Higher education institutions can be greatly improved by the addition of women and minorities to the pool from which leaders are drawn. We know from experience that the best managed institutions--those most creative, dynamic, and responsive to change--are committed to and supportive of the advancement of women and minorites. This volume of New Directions for Higher Education is about the careers of women in higher education administraion. It discusses the career paths that women follow, the barriers that women face as their careers develop, the barriers that minority women face, what can be done to help them gain senior positions, and how our institutions can benefit once women hold senior positions in proprtion to their numbers in the profession. This is the 45th issue of New Directions for Higher Education. For more information on the series, please see the Journals and Periodicals page.