Book excerpt: Why are there so few women vice chancellors in UK higher education? In this book, Paula Burkinshaw explores the contemporary conversation around the 'missing women at the top' across UK society through in-depth interviews with the (hitherto) silent voices of women vice chancellors. These women have successfully negotiated with and navigated the gendered leadership cultures of higher education throughout their careers and speak of the masculine communities of their workplaces. Advocating the need to achieve a critical mass of women at the top, this book suggests there is still much to be done in the higher education sphere.