Women applying for presidency face 'border patrol'.

Gains in the number of women college presidents have slowed dramatically since 2001. Most studies of women's paths to the top are reflections from sitting presidents. What can we learn from candidates who didn't get the job?

Chief academic officers (CAOs) are the largest single source of presidents. Dr. Diane Dean, assistant professor of higher education administration at Illinois State University, used a national study of women CAOs to analyze their presidential search experiences. She spoke at the AERA meeting in Chicago in April.

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Dean described their experience as "facing the border patrol," a series of barriers and hazards: "We're recruiting 21st-century presidents using 19th-century processes."

Rites of passage include entry into the search process, initial interviews, the finalist phase and finally the offer and negotiation. At each hurdle, fewer women advance.

Surveys went to all 657 women CAOs at 2-year, 4-year and graduate not-for-profit, non-specialized colleges and universities in the United States listed in the 2002 Higher Education Directory, and 57% responded.

Entering the search