Research (Goodman, Fulbright, & Zimmerman, 1997; IEL, 2001) supports that the most critical decision a school board has to make is its selection and appointment of a superintendent to lead the district toward its mission of effective schooling for all students. Given that board members hold influential power in this regard, what competencies do the members conceptualize as being necessary to the superintendency? Are there factors that we can identify that would enhance the recruitment of women? The purpose of this study was to determine which management and leadership behaviors school boards in New York and New Jersey perceived as being necessary to the superintendency. Furthermore, the study examined whether gender and/or district size influenced perceptions of leadership and management behaviors deemed important to the position. Board members serve as gatekeepers to the superintendency, and by virtue of that role, this study sought to understand the perceptions that undergird the decision-making capabilities of this infrastructure to address the administrative shortage and underrepresentation of women in educational administration. The researcher used a nonexperimental, cross-sectional, descriptive study. The quantitative data used four survey sources: the Kouzes and Posner Leadership Practices Inventory, the Peterson Managerial Leadership Instrument, the School Board Member survey, and the District Clerk survey. To enrich the study and to help the researcher explain statistical results, the school board members were requested to complete open-ended responses on the School Board Member Questionnaire pertaining to qualities valued in the superintendent candidate hired or the sitting superintendent. Both quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis were used to analyze the data collected in this study. There was no significant difference in how board members in New Jersey and New York perceived leadership behavior. Significance was determined in the management domain by male and female board members in both states with regard to the importance placed on the superintendent's ability to clarify roles, objectives, and performance expectations. Significance was obtained in three areas with regard to gender, leadership, and management behaviors. Both men and women valued "clarifying roles and objectives" (a structural, organizational ability) as an important managerial behavior. Men valued "enabling" as a significant leadership behavior whereas women valued encouraging. Encouraging innovative thinking and challenging people to question assumptions about the work and considering better ways to do it were of importance to women. Men believed that enabling cooperative relationships was an important behavior for the superintendent to display. Board members in New Jersey embraced the concept of "challenging the process", which encouraged creative thinking, and challenging the status quo. The qualitative data provided a broader view of the necessary leadership and management competencies, in addition to the importance placed by school board members on internal candidacy as integral to the hiring process. The study concludes with recommendations for practice and further study. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]