\.sl MY~is

FACTORS

&YPJENd:NG~THE ~ER ASPI~TI()N;

^OF

FEMALE'EDUCATIONALADMINISTRATORSIN NEWFOt'NDLAND AND IABRAOOR

by

\.sl

_{MY~isVioletGUy (-HickS) . B.A"(Ed.,.}

AThesispresented to the"Schoolof Graduate Studie s in partial.fulfillment of the

requirements to r the degree Masterof Education

Faculty of Education Departme nt of EducationalAdministration

MemorialUni versityof Newfoundland February 1988

i.1

Sr.John's

;~.

New f ound l and

"\

t: :'.. . .

^:

^....

^-~.,..:,:

^.

-' . ..

Pe r~ie 8ionhas bee n granted t.o th e N~t iona l Lib ra r y of Canada.toCII~crofill1 this thesis and to le nd or sel l -_copie.~.of the fi.b .

Theaut.lter -( c o pyri g ht owner) has reserv ed ot h e r public atio n ri g h ts,..and neitb er t-he the sis nor, .eXJ:e ns l v e extracts .fr'o"\;o'i t lDay be printe d or otherwise -rep"rodu c ed without. 'hlsf,h " r writte~ perilleeion..

I:t'

r

.=>

L'8utori ea ti ona l!t6aCcOrd'e A Ill. BibUothlque na.He ne le du Cana d a ;de J:l1.~ r o f i l lle r

ce tte thbs'at de preter ou de ven dre dell exemplairee du

f11m. . .

L~aUtellr (HtUlaire du droit d:.auteur) se rltserve 'Iss autre s droitsde pubUc«ttlon, nl.Ill. thlee nl de' long.

ext r ai ts de c81 1 0 -c l ne doi vent atre imp·rill'. ou aut- r elle n t.repr.odul~8.unB Bon aut.e r ha U on "cdee, . .

-:...:

ISBN 0-315- 4 33 34 -5

; ,

. . •.

^: .;

.;',\';'

- ,

The

·'b.br ado r

\ A9.STRACT .•'.

\

status of female

edu~etors

^In

Newl.u~dl'nd·

^end

-

,,-"

was establi shed ~or the sc hoo l'year 1'986- 81.

proporti~ns of, fella le ed~~at~rs were clltegorlze~ by denominationcil sy s t em arid 'sut>qr o up in the educ a ti o na l'

_··--hJ.~·r~rChY;

_{Que sti o nna ir}e " to the

"dml~~~ .' -~:~'tion

en tire^of-populationthe "rem'aleof the

' Ad~i'ni~trator ' s

300femal e

.

adnl~n~r~~rs .-tn

^the

P'~ovi~ce prov~~e ~~ta

^{.to exa mi ne_}

thei r career aspir a tio nsand the factorsi!1flue,r.mi ng the s e aspir~ tion'S. In<:l ude1:i-Ln the process~nq"a.p~ ana Iys Ls o'f dat-a were.

freq~ency tabu~ ation~ ;' pirc~tiiages' a~d

' . ; .

.

^" .' ~ ''''"

....: '

.9tat i s~ ical testJ..ng,·alongWith.~~om~_c.O.~~.derat::-i¢n bein?

given

.t.O: ' ~h-,-:_ ~~~~:ep - com~~n~s

^.1 ;OVid e d by

t~e. 2~5'

re s pc nc e ne e , -.:.~. _ . . _ '.

_

Ba~_d

^Dnthe

'fin~H~~-:(~f-'ltit :~tue:ty,

^the

fOllOW~..99 concluSiO~S

^{w_erepui:0rth::t·}

~ .- ~:~ -.~

^..•

~'~'~~'~:~~Y'"-¥"" "

^{. _f}

~

1. While temale.s occupy"the.g;,ell t e sb-R,so'pa.rti on,of

- I .~. _ ' • i

the teachingf~ce inNewt.~nd landand ~brador. there exists an imbalance in dis~i!ivour !,f~olllen' atall administrativelevels in the hier~rchY.

As the level of

adElinist~ativo resP·ons ~{t\t .

increases,'the number of tem~les decreasesuntil the y become non~xistent,at the supe.; i ntende nc

y

le vel.

.2. A large prop,ortion _o f female admIni s t rators 1n, . th e province asph;:e to'increa s e d administ rat ive

-i l

ii"

' ;

..

dutiesat all level s inthehi era r ch y , i'ncl ud i ng

ca reer asp irat h m s.

