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<p>Organizations that ground their identities in moral authority are often assumed to model ethical behavior. Yet what happens when the moral frameworks guiding those institutions also shape who is permitted to lead? This study examines how religious institutional logics influence women’s access to leadership in U.S. higher education, a context where universities combine educational missions with explicit theological commitments. Integrating institutional logics theory with role congruity theory, this study investigates how complementarian and egalitarian theological orientations shape women’s representation on governing boards, top management teams (TMTs), and gender pay gaps. Using a mixed-methods design combining IRS Form 990 data from 214 matched pairs of religious and secular U.S. universities (2019–2021) with qualitative document analysis, findings show that conservative religious orientations significantly restrict women’s access to leadership. Evangelical-affiliated institutions have approximately 9 percentage points fewer women in TMTs, while institutions belonging to the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities have 17 percentage points fewer. Institutions with non-affirming LGBTQ + stances similarly exhibit lower female leadership representation. The central equity problem, therefore, is not unequal pay but restricted access to leadership itself. These findings illuminate how organizations that claim moral authority may simultaneously maintain systematic patterns of gender underrepresentation in leadership.</p>

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Who Leads the Faithful? Religious Logics and Women's Leadership in U.S. Universities

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年7月14日

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  • Linda Brewer

摘要

Organizations that ground their identities in moral authority are often assumed to model ethical behavior. Yet what happens when the moral frameworks guiding those institutions also shape who is permitted to lead? This study examines how religious institutional logics influence women’s access to leadership in U.S. higher education, a context where universities combine educational missions with explicit theological commitments. Integrating institutional logics theory with role congruity theory, this study investigates how complementarian and egalitarian theological orientations shape women’s representation on governing boards, top management teams (TMTs), and gender pay gaps. Using a mixed-methods design combining IRS Form 990 data from 214 matched pairs of religious and secular U.S. universities (2019–2021) with qualitative document analysis, findings show that conservative religious orientations significantly restrict women’s access to leadership. Evangelical-affiliated institutions have approximately 9 percentage points fewer women in TMTs, while institutions belonging to the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities have 17 percentage points fewer. Institutions with non-affirming LGBTQ + stances similarly exhibit lower female leadership representation. The central equity problem, therefore, is not unequal pay but restricted access to leadership itself. These findings illuminate how organizations that claim moral authority may simultaneously maintain systematic patterns of gender underrepresentation in leadership.