The purpose of this study was to investigate, compare and document the experiences of women academic HoDs in higher education management in South Africa(SA) and the United Kingdom(UK). Consequently the following questions were posed: • What are the challenges, opportunities and constraints experienced by women academic HoDs prior to ascending into middle management positions? • What are the women academic HoDs experiences of their job as middle managers with its attendant tensions between various roles and responsibilities? • What are the lessons to be learnt from the experiences of women academic HoDs for academic policymakers and other women academics aspiring to be academic leaders and managers ? The specific objectives were to: • describe the challenges , opportunities and constraints experienced by women academic HoDs before ascending into middle management positions • explore the academic HoDs experiences of her job as middle manager with its attendant tensions between various roles and responsibilities • develop a set of recommendations, based on the experiences of women academic HoDs, for academic policymakers and aspiring women academic leaders and managers Theoretical framework Leadership research prior to the 1980s was carried out by male researchers and dealt exclusively with male leaders (Klenke 1996:15). Studies on women in leadership and management focused mainly on the barriers that prevented women ascending into senior management roles within organizations (Astin & Davis 1993; Bagilhole 2003; Brooks 1997; Brown 1997). Obstacles to the advancement of women into senior management roles still exist (Brown 1997). Aspiring women and institutions can adopt strategies to overcome and dismantle these obstacles( Brown 1997). The distinction between management and leadership has been an interesting subject of debate and much has been written about it. In brief, the manager pays attention to how things are done and a leader pays attention to what the events and decisions mean to participants(Zaleznik 1993). However, leaders and managers are not two different types of people; leadership cannot replace management; it should be in addition to management.

Methods The management and leadership experiences of thirty-two female heads of academic departments in four universities in South Africa and two in the UK were explored using a combined research design(Zulu 2007). A survey and interviews were used to collect data in two phases. Judgment sampling was used to select twenty three academic chairs for the survey( eight from the UK and fifteen from South Africa). For the focus group interviews, nine participants were selected ( six from South Africa and three from the UK). A central premise of the research was that successful chairs are both effective leaders and effective managers and that leadership and management involve complementary activities. Semi-structured interview guides were emailed to participants prior to interviewing and the interviews were guided by an interview schedule and were “topic oriented”(Lee & Fielding 2004:533). Quantitative and interview data was analysed using SPSS and qualitative data analysis strategies respectively.

Findings Findings suggest that the women department chairs in South Africa and the UK had similar experiences. They were confident about their competence in several aspects of management chief of which are communication and interpersonal skills. Problem solving skills, people skills, and being decisive were considered critical for success. Challenges included the restructuring and transformation processes, and dealing with the budget. A rigorous scholarship was perceived as crucial and the use of a participatory and collaborative leadership and management style was thought to be desirable. On-the-job training or learning-by-doing was considered to be the best form of training. The women were less confident in their skills of delegation, stress management, and entrepreneurship. However, they perceived mentoring as important, and as such a recommendation is made for institutions to provide ongoing leadership training and mentoring programmes for those women already in management and those aspiring to be managers.