What Have We Learned from the Departures of Female Superintendents?

• In Event: Roundtable Session 52
  In Roundtable Session: Issues at the Top: School Board Governance and Women in the Superintendency

Abstract

Research has established that women superintendents encounter barriers in both achieving the superintendency and retaining the position. These barriers may also have an effect on why women choose to leave the position of superintendent. While some female superintendents leave through retirement or movement to another district; the greater concern is for women who exit the superintendency altogether and do not return to the position. The stories behind why a woman leaves the position of superintendent have not received an adequate and focused exploration. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine – through the stories and experiences of women who have held the position – why women leave the superintendency.

Author

• Kerry Kathleen Robinson, Virginia Commonwealth University