Date of Graduation

2000

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

Despite a deluge of national attention to equity issues, public school administration is still the domain of men. Research attention to women in leadership has done little to close the gender gap in superintendents' and secondary school principals' offices, perhaps because of its focus on successful men rather than on the women who hold these positions. Qualitative interviews examine seven central Appalachian women school leaders in light of feminist standpoint theory, focusing on the way the women enter leadership, articulate a personal construction of the leadership role, and negotiate the borders between their own constructions and the prevailing ones. Profiles illustrate how the women have dealt with their invisibility as teachers and aspiring leaders, as well as the ways in which they have built woman-friendly environments within their schools and communities. Extended presence and unofficial leadership roles within their school systems (“being there”) appear to contribute to their move into administration, but participants remain constrained by a lack of language to articulate their understanding of leadership. Bringing about equity in public school leadership will require more attention to the development and dissemination of the female voice in leadership studies.

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