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NATIONAL FORUM OF EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION AND SUPERVISION JOURNALVOLUME 28, NUMBER 2, 2010-2011

GENDER RELATED ISSUES IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL LEADERSHIP

Amy BurkmanUniversity of Texas of the Permian Basin

ABSTRACT

While the glass ceiling has been broken in regards to access to educational leadership, females in administration still face gender related prejudices and challenges in daily practice. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate what challenges women in educational leadership face and what issues are specific to serving in an elementary school. Female principals serving in elementary schools in twenty urban school districts in Texas were surveyed to identify the top five gender specific issues faced in daily practices. These issues are discussed and future implications for educational leadership programs and professional development are evaluated.

IntroductionAs women break through the glass ceiling of leadership, fissures are weakening the structure of male-dominated leadership, and research is necessary to increase cultural and gender awareness. According to Dana and Bourisaw (2006a), perceptions, not reality, determine the leadership opportunities and success for women in leadership. As women face these perceptions, in addition to the challenges of the job, they need to be adequately prepared through leadership preparation programs and professional development.

Attention to women’s retention in administration is as important to improving women’s numerical representation and integration into the role of educational leaders as understanding how women attain the leadership

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position (Tallerico, 1999). To understand the path of leadership and the issues that impact retention, researchers must start at the early experiences of women in leadership. Once the early experiences of leadership are understood women can be better prepared to face gender-specific challenges as they move to higher level positions.

Literature Review

Female leaders in the K-12 system face unusual challenges. These women are often caught in a dichotomy between their gender and expectations of leadership. The school community calls on the woman principal to be caring, compassionate and collaborative, while teachers and parents also want the principal to be decisive, firm and willing to provide direction (Buttignol & Diamond, 2003). Current gender related leadership issues need to be identified in order to better prepare women prior to entering leadership roles, which will, in turn, increase opportunities in district level positions.

Women in leadership historically begin in the position of elementary principal, and the issues they face in this position influence the way they approach leadership in higher administrative positions (Grogan, 2005), but the majority of leadership studies for women in education focus on the superintendency. To understand the general leadership experiences of women, these studies are important to the current study.

Historically, women have been an active part of the educational system. Prior to the suffrage movement, women held approximately 30% of district level superintendent positions. The women’s suffrage movement not only increased the availability of educational training to women, but also caused a whiplash of executive decisions that decreased the opportunities for women to take leadership positions (Blount, 1999; Dana & Bourisaw, 2006). This whiplash reduced the number of women superintendents to 11% of the total by the 1930s.

By the 1960s, two workplace issues still existed; access to equity of benefits and access to leadership positions (Dana & Bourisaw, 2006a). Blount (1998) stated that “women have not enjoyed easy access to the local district superintendency… In 1910 women served in 327 out of 5,284 local

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school districts. By 1970 women superintended only 73 out of 10,431 local districts, producing a steady decline in representation from 6.19 percent to only .70 percent” (p. 183). Currently, approximately 12% of superintendents are women while over 65% of the workforce in education is women (Shakeshaft, 2000). Growe and Montgomery (2002) found that the majority of female superintendents either started in or occupied positions in small districts with few central administration officers and declining enrollment.

In the 21st century, finding an educational leadership position presents the greatest challenge to women, although they are the majority gender entering educational leadership preparatory programs (Bjork, 2000). Kamler (1999) presented evidence that search consultants historically do not select women for superintendent positions. Seven reasons were identified as part of this research:

1) the ratio of male vs. female applicants is still disproportionate; 2) women are more satisfied holding highly visible, responsible administrative positions; 3) women rarely have secondary leadership experience; 4) men typically have more superintendency experience; 5) few consultants search for women applicants; 6) women lack an interest in the superintendency due to an avoidance of failure; and7) boards perceive women as weak.

These reasons, as well as a lack of women working as search consultants, stymie the access women have to superintendent positions. Dana and Bourisaw (2006) verified that “all too frequently, women leaders are viewed through the lens of male leadership and face confounding biases toward them” (p. 67).

