Voices from the Top: District Leaders’ Perspectives on Occupational Wellbeing

• In Event: Social-Emotional Dimensions of Leadership

Abstract

This qualitative pilot study explores how district leaders describe and experience occupational wellbeing amid rising demands, political pressure, and post-pandemic challenges. Drawing on focus groups with superintendents and cabinet-level officers, findings reveal that leaders view stress as inherent to the role, yet describe wellbeing as closely tied to district culture, crisis management, and the wellbeing of others. Insights inform the development of a future wellbeing survey and suggest that leader wellbeing may be critical to retention and organizational effectiveness.

Authors

• Seijoon Park, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

• Laura K. Rogers, University of Virginia

• Rachel Sue White, University of Texas at Austin