There is little doubt that more and more women are entering educational administration than in years past. While more women are aspiring to and reaching top leadership posts, there still remains a disparity at higher levels.

According to a 2007 EdSource report, the majority of teachers in the state are women, at 72 percent. However, women make up only 58 percent of the total administrative population.

While 60 percent of school principals are women, the number declines as the grades rise – only 48 percent of middle school leaders are women and 39 percent of high school leaders, compared to 69 percent at the elementary level.

The number of female leaders declines even further at the district level. According to EdSource, men hold 62 percent of all superintendent/principal posts, and 71 percent of all superintendencies.

ACSA’s 2009 Personnel/Human Resources Administrator of the Year Eva Chavez, assistant superintendent, HR at Merced COE, said she has seen more women entering the field during her career. When she began in HR 11 years ago, she remembers most colleagues in her area were men.

Chavez said although women have historically struggled with the “glass ceiling,” it has brought awareness to gender disparities at higher levels of educational leadership.

“Without stereotyping, I suppose (women) may have a heightened awareness of the need to have processes in place to ensure all candidates for employment are treated equally and fairly,” she said. “I believe an organization is strongest when it’s comprised of diverse backgrounds. The HR leader should be aware if any one gender is overly represented.”

Chavez said she has also found shifts in the demographics of district leadership teams overall with regard to gender. While this may not always be true at the superintendent level, in her experience it is most definitely so at the assistant/associate level.

“I see more women leaders than in the past,” she said. “This is to be expected, assuming most leaders are hired from within the public school system, since the teaching field in K-12 is comprised predominately of women.”

Gender stereotypes

Chavez also said that gender stereotypes affect her role in the school system, as well as the roles of other women. She said it is natural for anyone, despite their gender or culture or background, to be affected by their experiences.

“The fact that I’m female and an ethnic minority has provided me with life experiences which I believe make me more sensitive to the challenges facing various employees at all levels of the organization,” she said. “Assuming I’m able to relate better because of my experiences, I feel poised to make more informed decisions. I consider this a benefit.”

However, it can also be challenging at times. Chavez said she is sometimes judged as being too “soft” by allowing compassion to enter her decisions.

“When this happens, I find myself having to explain my rationale,” she said. “This takes time, but I believe it’s worth it. When employees understand why decisions are made and are able to support the decision, it makes for a stronger organization.”

Chavez said stereotypes, such as women being more nurturing than men, play a significant role in women’s day-to-day work.

“If this is true, women are likely to take a different approach to goal setting and problem solving than men,” she said. “This is a generalization, of course, because there are many factors besides gender that influence leadership.”

Male or female, education systems benefit tremendously when balanced, and this balance is critical for a successful organization, Chavez said.

“In my 26 years in public education, I’ve worked with and for both men and women,” she said. “From this experience I’ve learned that gender, ethnicity and experience balance is critical at every leadership level, whether classroom, site, district or board.”

Tanya Krause, assistant superintendent of human resources for Santa Cruz City Schools and president of ACSA’s Human Resources Council, said although historically it was more common to give a man a chance over a woman for the same position, that has changed.

“In the past five to 10 years I have seen more women moving up the ladder into more areas of educational leadership,” she said.

Krause, who has worked in HR the last seven years, said that while she hasn’t seen significantly more women entering human resources, she has seen more women entering top leadership posts in general – yet not many at the superintendent level.

“I do see more females as members of senior management rather than in the past,” she said.

Krause said she believes men and women bring different management traits and skills to the workplace, some aligned with gender stereotypes, and some not. For example, women can sometimes be viewed as more sensitive, while men are often viewed as less emotionally involved.

“I do think demographics and culture play a significant role based on the various people that I have spoken with across the state,” she said.

Perspectives and expectations

Former ACSA President Toni Hyland, director of classified personnel at Santa Cruz City Schools, said she has seen more women enter administration, but not so much at higher levels.

“I think there are more women at the elementary and middle school level but I don’t see a huge change at the high school level,” she said. “I believe there are more women at the district level, but we are still lacking representation at the superintendent level.”

