200 CRITICAL THEORY AND LEADERSHIP PRACTICES
The job of the superintendent was pleasant to 81%, enjoyable to 83% and worthwhile to
94.2%. This data contradicts the notion “...that women do not aspire to the superintendency
either because they prefer the more traditional role of wife, mother or they are not ‘socialized’
to deal with a typically male role” (Rhode, 2003 as cited in Christie, 2007, p. 474). Grogan
(2005) wrote “Women do aspire to the superintendency; not only that, but they are successful
in the position and they enjoy the work.” Grogan’s statement was corroborated by the survey
and validated that women were willing to take on the challenge of the superintendency.
Male Presence and Salary
Eighty-four percent of the female superintendent participants (N = 428) reported they
replaced a male superintendent when they assumed the responsibilities of their current
position; 15% said they did not. The salary issue was prompted by the question asking if
salary was based on years of experience and competitive with the salary of male
superintendents in the geographic area or that of the previous superintendent. When asked
about salary, 66% reported they felt that their salary was competitively represented and based
on their years of experience; however, 33% reported that their salary was not based on their
expertise nor was it competitive with male superintendents in the area. While responses
indicated that the salary gap between men and women may be closing, there were numerous
comments on the topic. One female superintendent indicated a lower salary due to her
inexperience while another said that her “salary was based on years of experience but not
competitive with other male superintendent salaries in the area.” Another respondent said that
she “had to fight to get what they had been paying him” (the previous male superintendent).
Her resolution was to give up the bonus plan to “get the salary I wanted”. She reported that
the bonus plan was reinstated in the second year of her tenure.
Based on the survey statistics and narratives provided by the female superintendents, the
women, for the most part, had full knowledge of the salary levels of their male counterparts
and were determined to match if not exceed those levels through the hiring process. The
salary gap between men and women may be closing in this profession but there is also an
indication that it may come from preparation, negotiation and perseverance on the part of the
women.
Board members’ perceptions of female superintendents’ roles and responsibilities
To investigate female superintendents’ perceptions of board of education perceptions
toward female superintendents, a question was posed asking participants if they believed that
their board’s view towards female school leaders was limited to curriculum expertise only.
Most respondents, 70% (N = 407), stated that this was not the case while 30% stated that it
was. A follow-up question revealed that 58% of the participants assumed employment in their
current school district while a major facilities project was under way, providing some
evidence that current boards of education do not see a female superintendent’s role limited to
curriculum and instruction.
THE INVISIBLE AFRICAN AMERICAN FEMALE SUPERINTENDENT
Throughout the research, one question continued to gnaw at the researchers, namely, why
were there so few African American females in the superintendency? Fifty-three years after
Brown, invisible barriers like the “glass ceiling” still remain. According to the Executive