Women's roles in higher education have increased; however, women remain underrepresented in upper-level administrative positions. This qualitative study examined how personal identities are related to self-efficacy, and subsequently, the professional experiences and aspirations of female midlevel higher education administrators. Midlevel administrators comprise the largest population of institutional employees. This study examined female midlevel higher education administrators' pathway to upper level administrative positions. Thirteen midlevel administrators employed in higher education for five or more years participated in this study. This phenomenological study incorporated data from twenty-six semi-structured interviews and visual documents as artifacts. Participants identified themselves based on caretaker, familial, social, professional, religious, gender, racial, and other attributes. Participants identified each of Bandura's (1997) sources of self-efficacy as contributors to their professional experiences and aspirations. Participants identified mastering or succeeding in a task as most important to their professional experiences and role models as being most important to their career aspirations. The majority of the participants did not directly state plans to pursue an upper level administrative position. Findings suggest that it may be useful for higher education institutions to implement strategies to support the self-efficacy and personal identities of female midlevel administrators in advancing their professional endeavors. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]