Campus Location
Dallas Campus (Online)
Date of Award
11-2020
Document Type
Dissertation
Department
Organizational Leadership
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Committee Chair or Primary Advisor
Peter Williams
Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor
Dana McMichael
Third Committee Member or Committee Reader
Jaime Goff
Abstract
The current representation of women as heads of schools in U.S. independent schools is significantly less than that of men. With little research on independent female heads of schools, particularly in religious school communities, this qualitative study examined the perspectives of female heads of school from the National Christian School Association regarding perceptions and experiences in the leadership role within a conservative Christian school context. This study was framed through social role theory, muted group theory, authentic leadership theory, and emotional labor theory, and guided by one overarching research question: What has been the experience of a female head of school within a conservative Christian educational community? A sample of four current and former female heads were interviewed to understand their experiences. The study revealed seven common themes: (a) faith and calling, (b) influence of mentors, (c) learning to lead, (d) challenges, (e) conservative climate, (f) perseverance and strength, and (g) leadership redefined. Further, it supported the presence of a double bind and recognized the significant expense of emotional labor by the participants in their roles.
Keywords: academia, church of Christ, conservative Christian community, emotional labor theory, head of school, independent school, National Christian School Association, patriarchy, social role theory
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Hartness, Jill C., "Navigating the Role of Head of School as Perceived by Female Heads of National Christian School Association Schools" (2020). Digital Commons @ ACU, Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 282.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd/282