What Women Know: Portraits of Seven South Texas Superintendents Revealing Aspirations, Motivations, Challenges, and Successes

• In Event: Roundtable Session 28
  In Roundtable Session: Superintendent Leadership Across Educational Contexts

Abstract

An anomalous concentration of female superintendents in mostly rural South Texas prompted this inquiry. South Texas faces critical personnel shortages due to impending retirement and turnover of school administrators (Wesson & Marshall, 2012). It is difficult to recruit and retain sufficient talent to solve challenges in high-needs, Hispanic majority, primarily rural, districts (Trevino Jr., Braley, Brown, & Slate, 2008; Wesson & Marshall, 2012). The most experienced, best prepared, educators are women, but females are not being tapped for leadership and are not proportionally ascending to superintendency (Kruger, 2008; Roser, Brown, & Kelsey, 2009; Young & McLeod, 2001). This naturalistic study illuminated perceptions and experiences of seven female superintendents and lent insight into common themes regarding their aspirations and motivations.

Authors

• Polly Dee Allred, Texas A&M University - Kingsville

• Gerri Marie Maxwell, Texas A&M University - Kingsville