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Leadership development and succession planning is a valuable strategy for closing the gender gap and providing an equal chance for males and females to be trained and involved in leadership roles. This strategy is an incredibly effective tool in higher education, where there is a significant disparity between male and female academic leaders. Despite its effectiveness, succession planning remained an overlooked component of the higher education system. Further research studies enhance our understanding of the current state of succession planning and the factors that affect the recruitment and selection of future academic leaders. Hence, this study aims to identify the current women’s leadership development and succession planning practices in public and private universities in Saudi Arabia. A qualitative study was conducted in a Saudi Arabian higher education setting. The interest in Saudi Arabia stems from the fact that succession planning is less likely to be practiced since gender discrimination is apparent when assigning leadership positions. Results indicate that top powers typically select leaders since succession planning is absent in Saudi Arabia’s higher education institutions. In this circumstance, networking and relationships play a significant role, as these institutions have no formalized succession planning process. In a highly gender-segregated society like Saudi Arabia, women are deprived of expanding their networks and showcasing capabilities to male decision-makers. The results of this study further identified the underlying components of the women’s leadership and succession planning process in the Saudi Arabian setting. This study contributes to leadership and succession planning knowledge and its implications, which may extend opportunities for practitioners, consultants, and policymakers to include women in higher education succession planning.

AbstractIn Saudi Arabia’s higher education, women remain an untapped resource, with many limitations in holding key positions and pursuing professional career development. However, over the past few years, the government of Saudi Arabia has actively promoted female leadership by implementing Vision 2030. Considering the substantial progress made in female leadership, it is imperative to explore the present state of female leadership in higher education institutions in the country. Additionally, there is a general scarcity of research on the role of women in Saudi higher education. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 23 academic professionals. The data were analyzed following a thematic approach using NVivo 12 software. The results indicated that the acceptance of female leaders in Saudi Arabia’s higher education sector is highly subjective and depends on several factors (e.g. age, educational background, and leader’s proficiency). Despite the perceived need to diversify the system and use females’ potential capabilities to advance education, the participation of females in leadership positions still lags behind that of males. Based on our thematic analysis results, there is currently no specific process for identifying and selecting new leaders, and future leaders are mainly chosen by top powers in the university. Although the Saudi government strongly supports female leadership through Vision 2030, it is occurring at a slow pace. The findings of this study contribute to the body of knowledge by prompting the government and decision-makers to consider taking actions that would foster females’ talent, and consequently, the integration of more women into the educational system