Women in Leadership in Jesuit Catholic Schools

• In Event: Striving for the Common Good: Mission-Based Equity and Inclusion in Catholic Education

Abstract

Over the last 50 years, Jesuit secondary and pre-secondary schools in the USA and Canada have moved from employing mostly Jesuits to mostly lay people among their faculties and staffs. These faculties are close to 50% female, but there is significant gender disparity among leadership (Jesuit Schools Network Annual Report, 2018). Of the 84 schools in the Jesuit Schools Network, only 29 have women serve in executive management: the role of principal or president. Only three of these 29 female leaders serve at the “traditional” image of a Jesuit school: tuition driven, all-boys schools, despite the fact that 34 of the 84 schools match that profile and their students make up about 65% of the students educated at Jesuit schools (Jesuit Schools Network Annual Report, 2018).
A look at research on this topic of gender imbalance in executive leadership shows three things: this problem is not specific to Jesuit education, there are some supported reasons as to why this gender gap continues to occur, and there are some specific things women and organizations can do to close this gap. Across many fields of industry, research shows that the rates at which women advance into leadership positions in organizations continues to lag behind men. Reports show that while women have achieved parity in the workforce, that parity has not been achieved at senior leadership levels (Salas-Lopez, et. al, 2011). Chisholm-Burns, et. al explains that women make up just over 50% of the US population and half of the US workforce, and earn about 60% of college and masters degrees and 50% of doctoral degrees, and hold approximately 50% of professional jobs (2017). This lack of female leadership is a self-perpetuating problem; if women fail to take leadership roles they are not providing necessary role models for other women (Latu et. al, 2013, p. 448).
Anecdotal research with women in Jesuit secondary and pre-secondary schools has shown that those who have achieved executive leadership roles have built strong connections with other women who work in Jesuit secondary and pre-secondary education. Additionally, they had to be invited to apply for their leadership positions, as they did not necessarily imagine themselves stepping into those roles. Further interview research will be undertaken to compare the experiences of women in leadership in Jesuit schools.
The Jesuit Schools Network plays a connective role in the lives of Jesuit schools; it is proposed that the Network sponsor a sub-network for women in Jesuit secondary and pre-secondary schools. Intentional steps need to be taken to empower women who are currently in Jesuit schools to seize leadership positions. As Kossek and Buzzanell (2018) point out, “when women are better supported demographically and culturally in the collective, individual women are also more likely to experience better outcomes.” This sub-network could build that support by creating a way for women to connect and share experiences, as well as offering a space for networking, mentorship, and intentional career planning across the Jesuit Schools Network.

Author

• Maura Toomb Estevez, Creighton University