How do state-mandated gender quotas in academia impact different types of gender inequality in higher education? This study explores the effects of legal gender quotas in a context heretofore overlooked by the gender quota literature: academia. We adopt theories of representation from political science to use as a lens through which to hypothesize on systemwide differences quotas might make. Using data from 28 European and European-associate countries, this study observes how quotas correlate with the increased presence of women on boards, and how they interact with the number of women on boards to affect gender equality in academic staff. We find that these legislated quotas succeed in increasing the rate of women on academic boards. Their interaction with the number of women on boards does not alter the connection between women on boards and women's representation in other areas of academia. This means that despite concerns of a backlash, quotas do not alter the effects women have when entering leadership and decision-making positions. While academic quotas seem to conform to expectations as presented in political models of representation, they differ from political quotas when it comes to the importance of mechanisms of enforcement in quota design.