What does it mean to be a female university CIO?

What does it mean to be a female chief information officer (CIO) at a university? That's what Norma Holland,?director of Leadership Program Management and Professional Development for Educause, was looking to find out. University IT leadership has typically been a male-dominated space and Holland spoke with six female CIOs about how they got to their positions and what it takes to do the job well.?

Here's what each of them had to say:

Dr. Sharon E. Blanton,?VP and CIO at Hawaii Pacific University

"My advice to anyone considering the position would be to really reach out and talk to people who have been in the role, learn more about it, and then make sure you seek out a position that makes sense for you. Don't chase the title, but chase the work that is of most interest to you. It's so important that we be completely fulfilled by these jobs that we take on. It makes all the difference in the world to have the right match ? the right position, in the right place, at the right time."

Bridget Barnes,?VP and CIO at?Oregon Health & Science University

"I don't really feel like confidence played a role. I would describe it as determination. I was always seeking the next job ? I mean always ? and was told 'no' several times for years."

Barnes described how, at one point in her career, she went through two national searches for her position, for which she had been hired in an interim capacity: "I went through that process twice. I was just very determined to keep on doing the best I could, keep taking on more challenges. Through that determination, I landed the role ? just never saying no. ? This is the perfect job for me. I continue to strive for improvement and am consistently challenged so that I am no longer looking for the next job."

"Some women looking at CIO job descriptions have said to me, 'Oh, I could never do that. I don't know this, and they're asking for that, and I don't know that,'" said Barnes. "Sometimes women feel like they need to know every nit that is on the job description where it's a generality, but I know a few men who have gone for CIO positions and certainly didn't know half of what was on the job description, but just, you know, went in and did it."

Lois Brooks, Vice Provost for Information Services and CIO at Oregon State University

"Unless I look in the mirror, sometimes I forget what I am, because it doesn't matter as far as I'm concerned. I don't consciously recognize color or gender, other than a convenient way of recognizing people. People are just people to me. I think the best that any of us can do is simply to be doing our job confidently and competently, and just being visible, because having an actual example or set of examples out there is what encourages other people."

Viji Murali,?VP for Information Services and CIO at Washington State University

"I think one of the things we haven't talked about is the soft skills that women bring to the table ? not in a negative way, but in a positive way ? which are building relationships, obviously risk-taking, and being able to be flexible given all the changes that are going around us.?Women thrive in this combination of soft and technology worlds. That's where we are today. Also, the innovative aspects of our technology and how we, as women, embrace it as opposed to saying, 'Well, this is what we are going to be dealing with.' I think that women are much more closely suited to this role than ever before."

Kelli Trosvig, VP of Information Technology and CIO at the University of Washington

"A great place to be a CIO is in higher education right now, because higher education is looking to their?CIOsto help them really change the institution."

"The people in the senior leadership joke with me that I'm a pilot. I'm always piloting new things.?There's a little bit of risk in these positions. You're always out there a little bit on the edge of things. I'm not sure it's self-confidence or if it's a risk-taking mentality?. I don't think that the CIO role is for the faint of heart, especially now."

"I think you have to be adventurous and naturally curious and like new things. You know that even nine months or a year from now your job is going to be entirely different than what you imagine it's going to be ? you're going to have to learn new skills, adapt, and think about things differently. It's a very fast-changing, fast-paced role."

Melissa Woo, Vice Provost for Information Services and CIO at the University of Oregon

"I didn't come from IT. I came from health physics, and I tossed it all. I had been in the field for about five to six years at that point and started all over again as an entry-level UNIX system administrator. I'd say there was an element of fearlessness in that, and I think that's what has characterized my entire career."

Source: http://www.educationdive.com/news/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-female-university-cio/147841/

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