This article looks at women’s efforts to construct an academic leadership career. It is not a study of women’s leadership in general but one that takes place in what Bourdieu calls the academic field. Drawing from an in‐depth interview study of 31 women from faculties of education who occupy managerial positions in universities in Canada, Australia or Britain, I focus on four contrasting case studies. For some women it is possible to build a satisfying academic leadership career, while for others, the surrounding contradictions encourage a more or less graceful end to leadership ambitions. I question the circumstances under which women attempting to construct academic leadership careers will be ‘fish in water’ or show a ‘feel for the game’, as well as the potential and problems of the game metaphor itself in this context.
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