Hartford Business Journal

12 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JANUARY 23, 2023 Greater Hartford colleges are led by a number of diverse women and minority leaders including: (Standing from left) Rhona Free, president of the University of St. Joseph; UConn President Radenka Maric; John Maduko, CEO of the Connecticut State Community College system; Zulma Toro, president of Central Connecticut State University; (sitting from left) Joanne Berger-Sweeney, Trinity College president; and Terrence Cheng, president of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities. HBJ PHOTO | STEVE LASCHEVER Narrowing The Gap Amid national DEI efforts, Greater Hartford colleges make strides in diversifying top leadership roles By Robert Storace rstorace@hartfordbusiness.com C orporate America and busi- nesses in general have put a much greater focus on leader- ship diversity in recent years. While those efforts have yielded mixed results, one industry has seemed to fare better than many others in promoting diversity within its top ranks: higher education. And it's a trend that surfaced even before the May 2020 murder by police of George Floyd, which put a spotlight on racial inequities and forced companies and other orga- nizations to take a hard look at their diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. In Connecticut, almost half of the 20 largest colleges and universities in the state are led by women, while minorities are seeing an increasing share of top-level positions. By comparison, there is only one women CEO leading the 20 largest publicly traded companies headquar- tered in Connecticut (Judy Marks, chief executive of Otis Worldwide) and one minority leader (Pedro Azagra Blazquez, CEO of energy giant Avangrid), according to a Hartford Business Journal analysis of leadership diversity. Women and minorities over the past year have been tapped to take over some of Connecticut's most prestigious higher-education jobs. Serbia native Radenka Maric in September was named UConn's second woman president, while John Maduko, a Black man, was named the first-ever CEO of the Connecticut State Community College system. Maduko's boss, Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system President Terrence Cheng, a Chinese-American, was named to his position in July 2021. Nationally, efforts to diversify higher-education leadership have also shown some progress. A 2022 analysis by Inside Higher Ed, found there was a spike in minority univer- sity and college president hiring in the wake of Floyd's killing. According to Zippia Inc., a site that provides online recruitment services, 54.5% of college presidents in 2010 were men; that number fell to 51.3% in 2019. Diversity efforts Of the 20 largest colleges and universities in Connecticut, nine are led by women or minority presidents. Women, overall, have made greater strides in earning leadership roles than minority candidates. Higher-ed's diversity efforts stem from several factors, experts said, including heightened awareness of DEI in recent years as well as a stronger and more robust pipeline of women and minority candidates. There's also shifting expectations in the competencies colleges are seeking in their leaders. "Sometimes, the business community has tunnel-vision to its shareholders instead of their true constituents," said Joanne Berg- er-Sweeney, who was named the first woman and Black person to lead Trinity College in 2014. "Colleges and universities are preparing students of diverse backgrounds for their lives ahead, and maybe multiple careers. Many (colleges) today feel it is important to have people at the top who reflect that population. Industry, sometimes, has a narrow view (of diversity)." Murtha Cullina partner Patricia Reilly, a lawyer who is an expert on higher education and diversity issues, said a greater emphasis has been placed on DEI than ever before. "When you looked at the presi- dents of colleges and universities 20 and 30 years ago they were almost exclusively white men," Reilly said. "Some of it, yes, was brought on by George Floyd, that public awareness of disparities, but there has also been an emphasis on DEI, both in the private sector and in education." Reilly said having diverse individ- uals lead education institutions also reflects the changing demographics of the student population. More women than men are now enrolled in colleges across the country, while the minority student population is also increasing. Being in a more progressive state also has its influences, college leaders said. "We have so many examples (of women leaders) here in Connecticut, and that's why we are ahead of a lot of states in this area," said Univer- sity of St. Joseph President Rhona Free, who has been in her post since 2015. "We've had terrific women governors, women in Congress, and women in business and as college presidents. I think the diversity among college presidents is valued and reflects the culture of the state." Of CT's 20 largest four- year colleges* … 11 are led by men 9 are led by women 3 are led by minority women *College size was based on undergraduate enrollment. Source: Hartford Business Journal research

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