Leadership studies of women have shown that women are often uncomfortable using a directive, authoritarian approach due to a public perception of women behaving inappropriately when assuming that role (Lips, 2003; Brunner, 2000). Women’s tendencies to nurture and to collaborate often breed a stereotype of weak leadership without looking toward the success of the organization. Such sex-role stereotypes negate the opportunities of women in educational leadership, although “toward the end of the twentieth century, school and school district leaders had come to


understand and practice both situational leadership…and transactional leadership” (Dana & Bourisaw, 2006a, p. 170). Dana and Bourisaw (2006b) also believe “the research [they] have completed over the past five years clearly identifies the strong role that cultural values, sociopolitical practices, and gender-structured policy play in determining women’s access to and tenure in the public school” (p. 27).

Female public school superintendents are described by the U.S. Department of Labor as working in the most gender stratified executive position in the country (Bjork, 1999). Skrla (2000) stated that within the context of public school leadership the role of the superintendency is socially constructed. Social constructs, such as the assumption that males are more effective leaders than women, create the apparent realities of societal roles. While studies have been done to reflect on the experiences of superintendents, male superintendents are the dominant participants in these studies (Marshall, 1997). Skrla found that policy initiatives will only take place if women hear and understand women with similar experiences.

Implications of Current Research

The proposed study holds particular interest due to its potential impact on the future of educational leadership. Research in the area of women in elementary school leadership can help all women better prepare to lead at the campus and district level. Brunner (2000) reveals that “the presence of women in the superintendency has tremendous potential to change the specific common perceptions that have, in the past, disallowed women the position” (p. 36). Women need to successfully attain and flourish in campus leadership positions to increase access to the superintendency.

All leaders struggle with learning what good leadership characteristics are, but women face special issues (Gunbayi 2005). Consistently across the literature, the following issues have been identified as challenges faced by women in leadership (Coleman, 2003; Aladejana & Aladejana, 2005; Fennell, 2005; Celikten, 2005; Whitehead, 2001):

1. Cultural stereotype of professional roles2. Male dominant culture3. Lack of acceptance by male subordinates

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4. Lack of acceptance by female subordinates5. Sexual harassment6. Marital and extended family problems7. Lack of parental support8. Lack of support from upper administration9. Lack of support from female friends and family

10. Lack of respect from students

Coleman (2003) found additional issues, such as isolation and procedure for challenging the male stereotype of leadership. While aggressive, assertive behavior is expected of male leadership, women are assumed to be caring, tolerant and nurturing. These stereotypes limit the availability of positions to women, and create expectations that deter from successful leadership practices. Isolation can result from the stereotypical expectations of leadership. Coleman (2003) also found that professional women were also faced with sexist language and expectations during professional activities in addition to facing these issues at work.

Statement of the Problem

This study seeks to analyze the top five areas identified as concerns to the female leadership in elementary campuses. Once these issues are understood, implications for leadership preparation programs and professional development can be determined.

Methodology

A simple quantitative survey was emailed to one hundred female elementary principals selected through a random sampling method. Twenty districts were randomly selected from the list of districts in three large urban areas. From each district, five female elementary principals were randomly selected to receive the survey. The independent variables identified in the study are the women administrators, while the dependent variables are the issues faced by these administrators.

The survey contained a list of twelve issues identified (Table 1) in the literature review, and the principals were asked to mark each issue that


had been encountered during their careers as elementary principals. Descriptive statistics were used to show the percentile ranks of each issue. The percentage of votes per issue was calculated and the top five issues were identified.

Table 1 Twelve Identified IssuesIssue Yes or NoCultural stereotype of professional rolesMale dominant culture of leadershipLack of acceptance by male subordinates/coworkers Lack of acceptance by female subordinatesSexual innuendo by male subordinates/co-workers Marital problems Extended Family problemsLack of support from higher administrationLack of support from female friends/familyLack of support from parents of students being disciplinedLack of respect from male studentsLack of respect from female students

Of the one hundred elementary principals identified for the study, eighty-three percent responded to the survey. Seven administrators chose to write in comments as well as marking the challenges encountered in their roles as administrators. The return rate was well above the anticipated percentage.

