‘Understanding dramatic changes in the gender profile of Presidents of Irish Public Universities’.

The gender profile of Irish university Presidents changed dramatically between 2020–2023. From the sixteenth century, no woman had ever been appointed to this position in an Irish public university: now seven of the 12 are headed by women (58%), compared with roughly a quarter in the European Union (EU). Drawing on secondary data, the chapter explores four analytically distinct explanatory hypotheses: ‘glass cliff’; state interventions; the availability of qualified and interested candidates; and the characteristics and dynamics of specific institutions. There is considerable support for the glass cliff hypothesis with 100% of the nine processes run prior to the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020) appointing men, while seven of the nine (78%) run post COVID-19 appointed women. State initiatives, and the (continued) availability of qualified interested female candidates, created a supportive context. Indicators in individual higher education institutions such as a tradition of courses in women’s studies, of gender equality champions, of women at professorial and Vice-Presidential level were also important. The chapter concludes by questioning the depth of change, reflecting on the appointees’ profiles and the persistence of other indicators of gender inequality. It concludes that although change in the gender profile of Irish universities is to be welcomed, gender inequality persists.