Unsettled Moments in Settled Discourse: Women Superintendents’ Experiences of Inequality

Abstract

In this article, the discourse of 12 women superintendents is examined with the expressed aim of determining if patterns in their talk about their superintendency experiences contain events or episodes of inequality. The study's examination is guided by an adaptation of Swindler's theory of "settled" and "unsettled" social periods. Qualitative inquiry and analysis methods are used to identify emerging themes or topics of talk. Five topics of talk emerge from the narrative data: power, silence, style, responsibility, and people. Each of these topics is examined for settled and unsettled properties and further analyzed using the lenses of Chase and Bell's identified strategies to discover how the women treat their experiences of inequality in their discourse.With a foundation laid by Patricia Schmuck, Flora Ida Ortiz, Charol Shakeshaft, and others, a previously neglected area of study-women in educational administration-began to take shape, and questions about the dearth of women in administration were asked. Even with this new foundation, however, research focused on women superintendents was and is as scarce and scattered as the women themselves. To be sure, after approximately 75 years of extant scholarship on the superintendency that relied primarily on White, male participants, it is only during the past 20 years that one finds research directed specifically to women superintendents (Tallerico, 1999, p. 29).Certainly, when women find themselves in the position of superintendent of schools, it is immediately apparent to them that of their colleagues the greatest number are men. In fact, during this 1999-2000 school year, approximately 13% of superintendents are women (Glass, Björk, & Brunner, 2000). Furthermore, it is shocking to see that when a line graph is constructed using the percentages of women in the superintendency from each year over the 76

The School Superintendent: Roles, Challenges, and Issues

“…A little more than 20 years ago, a handful of researchers, primarily women, began to focus on women in administration (see, e.g., Adler, Laney, & Packer, 1993;Dunlap & Schmuck, 1995;Ortiz, 1982;Schmuck, 1975;Shakeshaft, 1989) and even later to study women in the superintendency (Bell, 1995;Brunner, 1999aBrunner, , 1999bBrunner, , 2000aBrunner, , 2000bChase, 1995;Chase & Bell, 1990;Grogan, 1996;Kamler & Shakeshaft, 1999;Maienza, 1986;Marietti & Stout, 1994;Pavan, 1999;Sherman & Repa, 1994;Skrla, Reyes, & Scheurich, 2000;Tallerico, 2000aTallerico, , 2000bTallerico & Burstyn, 1996;. In addition, a few historians carefully chronicled the phenomenon of women in the superintendency (see Blount, 1998;Hansot & Tyack, 1981;Tyack & Hansot, 1982).…”

Challenges to female educational leaders in Kyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

“…Research studies relate this situation to the challenges associated with these positions. These challenges exist at all levels, from entry level (Kalbus, 2000;Derrington and Sharratt, 2009;Miller, Washington, and Fiene, 2006;Montz and Wanat, 2008;Shamsodin, Saeed, and Shahla, 2012) to workplace level (Brunner, 2000;Gewertz, 2006;Grogan's, 2008;Palladino, Haar, Grady, and Perry, 2007;Hanan, 2011;Quilantan and Menchaca-Ochoa, 2004).…”

“…In another qualitative study that explored what it is like to be a female superintendent, Grogan (2000) composed a poem from the interview data of a participant who lamented many aspects of her job, including discrimination. Brunner (2000) also carried out a qualitative study examining the same subject matter in which he conducted interviews with 12 women superintendents to find out if there were issues of inequality in their experiences. Brunner's study confirmed the pervasive and persistent existence of gender bias in the workplace.…”

“…Similarly, gender discrimination is a well-explored area in the social sciences. For example, Brunner's (2000) study of twelve female superintendents revealed the pervasive and persistent existence of gender bias in the workplace. In Gewertz's (2006) study, gender discrimination was one of the major reasons for the resignation of the three female superintendents.…”

Board and superintendent perceptions of the Illinois professional standards for school leaders critical for superintendent success

“…While females selected this indicator as one of their top choices, this is consistent with findings from a 2003 AASA national survey (Grogan & Brunner, 2005) that indicated that women bring the strengths of interpersonal skills and the ability to maintain organizational relationships to their position. Research indicates that women are much more collaborative, establishing power with others, while men are more authoritarian, employing power over others (Brunner, 2000). Women focus on creating a positive group effort while men focus on demonstrating their leadership (Banks, 1995).…”