data used thematic analysis while the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) (version 21) was used in the closed-ended questions in the quantitative data. Additionally, quantitative data were presented and analyzed through the figures with percentages, while the presentation of qualitative data was done through summarized themes which were shown in tables. This kind of presentation was done purposely due to the fact that qualitative data was just explaining and ratifying the quantitative data. Then, voices and description from the qualitative data were presented. 5: FINDINGS AND ARGUMENT 5.1: Approaches, Data Collection Instrument and Analysis This study used the mixed methods approach, whereby qualitative and quantitative methods were blended in a single study (Johnson & Onwuegbuzie, 2004). The use of mixed methods approach provides a better understanding of research problems resulting in better effects for solving the discovered issue (Molina-Azorin, 2012). Thus, with the use of mixed methods approach some weaknesses which may arise in one method can be overwhelmed by another method. Likewise, this study used semi-structured interviews (key informant interviews) and FGDs to obtain qualitative data and questionnaires which were designed in a Likert-Scale format (mostly with closed but a few open-ended questions) to obtain quantitative data. This section presents findings and argument of the status of gender in senior leadership positions in higher education universities in Tanzania. Seven universities participated in this study, where‟s, 236 participants out of 250 responded to the questionnaires which were given. Data from the field were discussed and analyzed using SPSS for the questionnaire and thematic content for the qualitative information. Figure 1: Frequency distribution of respondents by institutions and gender Source: Field Data, March 2018 Figure 1 shows respondents‟ institutions by gender. The findings show male respondents to outnumber the female by far, where‟s Mzumbe university seems to have the highest percent of 83.33 men respondents followed by UDSM with 80% and JUCO 75%. MuM shows the satisfactory participation of gender as women counted for 42.86% of 57.14% of their male counterparts, with 33.33% female respondents in OUT and 66.67% of men. SUA had 71.70% of male participating respondents with 28.30 % of female while 71.43 men and 28.57 females responded from UDOM. However, these results are not surprising on the participation for men and women as the gender staffing ratio in all participating universities, men outnumbered women. 5.1.1Academic qualifications of respondents by gender International Journal of Academic Multidisciplinary Research (IJAMR) ISSN: 2000-006X Vol. 3 Issue 3, March – 2019, Pages: 56-68 www.ijeais.org/ijamr 62 Meanwhile, the highest academic qualification obtained by respondents in all universities by gender revealed that males constituted the highest proportions of those with, degree, Masters degrees and PhD. In the first degree the males obtained 52.9%, with 60.2% Masters, 75% M.Phil. and 66.7% PhD, compared to 47.1% of the first degree owned by female with 39.8%, 25% and 33.3% respectively. Figure 2: Academic qualifications of respondents by gender Source: Field Data, March 2018 5.1.2 The Status of Women in Senior Leadership Positions in the Selected Universities Though, the status of women over the past decades has been improving in paid employment, the findings of this study have shown a big gender gap in HE top leadership positions. The proportional of gender in senior leadership positions in seven participating universities is not promising, as men outnumber female by far. The percentage distribution of respondents in senior management positions by gender indicated that in SUA, MU, MuM, JUCO, UDOM and UDSM the positions of Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellors were occupied by men except OUT where the position of Deputy ViceChancellor is headed by a female. The results of this study is also being connected to a number of other studies which had witnessed the under-representation of women in senior management positions in the early twentieth century, whereas, male dominated almost all universities including those in Europe and America. For, instance, have revealed that in the early part of the twentieth century, male dominance in senior management positions was apparent in virtually all universities including those in Europe and America. For example, a study titled Status of Women at Iowa State University (Gronn, 2002) reported that women were under-represented at the centers of management power in that university. The study found that there were no women in Iowa State University‟s leadership positions (i.e. President, Provost, Vice Provost for Research and Advanced Studies/ Dean of the Graduate College, Vice Provost for Extension, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Programs, Vice President for Student Affairs, Vice President for Business and Finance). Of eight Academic Deans at Iowa State University, only 2 were women. Likewise, as it has been reported in this study that, women were not visible even in the principal positions. In UDOM for example, the findings show that, males occupy 91.8% compared to 8.2% 0f women in the position of deans, directors and HoDs. The worst situation was found in JUCO where women occupy only 6.7% of the principal positions compared to 93.3 of their male counterparts. Meanwhile, gender leadership gap in HE universities is also observed in Nigerian university as reported by (The Punch News, 2015) that, since the establishment of the first university in Nigeria in 1948, only 12 women have occupied the position of university vice-chancellor in over 138 federal, state and private universities up to 2015. (Figure 3). International Journal of Academic Multidisciplinary Research (IJAMR) ISSN: 2000-006X Vol. 3 Issue 3, March – 2019, Pages: 56-68 www.ijeais.org/ijamr 63 Figure 3: Senior Administrative Positions by Gender Source: Field Data, March 2018 However, the data from the questionnaire were triangulated by the qualitative data from the interview and FGD which coincided with those of the questionnaire. Showing the status of gender in senior management positions of the university, a VC-4 said: "... Of course, all top three positions here I mean a VC, DVCA and DVCAF are men...eeer these positions normally go with experience and academic qualification and we do ask people to apply but we didn't yet receive female applicant since this university started". Another Dean of faculty female interviewees who was representing the position of DVCA-2 in one university said: " ... from the best of my knowledge and experience I think apart from qualification and experience... the situation could be attributed to the patriarchal nature of our society where men dominate in all decision making processes... until recently, women were to be visible and not heard". ...it is very embarrassing when men see working under a woman boss as humiliation and normally they tend to ignore orders given by their female bosses. 