Findings and Analysis of Data

The top five issues were consistently identified across the population of elementary principals. Table 2 shows the percentages of administrators that identified each area as affecting women in the role of elementary

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leadership. Table 3 shows the top five issues identified as being experienced the most by elementary administrators.

Table 2Issue ExperiencedCultural stereotype of professional roles

25%

Male dominant culture of leadership 35%Lack of acceptance by male subordinates/coworkers

5%

Lack of acceptance by female subordinates

10%

Sexual innuendo by male subordinates/co-workers

15%

Marital problems 5%Extended Family problems 5%Lack of support from higher administration

25%

Lack of support from female friends/family

>1%

Lack of support from parents of students being disciplined

20%

Lack of respect from male students 5%Lack of respect from female students >1%

Table 3Issue ExperiencedMale dominant culture of leadership 35%Cultural stereotype of professional roles

25%

Lack of support from higher administration

25%

Lack of support from parents of students being disciplined

20%

Sexual innuendo by male subordinates/co-workers

20%


As is indicated in Table 3, the top five issues were experienced by twenty percent or more of the administrators in the study. Of the twelve issues identified in the literature review, four of them were experienced by less than 1% participants in the study.

Discussion

The top issue identified in the study as relevant to female administration in the elementary school was the male dominant culture of leadership. Men have historically held leadership position in education, and the transition to women in leadership has been gradual. Outside of elementary education, males still dominate the administrative arena and this leads to pressures on women to perform with different expectations than those of men.

The second major issue identified in the study was that of a cultural stereotype of professional roles. Women in professional roles expected to be caring and compassionate, yet being an administrator calls for thinking on your feet and making difficult decisions (Buttignol & Diamond, 2003). Women administrators in this study felt that the expectations placed on them were contradictory and based on perceptions of the school constituent. The cultural background of the constituent influenced the perceptions of the leadership, leaving women at a disadvantage. Female leaders are often underutilized or have unrealistic expectations placed on them based on the cultural stereotype they face.

A lack of support from both higher administration and parents was also identified as having the most impact on female leadership. Female administrators often feel caught between a rock (administration) and a hard place (parents). Upper administration, whether female or male, has certain expectations of women in the principalship. Some district level administrators have lower expectations of elementary principals, and this translates into a lack of respect for the leaders on those campuses. Many female administrators translate this issue into a gender specific area. Parents also have issues with female leadership, especially when they are doling out discipline. When a female administrator has to contact a father or male guardian, resistance is often immediate. Many men see this as an intrusion or a reflection on their parenting skills. This, paired with prospective cultural

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clashes, can make the work of a female administrator very difficult. A lack of support based on gender issues affects these leaders in everyday situations.

The final issue identified as having an impact on women in leadership was sexual innuendo being made by male subordinates/co-workers. While this is surprising for the educational setting, it is an age old problem that plagues women in all professional roles. To combat this is to take seriously the fact that sexual comments are not appropriate in any setting or for any reason.

Administrators that participated in the study included several comments regarding their experiences with some of the issues. One participant felt that a lack of support from parents was not relegated to female principals. When a student is being disciplined parents often strike out at the administrator regardless of the gender of the administrator. Additionally, parents of specific cultural groups responded negatively to women in all roles, not just leadership roles. Similarly, other participants felt that a lack of respect from male students was not generalized, but came from specific cultural groups. These groups were not respectful of women even if the women represented the same cultural group. Women are viewed differently based on the cultural groups of the school constituents.

While the top five issues in the study were identified, the research does not end here. Knowing the issues does not create understanding of how to educate the school community on how to avoid making these assumptions or reacting to female leadership in inappropriate ways. Further studies need to be done to assess why perceptions of women in leadership allow for differing expectations and assumptions.

