Voices of women chief information officers.

Women who serve as their school's chief information officer (CIO) confront sexism on two fronts, said Dr. Marilyn Drury. "Not only do they have hurdles placed in their pathways from the male-dominated environment of higher education, but also those from the male-dominated environment of information technology."

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Drury knows full well the challenges these women face. She's the director of ITS educational technology at the University of Northern Iowa. She investigated the lived experience of women in the role of the CIO for her dissertation in higher education leadership, which she shared at the 2008 Women in Educational Leadership held in Lincoln, Nebraska in October.

Women are about 40% of the staff in information technology but only about 16% aspire to the top position. Nationally, women hold 20 to 25% of the CIO positions in higher education. "Women have not dominated in IT and in fact, the numbers have been declining," she said.

Using a qualitative research approach with three women CIOs at public institutions as "co-narrators," Drury sought to uncover the obstacles and opportunities women CIOs in higher education experience in the pursuit of their positions. She conducted two face-to-face interviews with each woman and one follow-up phone interview using a semistructured format with open-ended questions. The co-narrators, who were the first to respond to Drury's query for participants, were allowed to see the data.

Five emerged themes

* "Pioneers" were the first women CIOs at their universities, who reported overall positive experiences. They considered themselves" outsiders within," the less powerful in the male-dominated world of higher education.