Leadership at Ivies, Part II

Becoming a leader at an Ivy takes a special career. An individual who attains one of these positions has had a professional journey that has been spectacular along with outstanding networking and business skills. In my previous article about Leadership at Ivies, I questioned why the Chronicle even looked, and I mean looked at who the leaders are at the eight Ivy League schools and asked some questions concerning demographics and what the Chronicle was trying to accomplish with the pictorial article.

Moving forward, I would like to delve into other aspects of diversity at the Ivies; diversity of thought, diversity of credentials, and diversity of age.

When I think of diversity of thought I think of business talk and the desire to fend off groupthink. In large institutions, grougpthink can be a huge problem because individuals often go along with consensus and organizations that are struggling continue to do just that, struggle because the group does not have the courage to implement change. Some say this occurs because there is not enough diversity of thought to effectively bring together the multitude of different workers, personalities, and points-of-view to get the job done.

Moving from business to higher education, most would assume that colleges and universities have an abundance of diversity of thought, but is there? The University of Colorado was searching for a Visiting Scholar in Conservative Thought and Policy in 2013; why would a major university need to find a scholar in conservative thought if higher education has an abundance of diversity of thought? I know this is political diversity but this type of lack of diversity creeps into the many different working aspects of an organization. Can a conservative sit down with a liberal and get the job done without having problems? Can an administrator sit down with a group of people who think differently and work for the common good of the organization? Circling back to the Ivy League; does the Ivy League have enough diversity of thought to be immune from this type of press that occurred at the University of Colorado or enough diversity of thought that allows all workgroups to get the job done (whatever job that might be)?

All institutions of higher education strive for diversity of credentials; bringing together a variety of people that have been trained around the country and world. This is important for all the reasons associated with diversity but when it comes of Ivy leadership is there diversity of credentials? Below are the presidents of the Ivy League schools with their degrees:

Christina Paxson, President of Brown

B.A., Swarthmore College; M.A. and Ph.D. from Columbia University

Lee Bollinger, President of Columbia University

B.S., University of Oregon; J.D. from Columbia University

David Skorton, President of Cornell University

B.A. and M.D. from Northwestern University

Philip Hanlon, President of Dartmouth College

B.A., Dartmouth College; Ph.D., California Institute of Technology

Drew Gilpin Faust, President of Harvard University

B.A., Bryn Mawr College; M.A. and Ph.D. from University of Pennsylvania

Christopher Eisgruber, President of Princeton University

A.B., Princeton University; MLitt., Oxford University; J.D., University of Chicago

Amy Gutmann, President of University of Pennsylvania

A.B., Radcliffe College; M.Sci., London School of Economics; Ph.D., Harvard University

Peter Salovey, President of Yale College

A.B., A.M., Stanford; M.S., M.Phil., and Ph.D., Yale  College

Before I continue, in no way am I questioning the qualifications or long, successful careers of these presidents, I am just looking at where they attained their degrees. I also understand the needs of these institutions are unique amongst colleges and universities; huge endowments, mega fundraising, and students whose parents are world leaders and titans of industry.

But when it comes to diversity of credentials, it seems the Ivy League is a closed loop. As a student, if you did not attend one of these institutions (or equivalent) by age 18, then becoming an Ivy League president is already out of the picture (except Lee Bollinger and his bachelors from Oregon...go Ducks!). I know I am pointing out the obvious that the president of Penn got her Ph.D. from Harvard, or the president of Harvard got her Ph.D. from Penn; or the president of Yale got his Ph.D. from Yale; or the president of Columbia got his J.D. from Columbia; and the non-Ivy League doctorates are from University of Chicago, Northwestern, and California Institute of Technology (non-Ivy, Ivies).

This closed loop at the top tier of higher education does not bother me, the Ivy League must maintain exclusivity, but this precedence radiates to other institutions. Again, I am not questioning the careers or the work ethic of leaders who went to the Ivy League, I am questioning the need for other schools to prefer people who attained their degrees at these eight, or if you expand to Ivy equivalents, twenty schools. Being led by people who only attained their degrees from these institutions limits diversity of credentials, but with that said, when a university or college announces its new president, dean, or provost, it looks really good when they got their Ph.D. from an Ivy.

Finally, diversity of age. Are all the leaders at the Ivy League 55 and above? Are the top leaders 65 and above? Is there a mixture of mid-level leaders who are in their 40s and 50s with a few wunderkinder in their 30s?

Age diversity is important because each generation is shaped by their parents, by events that occurred before they became adults, and by their experiences as young adults. Should an institution only be led by people who  turned 18 in the late 60s and early 70s?

When institutions are open to age diversity they listen to the needs of their students more effectively. Undergraduate and graduate enrollment at the Ivy League is 50/50, but that means that half of the students are under 24 and the other half is around 33.

Can a president who is 65 listen to the needs of students who are 30 to 40 years younger? Can other leaders such as vice presidents, provosts, deans, and directors, who help advise the president and lead their own parts of the institution, listen to the needs of student if there is no age diversity?