5.1.3 Appointment based on qualification and experience Despite the great advancement in academic qualification for women in HE universities, but they still trail in top academic leadership. The findings from the current study report the gender leadership gap existing in HE management whereby the current position occupied by women, in turn limit their opportunities to progress into recognized leadership positions at colleges and universities. Data from the field further reveals that, though the appointment to a senior leadership position rely on the professional qualifications, but sometimes the procedures for the appointment is biased for women to excel in the senior position even if they are qualified enough for the post. The study has shown the criteria which have been set for appointment and promotion, that apart from the academic qualification, the aspirant should also have a leadership record for the post of HoDs or Dean so as to fit for the top management posts. But due to the macho system, leading universities, women are invisibly chosen for these lower positions resulting not to meet the requirement. Thus, the prevailing culture in HE contributes much for the women to get out the leadership ladder. Similarly, the study reflects to previous studies which indicated some obstacles faced by women when aspiring to senior leadership positions. (Madsen, 2012; MaürtinCairncross, 2014) pointed out that, women and men are equally skilled enough to perform senior management roles, but women face difficulties which affect their career development like biased appointment and promotion practices; male resistance to women in management positions; absence of policies and legislations to ensure participation of women, and limited opportunities for management training. The evidence from the questionnaire buttressed the interview and FGDs, whereby the majority of members coincided with the results of the questionnaires. A VC-3 in one university avowed: "...here, women are under-represented in senior management positions. Out of the four Principal Officers, none is a woman. There is no female provost, no female Dean 7 6 7 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 VC DVC-ARC DVC-ADM Male International Journal of Academic Multidisciplinary Research (IJAMR) ISSN: 2000-006X Vol. 3 Issue 3, March – 2019, Pages: 56-68 www.ijeais.org/ijamr 64 and no female Director except one female who is also acting HoD because she has masters... Apart from academic qualification, one academic principal staff added: "...you know there are some reasons created by women themselves, not to get such positions... if women are put in such sensitive positions, they will not perform...some of them reject such positions because they feel such positions are meant for men...this may be due to the way society socializes male and female children...". 5.1.4 Leadership by gender and representatives The data from the current study denotes that, the proportional status of leadership by gender and representatives of the statutory committees like council and senate revealed gender biased policy, even if professional qualification were taken as a key determinant for a person to be appointed. The facts from the field has shown the male dominated councils of the participating universities as women were not considered in participating to the board meetings and senate, and for the few who was appointed were not visible as men overshadowed the number. Besides, these results are linked with the study done in Nigeria by (Madueke, Raimi, & Okoye) that, women in Nigerian universities are under-represented in many occupations, most noticeably in high level positions, despite the antidiscrimination protocols set by the country. Thus, the phenomenon is seen at its most extreme when the composition of management boards is considered. However, other studies relate the norm of gender imbalance in the senior leadership position with cultural values on the perception of women and leadership roles (Bassey, Ojua, Archibong, & Bassey, 2012). Their analyses were concerned with the social construction of gender and the assignment of specific roles, responsibilities and expectations to Other studies, which report that women equal or surpass men in promotion rates, have examined only exempt jobs (Lobel & Clair, 1992) or have women and men. A VC-2 interviewee said: "...there are so many obstacles working against women's career advancement in this university...the major one is the sociocultural belief that men are born leaders and women are their subordinates". ...So, when the need of appointing members of the council or senate, the same cultural discrimination leaders as the one who have a mandate to appoint they are likely male..." Table 2: A summary of participants' analysis on the status of women in leadership positions in the selected universities. Theme Sub theme Reasons Respondents Description 1 2 3 Male domination to senior posts All senior leadership posts headed by men Academic qualification and experience UNSM GoASFGD GoNASFGD Senior leadership posts need experience and high rank of academic qualification 7/7 10/10 15/15 Appointment based on qualification and experience Few women occupy principal positions Promotion base on qualification 7/7 7/10 10/15 Principal officers are promoted due to academic qualification and publication International Journal of Academic Multidisciplinary