Another area for future study is to see if secondary administrators experience the same types of issues that the elementary administrators faced. If these issues occur across K-12 administration, education is necessary to reduce instances of inappropriate interactions with women in leadership.


Implications for K-12 and Higher Education Institutions

In the field of education women have made steady gains in the move toward campus administration. Both the K-12 organization and leadership programs in higher education need to be prepared to train and support women in leadership positions. Additionally, professional development programs and early mentoring programs need to be aware of the struggles faced by women in administration. Within the context of leadership preparation, women can be taught to alleviate many of these issues through basic awareness and coping skills. Support created through a group of like-minded leaders and women from the field of educational leadership will better prepare women for leadership within the elementary setting. This study has implications for all of these areas.

Implications for K-12

Leadership research profoundly impacts the way a K-12 organization selects, trains, and evaluates leadership personnel. Knowing the success rate of women assigned to campus leadership positions affects the way educational organizations approach the application process. Having access to leadership information specific to women also demystifies the woman as leader. The fear of hiring a woman reduces as the understanding of how women integrate into school culture increases.

Training applications are also important. As women progress through the ranks of school administration, leadership training becomes part of the process in all school organizations. By understanding which issues women face in daily practice the district can provide professional development that adequately supports them. Professional development meets the needs of the district and the district meets the needs of administrators through professional development.

K-12 school systems can also provide teacher and parent specific trainings on the roles of administration. If the cultural atmosphere of a district is not gender friendly, the district can provide gender and sensitivity training to staff, volunteers and community members. Providing this training will show support to staff and will show the constituents of the district that the employees are important to the educational system.

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Implications for Higher Education

Implications for higher education are more explicit than those of K-12 education. The majority of administrator preparation programs in higher education train leaders to work in the K-12 organization. The research put forth in this project will to support and encourage leadership programs specifically for women in educational leadership roles. As specific studies investigate the relationships between gender-specific leadership practices and performance expectations, training expectations can correlate with these expectations.

Administrator preparation programs would benefit from adapting current curriculum to respond to gender specific issues. The following suggestions require no significant change in programming:

1. Emphasize different leadership styles without connecting them to specific genders.2. Incorporate gender-specific discussion into cultural proficiency courses. Identify specific cultural, religious, or ethnic groups that have gender related beliefs and expectations. An understanding of how cultural perceptions of leadership affect sustained leadership is crucial for the development of leadership preparation programs and professional development opportunities. 3. Invite female administrators in to discuss specific personal experiences with students.4. When preparing administrators for district level leadership, incorporate discussions and readings on gender specific expectations and research for both campus level and district level administrators. Invite current leadership from campus and district levels to discussion support systems for campus level leadership.5. Incorporate sensitivity training, specific to sexism and sexual harassment, into preparation courses.6. Include current administrators, both male and female, in discussions of public perceptions of administrators. Many issues can be community related or specific to one are of the country. Current administrators can identify those issues and prepare future leaders for those challenges.


Preparation programs should provide a network of current and future educational leaders. When leaders are provided a forum, and an influence with future leadership, issues related to gender will not continue to impact the community. Higher education has a duty to reduce gender prejudice in educational leadership through adequately preparing future leaders.

Conclusion

Women in leadership cannot change the way leadership in education has been done in the past, but change can be made in altering the perception of women in leadership positions. The next generation of women in elementary education leadership will benefit from understanding the issues related to being a leader in the educational setting and the educational institutions that hire them will benefit from the increased productivity and increased administrative retention. The inequities in educational leadership will diminish only when gender issues are identified and faced.

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AUTHOR

Amy Burkman is an Assistant Professor and Graduate Program Coordinator of Educational Leadership at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin, Odessa, Texas. Burkman obtained her Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from Texas Christian University and has served public schools as a Teacher, Librarian, Assistant Principal and Principal. Burkman is a co-author of the recently released book, Passing the PPR TExES Exam for EC–12 Teacher.