Women’s Leadership Dilemma: Why Ethiopian Women in Academia Prefer to Stay away from Decision-Making?

Notwithstanding the growing visibility in political and administrative positions, women are not sufficiently represented in higher education leadership in Ethiopia. The present study attempts to unravel why women do not take up leadership against the backdrop of “female leadership advantage’’ and favourable policy environment that purportedly exist. Based on re-analysis of secondary quantitative data and an in-depth interview with 20 current and former female academic leaders, it is found that more and more women in academia are less willing to take up leadership roles. Furthermore, the study is unable to confirm the widely advertised political will and policy promises to ensure gender inclusion in higher academic leadership due to the erratic trends of gender balance over the past half a decade.