Perspectives on Leadership: Race, Gender and the Superintendency—A National Study 201Director for the Glass Ceiling Commission, “...the glass ceiling is one manifestation of the
perpetual struggle for equal access and equal opportunity.” Redmond stated that, “...the glass
ceilings are the artificial barriers that deny women and minorities the opportunity to advance
within their careers” Redmond (1996, p. 1).
The history of the African American school superintendent and other superintendents of
color is unique because the context in which they emerged evolved beyond the walls of
traditional mainstream preparation programs. School superintendents of color—African
Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans and Native Americans—were excluded
from established teacher-education programs (Simmons, 2007). The political economy that
embraced segregation and racism denied access of African Americans to the very institutions
that could legitimize their existence in the education community.
This study elicit evidence a large number of African American superintendent responses
which begged the question—where are the African American women who are receiving an
M.A. or Ed.D. in education administration? Are their dreams totally dormant? “While
gender balance continues to improve, there was essentially no change in the racial and ethnic
diversity of the responding superintendents” (Kamler, 2006, p. 298). The aggregate of New
York state’s non-white school superintendents equals 3%. Why can’t black administrators
find jobs in majority white districts? As one veteran African American superintendent said,
“Whether it’s Scarsdale or Watts, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the job of being a
superintendent does not change. Yet, in the end when I get inquiries, 99 percent of the time
they are for a school district that is in a community that is poor and dysfunctional” (Jackson,
2006, p. 25).
These numbers strongly indicated that whites can move across racial lines and increase
their opportunities for career advancement more easily than can African Americans and other
minority groups. As an analogy that speaks to this issue, the invisible barriers that restrict the
movement of African Americans limit their options and, in effect, also leave them in
competition with one another for the meager 50 plus principal positions in minority
communities on Long Island, versus the 563 available principal positions (Jackson, 2006).
Research shows that the 12% or so of female African American superintendents handle
large urban districts. Why can’t they step over the barrier to suburban districts? The subtle
pervasive message that comes across to African-American female superintendents who seek
positions in non-minority school districts is that they are not the “right fit” (Jackson, 2006).
When Redmond (1996) addressed the “Working Women’s Summit” held by Women in
Technology International (WITA) in Philadelphia, Redmond said, “We do not yet live in a
color blind or gender blind society. Sexism, racism and xenophobia live side-by-side with
unemployment, underemployment and poverty; they feed on one another and perpetuate a
cycle of unfulfilled aspirations among women and people of color” (1996, p.1). Redmond’s
reference is analogous to the intent and spirit of the affirmative action laws. Theoretically,
affirmative action laws were designed to level the playing field in hiring cases where, all
things being equal, women and people of color would be given preference. Yet when it comes
to matters of redress, it is ironic that affirmative action has reaped greater benefits for white
females than for African American women. In New York state the current data indicates that
white females have surpassed African American female superintendents by double digits.
Since 1997 the percentage of women in the superintendency has increased from 12.1% to
22.1%. Nationally, this unexpected outcome has pushed people of color to the side and
rendered African American females virtually invisible. Blount (1998) viewed this increase in
the percentage of women superintendents as the result of “persistent, courageous, and
collective efforts by activists determined to see equitable distribution of power in school