The Underrepresentation of Women Pursuing the High School Principalship: A Collective Case Study of Perceived Barriers and Perspectives

Women are critically underrepresented in the upper tiers of administration in U.S. public education systems---specifically in the position of high school principal. This collective case study, conducted with qualitative research methods, investigated the perceived institutional and personal barriers to the career trajectories of women pursuing the high school principalship. Some of these perceived barriers included the commitments of home and family and the impact of extended hours outside of the school day; exclusion from certain networks, some of which serve as critical steppingstone positions to the high school principalship; and societal stereotypes about women's ability to lead a comprehensive high school. In-depth interviews were conducted with three groups of female administrators: (1) two female high school principals; (2) eight female high school assistant principals, considered to be a feeder position to the high school principalship; and (3) seven females who had served as high school assistant principals and left the path of the high school principalship for another administrative position. Participants were recruited via purposeful, non-probability sampling. The responses from the semi-structured interviews were transcribed and coded while looking for common themes to emerge. This research helped clarify whether the women who left the path to the high school principalship chose not to pursue the position or were encouraged into other administrative positions. Those women currently serving as high school principals gave light to the challenges they encountered as well as the systems that served to support their pursuit of and tenure as principals. The themes presented shed a brighter light on how obstacles created disinterest among many of the women who participated in this study. These specific obstacles included exclusion from the "old boys' club" as well as the great number of evening and weekend events that impeded them from involvement in their own family's activities. More specifically, the oversight of high school athletics was seen as a major deterrent to women pursuing the position of high school principal.