Professionalism and Clarity of Purpose Won the Day

Women in leadership roles in education have made it to the top by the dint of their focussed approach, calibre and stellar record. What they bring to the table is the acumen to handle complexities

- Meha Mathur

When India's leading engineering college, IIT Madras, established the off-shore campus in Zanzibar in July 2023, it was the culmination of painstaking process of approvals, faculty recruitment and infrastructure creation there. When the IIT decided that the campus would be headed by one of its faculty - Preeti Aghalayam - it was validation of the distance that women educationists have covered, and the acumen that they possess to not just advance their academic career but also lead an entire educational institution. In this case, on the foreign shores, with a world of cultural differences.

But Aghalayam shrugs off the import of this significant moment and refuses to cast it in 'breaking the glass ceiling mould. "At the end of the day it's not an award.

There is a job to do. And everybody is watching how I am performing. In a leadership role, they will be judging you but will also be a bit inspired by you." That is the freshness of perspective that women leaders now bring to the table-not gloating on their leadership role and looking at through the gender lens but focussing on the job at hand and taking the teams along.

In academia, the tasks at hand can be well-embroiled in bureaucratic quagmire. As Pankaj Mittal, Secretary General, Association of Indian Universities writes in her column in this issue, "Educational institutions are complex environments characterised by bureaucratic structures, budget constraints, and evolving pedagogical paradigms." But she assures, "Women leaders exhibit resilience by fostering collaboration, implementing innovative solutions, and navigating institutional challenges with tenacity and adaptability."

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