Women’s Choices Within Market Constraints: Re-Visioning Access to and Participation in the Superintendency

Abstract

Purpose: In this article, the authors highlight three constraints—structural time crisis (Schor, 1991) ideal worker norms (Williams, 2000), and labor and occupational queues (Reskin & Roos, 1990; Strober, 1992)—on the decisions and choices of women seeking to advance to and hold positions in the superintendency. Proposed Conceptual Argument: The authors contribute to and extend the extant body of work by integrating a conceptual framework that emerges from feminist economics theory and feminist organizational theory. The authors use this framework to analyze the current access and representation of women in the superintendency. Conclusions: What exists today is an institutionalized, systemic pattern in the market that is robust and resistant to change. However, this discussion contributes to our understanding of women’s experiences in advancing to administrative positions generally, and the superintendency particularly, and advances the way we organize administration and administrative work to be more representative of women and eliminate constraints on women’s choices.

Necessary but Not Sufficient: The Continuing Inequality between Men and Women in Educational Leadership, Findings from the American Association of School Administrators Mid-Decade Survey

“…career PaThs anD TiMe PriOr TO The sUPerinTenDencY A number of studies highlight the fact that women enter the superintendency later than their male counterparts because they spend more time in the classroom and in intermediate positions (Ortiz, 1982;Heilbrun, 1988;Shakeshaft, 1989;Gupton, 1998;Glass, 2000;Tallerico and Blount, 2004;Björk and Kowalski, 2005;Grogan and Brunner, 2005;Mahitivanichcha and Rorrer, 2006;Kowalski et al, 2011). For respondents to the 2015 MidDecade Survey, 69.3% were 51 or older (the median age for white women was 55 years, while for women of color, the median age was 51 years).…”

Challenges to female educational leaders in Kyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

“…Björk and Keedy (2001) also found that board members' perceptions that women are not as competent as men prevented female applicants from obtaining superintendency. Mahitivanichcha and Rorrer (2006)'s study provided further evidence that male-dominant boards included members who held reluctant attitudes toward hiring women as superintendents. They claimed that a more diverse board would hire diverse candidates.…”

“…Women face challenges in obtaining and maintaining managerial positions in education and the "professional challenges of women superintendents have been the subject of research in the last three decades" (VanTuyle & Watkins, 2009, p. 135). As Mahitivanichcha and Rorrer (2006) have argued, in spite of having the desire and qualifications, women face challenges in gaining access to and then performing educational leadership positions.…”

“…Many of their participants had had to wait until their children were grown up before pursuing their professional goals. Mahitivanichcha and Rorrer (2006) also reviewed literature and presented three constraints for women pursuing superintendency. These constraints include structural time crisis, ideal worker norms, and labor and occupational queues.…”

“…The labor and occupational queues indicated the choices of applicants according to their desirability and choices of the employers according to their demands. Mahitivanichcha and Rorrer (2006) argued that these constraints limit women in their pursuit of supertinendency. For example, "The structural time crisis exists when the conflict between long working hours and family commitments is considered normal" (p. 491).…”