Have you ever encountered a leader who just had the "it" factor? They always knew the right thing to do, and it almost felt like they could read the minds of others and anticipate their needs? What if I told you that these are also things that can be learned and strengthened within oneself based on the emotional intelligence framework?…

The intersectional identities of African American women leaders come with challenges and obstacles that few thoroughly comprehend. This phenomenological study sought to understand the impact of intersectionality on the leadership styles and journey of African American women in K-12 district leadership. Historically, leadership literature…

Current trends among K-12 public schools in the Pacific Northwest reflect a disproportionate ratio of Latino(a) students to Latino(a) school administrators. Grounded on Latino critical theory and resilience theory, the purpose of this qualitative narrative study was to explore the professional and personal experiences of Latina administrative…

This qualitative exploratory study examines the perspectives of Hispanic women on barriers to educational leadership in the U.S. K-12 education. It aims to understand the challenges faced by Hispanic women in aspiring to leadership roles within the educational sector. Phenomenology, Driving Force Theory, and Intersectionality Theory form the…

There has been an increase in the number of women serving as heads of school in independent schools, though women remain underrepresented as heads of school in large (> 700 students), K-12, co-educational independent day schools. Data in this qualitative study were gathered through interviews with six women who were current or retired heads of…

Black female aspiring principals faced significant obstacles as they ascended to the principalship. This study chronicled the uncovering of the most common obstacles to representation, highlighting the importance of the findings. The problem explored in the research study was the underrepresentation of Black women as principals. The purpose of…

Education has historically been dominated by women, while those in leadership positions are male. Women are acutely underrepresented in the top position in public school districts across the nation. There is consistent evidence supporting that women often encounter both explicit and implicit barriers hindering their trajectory and growth to a…

This research intends to test the practice that Women of Color, or women who identify as a race other than white, do not receive fair and adequate opportunities to ascend to leadership roles. More specifically, Women of Color do not receive equitable opportunities in administrative positions in the K-12 educational system. Within this study,…

This study examines the perceptions of female administrators in California's K-12 schools. The research will explore the perspectives of female administrators in California, tracing their experience through their professional journey from classroom teaching to administrative positions. A comprehensive analysis of questionnaire and interview data…

Male superintendents predominantly hold superintendency in K-12 public school districts in the southern United States. The research problem was the underrepresentation of female superintendents in K-12 public school districts. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how female superintendents perceive the underrepresentation of…

Existing education research literature addresses problems and solutions concerning Black women teacher retention; however, few studies examine the issue of Black women administrator retention, specifically the retention of Black women principals. Using qualitative semi-structured interviews, this phenomenological study of 22 current and former…

This research afforded three female PK-12 educational leaders space in which to examine, deconstruct, reflect, and build upon sensemaking to understand how they led their campus out of a crisis, how healing from a crisis happened for the leader, and how they led their school community. Three portraits were used to highlight these female PK-12…

It is widely known that gender bias persists in male-dominated fields. Gender bias is often defined as acts that position one prototypical social group over another (Begeny et al., 2020; Gloor et al., 2020; Roberts & Brown, 2019; Scheifele et al., 2021). It is unknown how male superintendents mentor women while established in their…

This article explores the characteristics of leadership in schools where school principals are female, examining the voices and perceptions of the protagonists of female leadership. Employing a case-study methodology, data were collected through 12 in-depth interviews with female principals from the Santiago Metropolitan Region in Chile. The…

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine the understanding of possible reasons for a large gender gap in the number of men and women serving as PK-12 public school district superintendents in Iowa in 2022-2023. This study provided information on the career path experiences of female superintendents compared to male superintendents…