Campus Location
Dallas Campus (Online)
Date of Award
4-2023
ORCID
0009-0003-4218-2666
Document Type
Dissertation
Department
Organizational Leadership
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Committee Chair or Primary Advisor
Dr. Linda Wilson-Jones, Chair
Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor
Dr. Deardra Hayes-Whigham
Third Committee Member or Committee Reader
Dr. Karen Maxwell
Abstract
Abstract
A qualitative phenomenological study examined the challenges and barriers women superintendents encountered in their quest for and service as superintendents in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. Women make up most teaching positions today, but men dominate the superintendent’s office. A correlation should exist between the number of women teachers and the number of women leaders. However, women account for less than one-quarter of superintendents in the United States, while men occupy most positions. A qualitative research design was employed to gain a deeper understanding of the problem. After gathering information from research participants, I performed an interpretative phenomenological analysis to identify the commonalities among human experiences. A demographic information survey and semistructured interviews were used to collect data. Social role theory and role congruity theory provide the framework for explaining the barriers preventing women from ascending to supervisory positions and strategies to mitigate them. There were recurring themes revealed in the responses of these seven women, which provided answers to these two research questions. Themes discussed throughout this section were (a) agentic versus communal disposition, (b) stereotypical viewpoint stereotyping, (c) familial commitments, (d) gender socialization, (e) good ole boys’ network, (f) harassment and career assassination (backlash effect), (g) recruitment practices (glass ceiling), (h) school board relations, and (i) mentoring. Through sharing the perception of senior level leaders experiences, potential strategies for breaking through the glass ceiling may be developed.
Keywords: career pathway, career preparation, educational leaders, gender disparity, gender equality, gender inequality, glass ceiling, glass cliff, internal and external barriers, lacking, mentors, missing, obstacles, women, superintendency, superintendent, strategies, recruitment, role model, selection, and underrepresentation
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Washington-Marzell, LaKeyshure, "Exploring the Lived Experiences of Women Superintendents in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi" (2023). Digital Commons @ ACU, Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 573.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd/573