Research (IJAMR) ISSN: 2000-006X Vol. 3 Issue 3, March – 2019, Pages: 56-68 www.ijeais.org/ijamr 65 Leadership by gender and representatives Men outnumber women as deans, directors and statutory representatives Experience, qualification and gender biased policy 6/7 8/10 12/15 Deans, directors, HoDs are appointed basing on experience and qualification. Also depend on the gender policy Key: UNSM – University Senior Management; GoASFGDGroup of Academic Staff in Focus Group Discussions and GoNASFGD – Group of Non-Academic Staff in Focus Group Discussions Source: Field Data, March 2018 The findings of this study revealed the male ruled framework which has been practiced in HE in Tanzania, where there was no female VC in all participating universities, instead, a single woman in seven studied universities who occupies the position of Deputy-Vice Chancellor Academic and Affairs. The study additionally saw that; the man centric society sort of leadership has been practiced for quite a long time because of the social recorded foundation that the male makes better leaders. Additionally, gender stereotyping perfect has yielded a negative effect in society towards gender and leadership bringing about women forswearing for leadership positions as revealed in this study. Nonetheless, there is still a considerable measure to be taken into action. As the well-known saying "Fix the holes in the pipe" goes, the variety of actions and activities are needed. Therefore, in accordance with the proof from the writing and individual encounters, the researcher makes the following recommendations to energetically close the prevailing gender leadership gap in HE in Tanzania. Setting of targets:  Most of the policy statements and programs which are successful state what proportion of women are expected to be employed at the different levels. In trying to break into the key committees it may, for instance, be stated that initially there should be at least one-woman representative on the committees responsible for recruitment, promotion and research resource allocation. Thereafter, it may be stated that from a particular year, 20% or 30% of the professorial level staff should be women. Setting of targets provides the clear and quantifiable, objective to be achieved, the motivation to strive as well as the measure against which success or lack of it can be monitored and recorded Mentoring and Establishing Network for Women:  Encouraging leadership aspirant women to set up a network within a similar role would „disturb the patterns of social connectivity at work that have for so long privileged men. Thus, it is important for women to seek appropriate support to increase their aspiration, self-efficacy, and selfdetermination so that they will feel motivated to climb the ladder. Therefore, I recommend aspiring women leaders in the developing countries to be connected with international partners who are already holding highest leadership positions in universities Transparency of procedures for recruitment and promotion  Women often do not make advancement in their institutions because they lack proper information about the opportunities and the procedures/processes for employment, further training, and promotion. Frequently, promotion exercises are fraught with time consuming processes which women seem not to understand. It would be helpful if these were clearly enunciated and made known. When women do not succeed in promotions, they need to know what has held them back. Empowering women meet employment criteria  There is a need to broaden the way performance in academic employment is developed and judged. This is a matter for individual universities in their selection, tenure and promotion policies, but also for the sector in evaluating research performance for allocating resources. An immediate pressing need is for the sector to take greater responsibility for ensuring that women are able to meet the strong qualifications barriers embraced by the sector. The sector must develop strategies and programs to ensure that greater numbers of women enroll in and complete International Journal of Academic Multidisciplinary Research (IJAMR) ISSN: 2000-006X Vol. 3 Issue 3, March – 2019, Pages: 56-68 www.ijeais.org/ijamr 66 postgraduate research degrees. The allocation of scholarships and doctoral and postdoctoral programs must be designed and supported in ways that are flexible and encourage female enrollment and completion Regular monitoring and reporting  Clear monitoring and reporting channels need to be established so that information about the status of women's employment is widely known and shortfalls in achieving targets can be readily addressed. It is important that the outcomes be quantified, where possible, progress be charted, and the results be made public. Developing a gender management system  Developing a GMS for the higher education sector represents a comprehensive approach to achieving gender equity within the system. This approach engenders policy, programs, projects and the day-to-day operations of universities as well as put in place a change management strategy which creates an enabling environment for gender mainstreaming in the sector, and commits all the relevant stakeholders to effective implementation. 6. CONCLUSION Gender leadership gap in senior positions means that women are under-represented across all-decision making fora, including committees, boards, recruitment panels and the executive. This means that currently the expertise and skills of a significant part of the HE workforce are being under-utilized. The conclusion from this is that the paucity of women in higher education management and leadership position is indicative of the presence of the patriarchal culture in academia and unfriendly working environment for women. Hence, higher education institutions need to make the work place more conducive and women friendly to attract more females to the academic leadership process. Involving them in decision making and leadership and the commitment of the top management to narrow down the gap will have paramount importance. Networking, mentoring and providing leadership training aggressively can help young women to come forward. 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