Confronting issues of gender and ethnicity: Women's experiences as aspiring urban principals

Abstract

This article examines, from a female perspective, the complexities of gender and ethnicity embedded in successful urban school leadership. The authors use qualitative data, collected from female participants in two cohorts of aspiring urban principals in a yearlong experimental leadership preparation program, to discuss issues that arise during the coursework mentoring and school internship components of the program. Recommendations for future programs, drawn from the study, include selecting program participants based on their commitment to social justice, utilizing opportunities to confront gender and ethnic leadership stereotyping, providing the training to conduct school dialogues on social justice issues, and exposing aspiring principals to ethnically diverse urban school environments.

“They Were Really Looking for a Male Leader for the Building”: Gender, Identity and Leadership Development in a Principal Preparation Program

“…This includes discussion, at the point of entry into the program, regarding participants' and instructors' current narratives regarding how they frame and understand leadership and themselves as leaders. Discussing and unpacking such narratives has been suggested as a tool to enhance participants' ability to engage in critical reflection (Brown, 2004 ; Sperandio and LaPier, 2009 ) and can be considered a critical element of adult learning and development (Brookfield, 1995 ).…”

“…And yet, research regarding the underrepresentation of women principals has often focused on considering the barriers and supports, exclusive of preparation, female principals face when becoming and working as school leaders. Moreover, the scope of the research is often narrow and has yet to probe how gender identity and role may influence preparation program participants' understandings of who should be a principal or how the role should be enacted (see Sperandio and LaPier, 2009 , as an exception). When such studies do exist, they tend to focus singularly on women's experiences rather than investigate how the gendered construction of leadership impacts all participants whether they be female or male.…”

Microaggressions in Administrator Preparation Programs: How Black Female Participants Experienced Discussions of Identity, Discrimination, and Leadership

“…This included the creation of standard leadership behaviors to be applied across contexts (Young & Brooks, 2008)—a so-called “science of administration” (Brooks & Miles, 2006). With this focus on technical skills and efficiency (Murphy & Vriesenga, 2006), so, too, came a failure to recognize how discrimination, racial or otherwise, was perpetrated and reified via educational institutions and actors (Young & Brooks, 2008; Young & Laible, 2000) or how constructions of leadership favored certain identities over others (O’Malley & Capper, 2015; Sperandio & LaPier, 2009).…”

“…Instead, administrative programs, such as leadership training more generally (Ely, Ibarra, & Kolb, 2011), tend to promote a canonical approach that lacks representation of diverse voices (Alston, 2012). Faculty, too, are often unwilling or fearful to engage in critical discourse (Rusch & Horsford, 2009) or challenge constructions of leadership and its enactment (Killingsworth, Cabezas, Kensler, & Brooks, 2010; Sperandio & LaPier, 2009).…”

“…Research focused directly on how administrative preparation programs discuss leadership, different aspects of identity, and gender and racial discrimination in the field or how these discussions impact participants’ program experiences or subsequent work is also somewhat limited (e.g., Osanloo, Boske, & Newcomb, 2016; Sperandio & LaPier, 2009). A small but growing number take a feminist (e.g., Blackmore, 2013) or intersectional approach (see Agosto & Roland, 2018 for a review) to examine how those with multiple minoritized identities, Black women for example, may uniquely experience these discussions.…”