This paper examines why the training, certification, selection, and promotion of educational administrators ensures both the continuation of white-male dominance and of leaders oriented toward bureaucratic maintenance. The report draws on a poststructural conceptualization of power--the deployment of power through normalization--to provide an…

In a case study, three women superintendents say their Texas communities viewed the superintendency as suitable for a white, middle-aged, conservative, married man committed to keeping taxes low. Their observations on subtle and blatant manifestations of androcentric culture may provide grist for feminist research. Corrective measures are…

This paper explores the ways in which gender may lead to conflict between women superintendents and members of their elected boards of trustees. The report draws on the perspective of three female former superintendents. A qualitative case-study approach was used that relied on indepth interviews and a focus-group interview with all three…

Social constructions of sexism many times become evident in a public school system when the superintendent is a woman. This paper offers a view of sexism from the perspective of women superintendents. The text discusses the distinction between sex and gender and how the role of the superintendent itself is a socially constructed position. A study…

In a recent case study, three white, middle-aged women who were formerly public-school superintendents analyzed problematic work experiences. Results demonstrate the sexism that is part of the superintendency's culture, the educational administration profession's silence, and participants' proposed solutions for problems of sexism and silence.…