The Perceptions of Female School Leaders of the Obstacles and Enablers that Affected Their Career Paths to Educational Administration

Authors

Linda Noel-Batiste

DOI

10.58809/QOPP8457

Abstract

n 1909 Ella Flagg Young, the first female superintendent of Chicago Public Schools, predicted that more women than men would be at the helm of most twentieth century school systems. Young’s prediction emanated from a belief, held by other influential leaders of her time, that teaching was a woman’s natural vocation, for it advanced a woman’s maternal instincts of caretaking and nurturing. Unfortunately, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, her prediction has not been fulfilled. Almost a hundred years after Young’s prediction, less than five percent of public school superintendents are women and less than twenty-seven percent of public secondary school principals are women (Digest of Educational Statistics, 2004). Despite the fact that teaching has remained a feminized profession, educational administration continues to be dominated by males (Glazer, 1991), making this disparity one of education’s most challenging issues.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

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Recommended Citation

Noel-Batiste, Linda (2009) "The Perceptions of Female School Leaders of the Obstacles and Enablers that Affected Their Career Paths to Educational Administration," Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012): Vol. 7: Iss. 1, Article 32.
DOI: 10.58809/QOPP8457
Available at: https://scholars.fhsu.edu/alj/vol7/iss1/32