Purpose -- the purpose of this study is to explore the barriers that hinder women’s advancement to leadership positions in higher education institutions in Lebanon, based on the perception of female academics in three prestigious universities that follow the American system in Lebanon. Design/methodology/approach -- the research is qualitative. The literature review and face to face semi-structured interview are adopted to have a holistic understanding of the glass ceiling type barriers in academia. The in-depth semi-structured interviews are conducted with 34 academic women who have different ...