Over the past 50 years, the use of executive search firms in the hiring of university and college presidents has risen exponentially. In 1975-76, 2% of searches were handled by search firms (all in private institutions); in 2015-16, their use had risen to 92%, with private and public institutions represented equally. This presentation will explore:
-what search firms do and do not do;
-the expertise and blindspots that search firms bring to the process;
-their costs and requirements of confidentiality;
-their impact on the diversity of presidential hires and on presidential tenure;
-salaries of presidents across the last 10 years.