Date of Award
6-2000
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Teaching, Learning, and Leadership
First Advisor
Dr. Charles Warfield
Second Advisor
Dr. David Cowden
Third Advisor
Dr. George Woons
Abstract
There is a shortage of females in educational administration. Women represent a majority of teachers, yet men occupy most administrative positions. The purpose of this study was to determine attitudes of selected Michigan school administrators toward women as managers. This study was intended to create an awareness of the perceptions administrators hold toward women as leaders and investigate attitudes that may be accountable for the disparity of women leaders in education.
Two research questions were studied: (1) Do the attitudes of male administrators toward women as school managers differ from the attitudes of female administrators toward women as school managers? (2) Do the attitudes of superintendents and assistant superintendents toward women as school managers differ from the attitudes of secondary school principals toward women as school managers?
This study is a replication of a Mississippi study conducted by Polk (1990) utilizing a population consisting of 133 female and 215 male administrators from the state of Michigan. A majority of the respondents were male. The largest group regarding age fell between fifty-one and fifty-six. A majority of respondents were employed in districts that ranged in size from 1001-3000. More men than women began their administrative career under the age of thirty. Most females acquired their first K-12 public school administrative job between the ages of thirty and thirty-five.
The Attitudes Toward Women as Managers scale, developed by Yost and Herbert (1977), was used to collect data for the study. The results of this study showed a statistical difference between attitudes of male and female administrators toward women as school managers. The results also indicated that there was no significant difference in the attitudes of secondary principals and upper level administrators toward women as school managers.
Access Setting
Dissertation-Open Access
Recommended Citation
VanderJagt, Dorothy J., "Attitudes and Perceptions of Michigan School Administrators toward Female Administrators" (2000). Dissertations. 1489.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations/1489