When Sheneka M. Williams entered her doctoral program in K-12 educational leadership and policy at Vanderbilt University, the former high-school social-studies teacher was determined to become a school superintendent. She became a faculty member instead, and set her sights on breaking into university administration.
“It was a natural progression for me to think about leadership once I became a professor,” says Ms. Williams, now an associate professor in the department of lifelong education, administration, and policy at the University of Georgia. “I just kept thinking, How can I most affect change in higher education? In a leadership role.”
Ms. Williams is among nine faculty members at Georgia in a 2016-2017program that is designed to groom women for leadership positions. She spoke with The Chronicle about her administrative experience so far, what universities should do to help professors think seriously about leadership, and why balancing scholarship and administrative work is so important to her. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
