This study looked at the occupational positions that constitute educational administration and analyzed how they are characterized and structured. Data were collected between September, 1974, and April, 1979, principally from southern California school districts. The method of data collection was ethnographic observation in schools and interviews with 350 school administrators and other school personnel. Inspection of documents provided information regarding official job descriptions and expectations. Results indicated that the broadest structure encompassing educational administration consists of three parts: white males administering and managing adults, women instructing children, and minorities directing and containing other minorities. Each of these structures is composed of positions that lead to specific careers. The structures contribute to the perpetuation of the present system. Each of the positions can be further characterized by its hierarchical placement, its organizational space (consisting of differing working environments), its opportunities to develop intensive and extensive interpersonal relationships, and its activities. Moreover, the posts within each of the groups differ in their degree of opportunity and power. (Author/JM)