Written by Marie T. Mora

Women’s History Month and the focus of this publication naturally give cause to reflect on the status of Hispanic women in higher education. Just last year (2022), President Joseph Biden recognized Dr. Julieta García with the Presidential Medal of Freedom for being the first Mexican American woman to serve as president of a U.S. college or university, a position she first held in 1986. This recognition in itself demonstrates the long-standing lack of Latinas in leadership positions in higher education in the U.S. As discussed in this piece, despite making some progress in recent years, the changes have not been large enough to significantly alter the vast underrepresentation of Hispanic women in U.S. higher education institutions.

Hispanic Workers in Higher Education

In 2021 (the most recent year for which data are available), over 390,000 Hispanics worked in colleges, universities, and professional schools in the U.S., representing 11% of all workers in this industry. While this share is less than the Hispanic/Latino presence in the labor market in general (where they represented 18 percent of all workers ages 25 and older in 2021), it has been rising faster in higher education than in the overall labor market during the past 15 years. Indeed, only 7.6% of college and university employees were Hispanic in 2006.

Moreover, more Hispanic women than men work in higher education, which is not the case in the overall labor market. In 2021, more than 219,000 Hispanic women were employed at colleges and universities compared to 174,000 Hispanic men, representing 6.1% and 4.9%, respectively, of all workers in this industry. For context, Hispanic women and men accounted for 7.8% and 10.2% of all workers ages 25 and older in the U.S.  Thus, Latinas tend to find employment in higher education at higher rates than men do, although they still represent a lower proportion of workers overall.

Hispanic Women and Men among Faculty and Senior Leaders in Higher Education

Despite the increase in their representation among college and university employees, Hispanics, especially women, continue to remain underrepresented in faculty and leadership positions. For example, Hispanic women and men each accounted for approximately four percent of the faculty in U.S. colleges and universities between 2016 and 2021. These numbers had improved from a decade earlier (when they each accounted for three percent of faculty between 2006 and 2011). Nonetheless, given the disproportionate growth in the presence of Latinas employed in the higher education sector, a larger increase in their presence among faculty than for their male counterparts would have been expected.

With respect to Hispanic senior leaders in higher education, Latinas have made some relative progress in recent years, but their numbers remain rather small. For example, between 2016 and 2021, 2.8% of college and university chief executive officers were Hispanic women, and 3.6% were Hispanic men. Since 2006-2011, this share had risen for Latinas (from 1.2%), but fell slightly for Hispanic men (from 3.8%) Despite this improvement, these estimates suggest that the vast underrepresentation of Hispanics, particularly Latinas, in top leadership positions in higher education will persist for quite some time.

Hispanic Women and Men among Undergraduate Students

One reason to be concerned about the small numbers and presence of Hispanic women (as well as Hispanic men) among faculty and senior leaders in colleges and universities relates to a growing disconnect with the demographic profile of the students. The representation of Hispanic women among undergraduate students has been rising annually since 2009, reaching over 12 percent of all undergraduate students in 2021. The representation of Hispanic men among undergraduates, while below that of Hispanic women, also rose for much of this timeframe. However, this growth recently stalled, such that the 9.3%-Hispanic-male share of undergraduate students in 2021 was slightly lower than their share two years before.

If these trends continue, Latinas will become increasingly representative of Hispanic undergraduate students in U.S. colleges and universities. As such, the widening of the gap between the representation of Hispanic women among undergraduate students vis-à-vis faculty and senior leaders in higher education may result in a growing dearth of role models as well as leaders who may have unique insights into the needs of Latina (and arguably, Latino) students, which in turn can impact their trajectories and success. •

About the author

Marie T. Mora, Ph.D., is Provost Ad Interim and Professor of Economics at Metropolitan State University of Denver, and a member of the Board of Directors of the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education. She earned her Ph.D. in Economics from Texas A&M University, and bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Economics from the University of New Mexico. mmora16@msudenver.edu, (303) 605-5853