Choosing Not to Lead? Why Certified Women Educators Are Not Advancing to the Principalship

• In Event: Roundtable Session 99
  In Roundtable Session: Women’s Leadership Experiences

Abstract

Despite national reports suggesting a shortage of school administrators in the United States, what set of conditions influence attraction to the principalship among women with leadership certification is less known. In order to fill this void in the literature, we interviewed women with leadership credentials to understand the barriers that deter their advancement to the principalship. Data obtained from these women educators help unpack structural and personal roadblocks limiting their progress to formal administrative roles, including fear of isolation, role socialization and love for teaching, district culture and andocentric bias, among others. Insights from the study show that the road to the principalship is curvier with twice as many detours for women than men.

Authors

• Daphney Ivery, Burk County Middle School

• Abebayehu Aemero Tekleselassie, The George Washington University