Lackofprc r e e ad cn a t crede nt ials isper~eiv~d'Oy' .these te ma l e ad min i strat o r s as a barrier to

" I ' .

thei r career aspirat i o ns, 'whil e ac:"quisition ot .pro f es si onal

~redentialS

^is'

percer;;~d

^{•• at",}

faciHtato~ofcar~er a~pira·ti~ns. thesup eri nte ndenc y .

3. Age, m~r'ita l stat us, sex-role id e o l og y , professional crede n tials, 'and invo lvement' in

~erta i n "a spe cts

)l

,The Newfo u ndla nd Teachers'

A8SoCillt~

^are'sig ni fica nt ly

relat~d

^{toca r e e r}

as p i ra t ions.

Famil y ba ck gr o u nd , ,familY obligations, and

encauragem~t .

^{are not}

' ~ignlficantly

^{;elated't o}

4.

5.

? l

\

, ','t

6.. satis fac tion wi'th th e i r career is the prime, reason/ for 'wa nt ing,to remain in current

\.

administr a tive posit ions, while the desire rorra challenge is the pr i me'·reason, for_wanting grea t eradmi nis trativerespon~ibitili~ies . Re c omme ndatio n s of the. researchii.nclu~.e actions-to be takenby.variousgroupsto correct the imbalanceof the sexes..in educatio na l aamini st ratioh at al l le vel s of the Furthe r re s e arch might include career satisfaction·of female 'admini str a t o r s , career,paths·o f

" .'

.

^,'.

superintendents in relat i on to the implic.t·i~n~- for

- : '~i

'iii

J

J "

aspiri;g_ft!male administrators. -and 'the a.t tj.tud e s of'

. ,\ . I .

spouses toward femaleadmiriistr.ators· career aspirl!tlbns.

! · T

,

,

"

iv

, ^, "

" .

.\

.. e.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

sincere

tha~kJ ar~ ext~~ed

^to:.

~y

^{son, Matthewl my} h~sband,'Wilson~ and",mylDbth~rwhose.Love., e~t:our:age:,:"ent. al"!d supportsus~alnedm~ewh ile,:ompl.etin~this ."thesis. ~

• The

researCh~r gra~efUIIY

ackn9wled'gesthe'as'sistance of Dr. pen nie L.-Tres lan,'th es is advisor. His inp~t in the" j"itial

sta'ge~

of the thesis"

h~

superVision

'd'uri~g th~

^a

t;~al '

^{writing, -a nd hi s}

enc~ur~~ement '

^{in the}

fin~l'

st a g e s ':ti f,the

r~port 'provide~

an invaluable,con tribution':·

•• ~'.f'..._, :

'Thanksare"extendedto J;>r. H. Kitchen and Dr. Linda Phii iP:\;'hO

helP~d,

"wi t h' the:::

de~el.()p:men't ~( "

^the

questionnaire; t'o

tIr.

.v,Snelqrove fo r

his

contribut~on^as

INTR6c~Io'N••~.^{i.••. • .•'H'••••••••• • •••• •} :

st~~ement

^{,o f}

~he ,

^{Problem ..• • :: .}

Th~oretical Framework :.

si gnificancq'of~heStudy

I...

¹⁹

Delimitations•••..:.... .• •": •".• ,•.•." . 20 Limitations

...

^{, ~ , "' '~ .}

.

I!

Definitio;'Ji.•.;..• .•.•• • •.•• ••. ;••••••.

\,,' I ,

RF,:VI~W':,o~,RE:~Tf~L~~ERAroRE ••~••• • • • • • . Introductio"~i';•••••:~••••'.'•• '.~:••'.• •. "

Women's.,Role:in~ducation .

Aspirations~orAd~inis,trat'ive ~,

positions- Gender Differences 29

Factors Infl~encing Females'"Career Asp i rat i o~ s

I ••... . ...:' - -, ..

31 Demog r a ph i c 'Characteristi~s ^{.•. .. ...•• -32}

II!

:::~::l:a:::t:::: ~' :~": : ::::~ : ~ : : : : ~ ~

Family

Obli9~tions

^{••••.•... •..• • • •.••}

prOfeSSionallcre~enti;IS

^{•. . . . .•. . ....}

Professional involvement..."..• ...

EJl~Ouragem~nl ..•:.. •. ..•.•• . •• •.. ••"..

Chapter summary ),..

I ' . ,

RE!;Et-RCH.METHOO?LOGY •••:.,... . .:

.

^{' ;" '}

Intr~dUCti~On\•." •.• • •:••• •.'.'..',: .. .• .Population

"l'~'" '' '' ' , ' .

:

.;:".:'::..'-

vi.

., ":~'-'

. .

