ERIC Number: ED231014
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1983-Apr
Pages: 24
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Female School Superintendents' Perceptions of Their Work.
Williams, Rosemary Haydock; Willower, Donald J.
A nationwide sample of 50 women school superintendents was queried by telephone about job-related problems, responsibilities, time allocations, strengths and weaknesses, and future career plans. The women were also asked to describe situations and pressures they perceived as unique to women in their occupation. The women superintendents were similar to male superintendents (questioned in another study) in perceiving the position of superintendent to be a test of interpersonal skills and a demanding organizational role with a heavy and diverse workload. Both male and female superintendents experienced an array of internal and external constraints and had a broad-based set of expectations for their organizations and personnel. Gender-specific difficulties the women perceived included lack of acceptance on the part of the public, special expectations for them as women chief administrators, and less colleagueships with male superintendents. Societal views of male and female roles had affected the women in that only 1 of the 50 had planned a career as a superintendent. In addition, the women perceived marriage as a career contingency that operates differently for men than for women. In spite of the difficulties imposed on them by their gender, the women superintendents enjoyed their work and recommended it to other women. (MLF)
Publication Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Note: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (Montreal, Quebec, Canada, April 11-15, 1983).