A Efficacious Theoretical Perspective of Rural Female School Superintendents\u27 Self-Sustainability (original) (raw)

An Efficacious Theoretical Perspective of Rural Female School Superintendents‘ Self-Sustainability

2007

The landscape of the rural superintendancy is in the midst of a leadership turnover as a significant number of its current administrators reach retirement age. Discussions in the literature have delineated the characteristics of successful rural superintendents and the barriers that threaten their achievement. It lacks, however, adequate discussion of how women have aspired to and sustained success in rural superintendencies. The qualitative case study presented in this report includes the narratives of five novice, rural, and female superintendents. An efficacious theoretical framework was identified as the lens through which the accounts could best be analyzed and discussed, including proposed implications for additional research to further explore this framework and the academy's preparation of rural female superintendents. T The higher education academy, its educational leadership preparation programs, and practitioners of school administration need to be concerned about the status of female superintendents for rural school districts. The

A Comparative Analysis of Women Superintendents in Rural and Urban Settings

1993

This paper reports on the leadership qualities of rural and urban women superintendents. Telephone interviews with 51 randomly selected female superintendents in 29 states examined perceived sources of job satisfaction, the benefits accrued on the job, sense of self-fulfillment in the workplace, and personal strengths. The most frequent responses in relation to job satisfaction were making a difference, initiating change, providing direction, meeting children's needs, having control, and working with people. The most frequently mentioned benefits associated with being a superintendent were working with people, achieving a career goal, opportunity for growth, gaining skills, enjoying the job, enjoying a variety of work, and enjoying financial benefits. Two-thirds of respondents associated a great deal of self-fulfillment with being a superintendent. When asked to identify their strengths as superintendents, respondents noted skills in working with people, communication, and having a vision. Respondents indicated that when they were hired, their school boards had been seeking someone who could introduce and manage change or who could provide structure, stability, and organization to the district. The results indicate that the le.adership characteristics of urban and rural women superintendents are similar, and that these leadership characteristics fit a new leadership paradigm stressing collaboration and consensus building. (LP)

Viewing Rural Female Superintendents through an Efficacy Lens

2008

Rural education is an important part of the Amertcan educational system. As noted in the Rural Tlust report, Why Rural Matters 2003: The Continuing Need for Every State to Take Action on Rural Education: "Forty~three percent of the nation's public schools are in nITal communities Of small towns of fewer than 25,000 people, and 31 percent of the nation's children attend these schools". Rural schools are facing a number of challenges. Common concerns among rural schools are poverty, changing demographics, and declining nwnbers (cite). They are also faced with the issues of accountability and mandates from No Child Left Behind_ The challenges are not unique to rural schools; however, the means of addressing the challenges differ between rural and urban. Rural schools often have fewer resources, fewer community support systems, and fewer financial avenues available to them. The ability of rural schools to successfully meet these challenges as well as others that may hinder student learning lies within the strength of the school's leadership. Chance

Lessons for a Rural Female Superintendent: Gender, Leadership, and Politics

Advancing Women in Leadership, 2011

Two years before my coauthor and I began this narrative inquiry, as the school superintendent of a rural community, I failed to fire a malicious football coach and resigned shortly thereafter. I floundered for a few months and then decided to pursue a doctorate in ...

Women Superintendents in the Rural Midwest: Narratives of Challenges and Resistance

Proceedings of the 2023 AERA Annual Meeting, 2023

The purpose of this research was to explore, through the critical lens of intersectional feminist theory, the potential challenges to the public school district superintendency that women face in the rural Midwest, creating experiences, or “truth,” different than that of their male counterparts. This qualitative study also explored the effects that COVID-19 has had on these women’s experiences as rural superintendents, an important aspect of their experience since the pandemic has disproportionally affected women in the United States (AAUW, 2020; Donovan and Labonte, 2020; Hilferty et al., 2021; Karageorge, 2020). This study can help women interested in pursuing careers as rural school district leaders to learn about those challenges and thus prepare themselves better to overcome them. Finally, this study aims to promote gender equity in rural K-12 systems to support women serving in district-level leadership roles in providing leadership models for all students, especially those who identify as female.

