WOMEN EDUCATORS SELDOM MAKE IT TO THE TOP; 
RESEARCH SHOWS ALTERNATIVE STYLES MAY BE STUMBLING BLOCK

	CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., July 2 -- Few public school
superintendents in the United States are women, although they make
up the majority of classroom teachers.  Recent figures show that the
majority of students in doctoral and masterÕs degree programs in
educational administration are women.  So why do so few make it to
the top?
	A central reason may be that womenÕs personal and
professional styles contrast sharply with those of the white males
dominating K-12 educational administration, according to a new book.
	ÒHighly qualified female candidates for the superintendency
are overwhelmingly seen as women first and administrators second,Ó
said Margaret Grogan, author of ÒVoices of Women Aspiring to the
Superintendency,Ó recently published by State University of New York
Press.
	ÒDespite being recognized as professional educators skilled
at administrative functions, most women experience tension arising
from colleaguesÕ gender perceptions,Ó said Grogan, an assistant
professor in the University of VirginiaÕs Curry School of Education.
	In a study of 27 very capable women holding administrative
positions during the 1993 and Ô94 school years, Grogan found key
characteristics that restrict their ability to ascend to the top.
One is that women tend not to have the same kind of experience or
preparation for a superintendency than men have.
	Most school systems demand candidates who have high levels
of formal training including eligibility for a state
superintendentÕs certificate and prior experience as
administrators.  Many of the studyÕs participants felt that their
family commitments have to come first, which restricts their ability
to pursue advanced education.
	ÒThe womenÕs personal and professional lives are
inextricably intertwined -- a pattern starkly different from the
males in educational administration,Ó said Grogan, who teaches in
the Curry SchoolÕs new department of leadership, foundations and
policy.
	ÒSchool boards tend to screen candidates according to the
traditional male-preparation standards.  Alternative patterns to
assuming leadership that women display are viewed as being inferior
preparatory paths,Ó said Grogan, a former school administrator
herself.
	WomenÕs alternative approaches to assuming leadership
positions, their differences in style and the fact that they are
seen as women first and administrators second are the top three
reasons identified in the study as to why so few female
administrators become superintendents.
	Grogan, who has been researching leadership for four years,
found that the women often recognize behaviors that are potentially
inhibiting and find a way to circumvent them.  ÒThat was the
encouraging dimension of the study,Ó she observed.  ÒDespite the
Ôglass ceilingÕ concept, women are inventive and determined to
ascend.Ó
	Grogan was discouraged to find a gap between many of the
womenÕs professional expectations and their personal
responsibilities, such as children.  ÒWhen some of the women became
free of their personal responsibilities, they were inevitably
nearing the later stages of their careers.  Most participants felt
that the timing of their entry into the pool of candidates is the
most crucial factor in their ability to secure a superintendency.Ó
###
	JULY 1, 1996

	FOR MORE INFORMATION, contact Margaret Grogan at (804)
924-6137.  For a review copy of the book, call Judy Spevack at SUNY
Press,  (518) 472-5017.