Preserving the Status Quo or Renegotiating Leadership: Women’s Experiences With a District-Based Aspiring Leaders Program

Abstract

Purpose: Current demands for school leaders as well as reported administrator shortages have resulted in the implementation of district-based aspiring leaders programs to promote teacher leaders into administration. Because educational administration has, traditionally, been informed by androcentric perspectives, this study was designed to determine whether these programs are helpful to women aspiring to administration or whether they are used as another way to reinforce the status quo. Research Methods: This qualitative study examined the experiences of 15 women relating to their participation or lack of participation in an in-house district-based aspiring leaders program in one public school system. A critical framework grounded the study as research questions and the design of the study were informed by feminist poststructuralism. Findings: Although it is apparent that a greater number of aspiring administrators are reached in the district than if no program existed, the various needs of a diverse population of aspiring administrators have not been effectively met. Women, although they clearly seek leadership positions, have been constrained by traditional norms surrounding educational administration in the district, indicating that problems are much larger in scope than that which can be “cured” by district-led “grow your own” leadership programs. Implications: Strategies should be implemented that specifically target inducting women and minorities into aspiring leaders programs. In addition, careful consideration should be taken to create partnership programs for aspiring leaders between universities and school districts that link theory to practice and allow cohort groups to gain broader perspectives of leadership in support of transformational change.