Overcoming the large gaps against women on many fronts of daily life is one of the pending tasks of humanity. Even so, there has been progress on fronts such as breaking the glass ceiling, the burden of care work at home and the reduction in wage gaps.

Proof of this is that more and more women are becoming leaders of university institutions and this is a phenomenon that is occurring all over the world. According to the most recent Times Higher Education ranking revealed last year, almost a quarter of the world's elite universities are being led by women.

In analyzing these figures, the World Economic Forum (WEF) pointed out that it is still worrying that of the 27 countries that have a university among the 200 best in the world, 12 of them have no women in the rectorships of their educational centers.

In Latin American countries, the case of Colombia stands out, where today 15 women lead higher education centers. These include the most important universities in the country, such as Universidad Nacional, Universidad de los Andes, Eafit and Colegio de Estudios Superiores en Administración (Cesa), among others.

The United States and Germany are pioneers in opening up leadership spaces at the academic level in universities.

In its analysis, the WEF cites Louise Richardson's closing speech as Chancellor of the world's leading university, Oxford. According to him, there is an obvious problem of a shortage of female talent at higher education levels. "This is a problem that needs to be addressed internationally. In the United States in 2018, women accounted for 53% of assistant professors and 46% of associate professors, but accounted for only 34% of full professors. Women of color remain disturbingly underrepresented in academia, although there are signs of positive movement on this issue."

In general, women have a steep road to travel to reach leadership positions in any field. In addition to facing gaps in remuneration, they must assume permanent care work that requires them to dedicate more time and when they do not have these limitations, they face the phenomenon of the glass ceiling.

That is why it is necessary to continue fighting to eliminate all these barriers, because women have much to contribute in the academic world: their discipline, all their intellectual abilities and their sensitivity to phenomena, make them great academic researchers and administrators. For all these reasons, it is necessary to continue expanding the presence of women in university management.