Having worked in HR for 22 years, Hyland said she believes there are differences in female leadership styles, as well as perceptions surrounding female leaders.

“As children girls and boys are not raised the same, so their perspectives, expectations and work ethic are going to be different as adults,” she said. “I believe women have higher expectations of themselves and feel they need to do more, accept more responsibility than their male counterparts to achieve the same level of recognition…it can be a challenge to be taken seriously. I think sometimes we’re seen as being easy to manipulate or a soft touch and an expectation that we ‘do it all.’”

Raynee Daley, a member of ACSA’s HR Council, said she is the first female assistant superintendent of HR in Merced UHSD. As such, she has seen more and more women enter the field in other California districts.

“The number of females in cabinets and in district management positions has shifted to the positive since I began in 1987,” she said.

Now in the sixth year of her position, Daley said although stereotypical, she has noticed differences in leadership styles between the genders. “A high degree of emotional intelligence probably is more prevalent in the female gender, at least innately,” she said. “These are stereotypes, but being able to multi-task at a high level seems to be a female trait.”

That said, gender really does not make a difference in leading a human resources department, Daley said. 

“I have seen excellent educational leaders amongst both genders. At the same time, I have also seen terrible educational leaders among both genders,” she said. “Competence, the desire to learn, a certain amount of drive for excellence, a strong passion for student learning, terrific people skills, ...these are more important than the gender of an individual.”

Equal opportunity

HR Council representative Carol Hansen, assistant superintendent of ABC Unified, said she has seen more women enter HR as well as other leadership positions.

“In ABC USD there are a greater number of females than males in leadership roles, such as principals,” she said. “In recent recruitments of administrators, at all levels, I have seen more female applicants than male applicants.”

Hansen said females make powerful educational leaders, especially in human resources, in that they tend to build strong relationships, work collaboratively and possess creative problem-solving abilities.

“Having strengths in these areas are helpful when dealing with employee unions, tackling difficult employee-employer conflicts, and in negotiations,” she said.   

HR Council Rep Margaret Barnett, director of certificated personnel at Manteca USD, said while she has seen many women enter HR, most female administrators are concentrated at the site level.

She said HR professionals have the responsibility to be equal opportunity employers, and that balance is key in creating a school system that is representative of the students it serves.

“Being a woman shouldn’t affect our ability to hire quality employees. We should be looking for the most qualified candidate, regardless of gender, race, etc.,” she said. “I think there needs to be a balance of men and women, experienced and new and racially integrated. Just as it’s good to have a balanced teaching staff at the school site, a diverse leadership team is healthy in a district.”

Balance is essential

Dana Reginato, HR assistant super-in-tendent in Shasta UHSD, also a mem-ber of the HR Council, said while she has seen differences in male-female ratios at different districts, the bottom line is that balance is essential.

“My current district is a high school district with the majority of administrator being males. In my elementary district, it was mostly female administrators,” she said. “A balance of male and females is important to a balanced system.”

Terry King, associate superintendent of HR in San Dieguito UHSD, said in her 13 years in the field, the balance between male and female administrators has been about 50-50.

“Diversity in general adds a variety of perspectives,” she said. “I consider myself a feminist, but still consider good leadership to be good leadership, regardless of the leader’s gender. Maybe I’m just fortunate to work in a district that has had a good gender balance for many years.”

Also serving on the Human Resources Council is Julie Braun, director of personnel in Mt. Diablo USD. She said more than in past years, more women are entering education to begin with, and teachers of both genders are leaving the classroom to become administrators.

“I think in general, more women enter the profession of education, therefore at all levels you see more women,” she said. “I think more women aspire to be administrators rather than remaining teachers. I see educators only working briefly in the classrooms before moving up the ladder, but that is not gender specific.”

ACSA is dedicated to addressing issues affecting women in educational leadership. It has convened a Women’s Leadership Network to support female administrators and to provide networking opportunities in local areas. Click here for more information.

The Women’s Leadership Network also hosts discussions on ACSA’s online community. Share your ideas and feedback regarding women’s issues at http://community.acsa.org/group/womensleadershipnetwork.