Two National Studies of Women Superintendents

1994

The literature concerning the superintendency is based on the experiences of men. This paper presents findings of the two studies that examined women superintendents. The first, a pilot study, sought to determine whether women superintendents used leadership qualities that fit a new paradigm for leadership. It also sought to determine if differences existed between urban and rural female superintendents' leadership qualities. Data were obtained from a survey of 346 women superintendents in 29 states. A total of 263 responses were received, a 76 percent response rate. Telephone interviews were also conducted with 21 urban and 30 rural survey respondents. The most striking conclusion was that both rural and urban superintendents possessed similar leadership qualities, and those qualities fit a new paradigm for leadership. Both groups received b satisfaction by bringing about change, reaching out to others, and creating a nurturing environment. They had been hired by school boards to act as change agents, which was also one of their primary strengths. The second study used the same methodology as the first; in addition, however, it used the Leadership Practices Inventory-Self instrument to measure the extent to which the female superintendents adopted 5 leadership practices and 10 behaviors. .Findings indicate that most of the urban and rural superintendents were hired to be change agents. Both groups placed a primary value on human relationships in the organization, and used leadership practices that were characteristic of the new paradigm of transformational leadership. One table is included. (Contains 30 references.) (LMI)

Women in the Rural Principalship

1997

During summer and fall of 1997, 21 women rural principals in Nebraska and New Mexico were interviewed to highlight their positive experiences as principals. During the telephone interviews, which lasted 30-45 minutes, the principals were asked eight open-ended questions concerning: (1) how they got their first principalship; (2) why they were hired, what qualities got them the job; (3) what experiences prepared them for the principalship; (4) what they liked best about the job as principal; (5) what aspects of the job were most enjoyable; (6) what skills were important to the position as principal; (7) who they turned to with a problem; and (8) what support for their career was provided by family. Interview excerpts illustrating major themes comprise the bulk of this paper. The themes include the importance of leadership and people skills, love of watching children learn and grow, the positive influence of effective mentors, the value of support from superintendents, the fact that women have to work harder and be better at their jobs than men, and the importance of family support. Interview questions are appended. (TD)

Women Superintendents: New Role Models in Leadership for Change

1996

Women outnumber men in school-administration graduate programs and in the teaching ranks of American public schools; however, women continue to be underrepresented in the superintendency. This paper presents findings of a study that identified the personal and professional characteristics of Virginia's first women superintendents. Data were derived from interviews with an unspecified number of female superintendents. Findings show that the women began their careers as teachers, did not originally seek the superintendency, and stayed in the classroom longer than their male counterparts. Women spent more time obtaining a variety of educational experiences than most of their male colleagues. They followed self-determined routes to the superintendency rather than a hierarchical career path. They utilized the following strategies: (1) Set clear and specific career goals; (2) use a variety of strategies to overcome perceived internal and external barriers to advancement; (3) use mentors effectively; and (4) consult one's own attitudes and ideas about the superintendency.

[PDF]The Career Path of the Female Superintendent: Why She

2013

This qualitative study used a phenomenological approach to determine the reasons why women leave the superintendency. This study not only illustrated the different ways a woman can leave the position of superintendent but also the reasons she would choose to leave. These reasons can be either positive or negative, but they rarely are the sole cause for why a woman leaves the position. This interview study of 20 female participants who served as superintendent in the Commonwealth of Virginia identified four main themes as to why a woman chose to leave the superintendency. These included: (a) it wasn't the job I thought it would be; (b) the struggles with family; (c) taking care of herself; and (d) I'm not the right fit for the community. The study also identified the routes women take to leave the superintendency which include retirement, leaving for another superintendency, movement into another position within PK-12, opportunity in higher education, working as an educational consultant, or moving into a position outside of education.