196 CRITICAL THEORY AND LEADERSHIP PRACTICES
- African American female superintendents’ perceptions in their struggle to be hired in
a predominately male and white female profession; - Mobility to secure employment and other factors that impacted on hiring practices by
gatekeepers; - Career paths and did women feel they were adequately prepared for the
superintendency.
The survey was primarily quantitatively descriptive in nature, which attempted to gather
basic information on the current population of female superintendents. This manuscript has
been mostly limited to a discussion of what was discovered through the quantitative data-
gathering methodology which the instrument primarily measured. Qualitative and narrative
construct will be explored in depth in a future publication; however, some dialogue has been
integrated into this paper for the purpose of providing interest and intensity to the data.
Survey Participants
Through the assistance of the American Association of School Administrators (AASA),
1,200 potential female superintendent participants were identified nationally. Surveys were
mailed to these 1,200 administrators with 470 being completed and returned.Of the 470
surveys returned, which accounted for a response rate of 39%, 37 were incomplete or
completed inappropriately and were eliminated from the final data pool. This left 433 surveys
available for analysis representing 36% of the entire population originally solicited.
LEADERS OF CHOICE
When asked to gauge the current climate in their school district toward gender preference
concerning the selection of administrators, only 167 of the 433 participants responded. Of
that sample, when asked who their district might choose when given the choice of two equal
candidates for an administrative position, one male and one female, 77% said their school
district would choose a male while 23% responded female. This observance seems curious
considering that the district selected a female candidate for its chief school administrator and
suggests that gender discrimination is prevalent even in a district that, for all appearances, is
attempting to bridge the administrative gender gap. One can only speculate why 266
participants refused to answer the question at all.
Forty-four women elaborated on the question. The comments evidenced a sense of
frustration as well as transparency in societal views. The women said that “we live in a
society where the current make up of the current school board prefers a male superintendent
over a female.” “Males are still perceived as the ideal CEO,” and the “male seems to fit the
role according to public view.” ‘The Midwest culture still portrays men as authority figures.
Women have to be better to get the jobs, not equal.” The “board is male dominated, town
government is male dominated, women are still thought of as ‘surprising’ when they are
leaders.” In response to the question of the existence of an “ol’ boys’ network,” one
superintendent wrote:
A man would more likely be hired because of the “good ol’ boy” mentality which
exists in our state. Women have always had to prove themselves much more
aggressively than their male counterparts. There are some individuals in our state