Download or read book Narrative Experiences of Women in a Southern State who Have Achieved the Superintendency written by Adria Elise Luster and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Male superintendents have historically outnumbered their female counterparts (Sharp, Malone, Walter & Supley, 2004), whether by a large (Bjork, 2000) or small percentage (Kowalski, McCord, Petersen, Young & Ellerson, 2010). Students and faculties that are not equally exposed to leadership from both genders may lack varied educational (Yoder, Christopher, & Holmes, 2008) and leadership experiences (Robinson & Blumen, 2003). This can possibly lead to biased beliefs, practices (Bjork, 2000; Coleman, 2003) and stereotypes (Williams, 2005). The purpose of this qualitative study was to discuss the personal and professional pathways of a southern state's current female superintendents and included personal, in-depth interviews. This study used Feminist Theory as the theoretical framework and included a qualitative approach using modified-analytic induction (Bogdan & Biklen, 2007). Purposeful and snowball sampling were used to select participants for this study from identified female members of the state's school superintendents association. Two research questions guided the study: 1. What personal pathways led to the attainment of a superintendent position for study participants? 2. What professional pathways led to the attainment of a superintendent position for study participants? The respondents to this study provided distinctive views that included personal observations, sage advice for aspiring leaders, and in-depth knowledge of self-imposed and outside barriers for females aspiring to the position. The findings of this study were supported by current research. Along their professional pathways, the nine participants in this study shared experiences of direct or indirect gender discrimination, lacked female superior mentors, and imposed barriers for themselves based on maternal or family influences. Along their personal pathways, all experienced early leadership, whether inside or outside of the home. The majority of respondents believed that their pathway affected their attainment of a superintendency, whether through the development of skills, networking, mentor influence, or educational achievements. There were two recommendations for further research that involved increasing the sample size of subjects studied. The first recommendation was to utilize the same instrument to explore the professional and personal pathways of female superintendents in one or more other states throughout the country, and the second was to use this instrument in different countries.