The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore the perception of community college women leaders on what formal and informal institutional structures exist within community colleges and how these structures support women aspiring to undertake leadership positions in community colleges in the Midwest. The theoretical foundation was social support theory. The four research questions sought to understand what formal and informal institutional structures exist within community colleges to support women aspiring to undertake leadership positions, and how those structures support women aspiring to undertake leadership positions. The sample included 14 women serving as coordinators, directors, deans, and vice presidents with at least one year of experience in their role at community colleges in the Midwest. Data collection for this qualitative descriptive design included semi-structured one-on-one interviews as well as two focus groups. Data analysis included descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. The findings from this study identified six formal and seven informal institutional structures that currently exist to support women, along with the results of how these formal and informal supports helped women aspiring to move up into higher levels of leadership. Future research recommendations include studies on current or new models in which financial support is provided to women seeking higher levels of education beyond the associate degree, the re-evaluation of work-life balance policies/procedures to determine if they still meet the needs of their employees, and remote work options/policies that should be considered as the definition of work changes. [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.]