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A Quest for Gender Equity: Reflections on Achieving Career Success in Public School Administration

May 29, 2002 

"Nationwide, studies have found that males dominate females in school management positions at every level; in South Dakota this is true at all administrative levels except for curriculum specialists and special education directors (National School Board Association [NSBA], 1995; South Dakota Department of Education and Cultural Affairs, 1995).

To be successful in school reform, our educational systems need to tap a vital leadership source - women - by opening up career advancement for them.  To do this, it is important to identify factors that inhibit as well as facilitate success.  IN a quest for gender equity, evidence from a survey of selected, experienced female school administrators revealed several major challenges that these women had encountered in achieving career success.  They also provided recommendations to prospective female administrators in how to combat the obstacles they faced and to make positive use of their leadership skills.

Selected school administrators from 62 public school districts in eastern South Dakota were asked to complete the 'Gender Issues in Teacher Education Survey' designed by the authors.  The survey consisted of two open-ended questions, and participants were asked to respond to them in writing:

1. What are some challenges that you face as a woman striving to achieve in school administration?
2. What recommendations would you like to give to a female teacher planning to pursue an upper-level school management career?

Of the 82 surveys mailed to these educators, 39 (47.5%) were completed.  It was found that the respondents had an average of 15 years in the classroom and 10 years in administration with the majority of their careers spent in rural or small-city school districts, mainly in the field of elementary education. 

Although the overall results of the survey revealed that gender bias is evident in school administration in eastern South Dakota, eight of the 39 respondents felt that professionally, male and female school leaders face many common problems (staff cuts, extra duties, and more meetings), but personally, with role balancing, women face more challenges.  Yet, the majority of respondents expressed having gender inequity experiences within their public school administrative career.  Analysis of the responses to the questions in the survey revealed five major areas of concern.

Discrimination in salary and job positioning was cited by the administrators as the main challenge facing women striving to achieve in school administration.  Public and collegial misperceptions about female weaknesses in discipline and leadership skills were also cited as problematic areas.  Many respondents felt that they had to work harder and be more accountable than their male counterparts in similar positions just to defuse these misconceptions.  The problem of not being taken seriously was listed by several participants answering the survey.  With this issue of not being taken seriously, many respondents indicated that they received limited professional duties.  Balancing personal and professional roles was often cited as a challenge for the women administrators responding to the survey.  Respondents noted that time management was a stressful factor for them.  The 'Good Ole Boys Club' presents many challenges to females in educational leadership.  According to some respondents, this phenomenon is present at most meetings and has a negative impact on open communication.  Many of the administrators voiced concern about the double standards that were pervasive within school leadership, especially when dealing with male and female leaders.

Although the evidence comes from a small, selected sample, it supports the current research that gender equity is still an issue in educational administration.  The main barriers to gender equity in public school leadership expressed by those surveyed were:

• Discrimination in salary and job positioning
• Misperceptions of leadership skills
• Not taken seriously
• Imbalance of personal and professional roles
• Lack of formal mentoring/networking opportunities.

Both individuals and institutions need to be pro-active in addressing gender disparities in public school administration, which would result in more positive use of female and male leaders.  However, change is slow; gender bias will not go away overnight in our educational system. 

 The greatest recommendation provided from the survey of women administrators in eastern South Dakota was to take a risk and enter this area of school leadership.  The cry 'go for it' means to go obtain academic and professional preparation; go build networks; go enhance people skills; go build self-trust; go challenge the system!  In the long run, the quest for gender equity in educational administration will be achieved and great rewards will come to those involved, especially the next generation of leaders (Barnes & Bender, 1998, pp. 11-17)."

Reference:  Barnes, C. J. & Bender, C. (1998).  A quest for gender equity: reflections on achieving career success in public school administration.  A Leadership Journal: Women in Leadership, vol. 2, number 2, Spring 1998.

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A Leadership Journal: Women in Leadership is available on loan from the OSU Leadership Center.  A complete listing of all the Leadership Center's resources is available on our website http://leadershipcenter.osu.edu/.

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Created: 2008-02-25, Updated: 2009-02-17