^{; ,}

n

31 40

"

₉₁

54

so

59 99 ,59

~ (i

Examinationof Directories

\

Ihstrument..•... ... '.i" :.. .. .. . 61 Description~fInstrumen t .•.~•...~. 61 Development of Instrument .•.:... ... 65 Inst rument Validation •... . . ... ._ .6 6

"

•pilot Study ••.•••.•... ... •. . . • ...~.•', .'66

, _instrume~t.ReliabiU t y •.~.... .. . .6':"

Administ rationof Questionnaire... 68 AnalY~i~of~at~•.•• .•.. .•"..~•...• ... ..• 70 Chaptersu~~y/, _ ; :..,.. .. ';12 IV ANAIIYSISOFDATA .: ~.;.'..:.. ...: .• ..." 7J

status of Women Educ a t ors in Newfo undlan?_a nd Labrador...•. .

... .

·I nt r od uct ion .

?

Teachers •.•.. ... ....~ ".. .. 75

School Administrators 75

DepartmentChairpersons 75

Vic e Principals .: -

Pr:incipals •...' : . .cent r a l Off i c e Personnel' .

A~dst~nt/Assoc1ate"

~~~e~{nten~ents : .

Cur r i e.u lum co.ord inat?r s ..'...•-•.

summary'.•... :... ...•. ...

"Respordents ...•.•.. '•.' '.'. .

Career Asph.·{ltions ;...~..

Summary .••. .•..•...•... •... ..• 77 77 77

81 79

so'

. 2

.,

./

" ..J

,'\

V>~_

i '

-oJ-

_A

/ -.- - -

recccre Inf l ue nc i ngCareer

As p i"r ati o n s .

Demograp hicCharacteris tics .

,'AspirationI'ond Age .

~SP1r~tfnaJ')-d.M8rlt8 1Status~~ . Aspiration-and,th e N\U(lber of

Children' ~.:: .

Aspirat i:onand Age ofDe pe n d en t Children ••• •••••••••••• •••.••••

IT

.~I;F~milY

^{Background ••...•. ... .. ......}

•ASllitati9nand Mother's Education -

A~piratJon

and'Fa;her'sEducation 'tf

Aspiration and Parental Annual rncene..•...•.•.. ..' .

Asp'i~ation

^{and Birtho rder .}

Aspiration.and Home~own

I~population.•... ... .. . As p i r a t io n andJ>toth~rlsO.~~iiP~tion Aspirationand Father'soccupation Sex-r o l e Ide ology ....^{00•0••00•00••0} --As pir a t i o n and Sex-role'Ideology_: Family Obligations •...^0.0.'.00.o• •0.

Aspiration and Household/Ch ildcare Duties 00000 .00. 0.00.0••oro••·0·

Aspirattonand G~ograph ical Mobility ^{0• •••0.0.00•0••00• • •}'f⁰ prOfefsiona l Cr e d en t ial s •..^00••~o^•00

"As p i r a t i o n Mid"c.e r ti fi c ate ^{0.00 . 0 ·}

,

^-

Aspiration(~ndExperience

.

\ )

vii i

Page

.r

_.

••

_8?

90

92

9J

9'

?'

95

97 9.

100 101 10J 10' 104"

10 7

108

~0 9 '1 0 9 110

;,""~~'

I,

.,..

^'

'\'

'Professiona l Involvement . Aspi ra tionand N./r. A. lnvel vement. .(Bran ch~vel) •• ••••••'•••• •••.. Aspir ationand N.T.A . Involve me nt

(Special Inter e st councils) ... . Aspirat"io nand N.T.A ,"}nv o l v e me nt

(Provincial Level) ..!••••.• •.••

Aspirationand I~~vement in

Commu~ityorganizations"..:...

I Aspirationand Involvementin School Board Cgmmittee 9"<...',0"•• •

Aspira~ionand Involvementin Government Boa~d~•••• •'.• • • • ••-•• Aspiration and Involvement in :

other organizations:._":, .

Enco~ragement ••••••••-".•• ;•.• . • •. .••

Astriration and Encouragement.from Co-....crxees .. . • . . .; .. ... ;','..".... Aspiratlol) and Encouragement"from

Friends .

~~p:Lrationami Encouragement~rom

• supe rio rs .•.•... ... ... Aspiration and Encouragement from , FamilyMembe~s•• • ••• •••• ••••••; Aspi,ratiqnand Encouragementfrom

Obher Sources .

I Aspirationand Encouragement fr9m

. Husband .

Aspiration,a nd Attitude of.Hus ba nd As p i ra tio n andi\ttitudeoft Family

Me mbe r s ~...• ;.: . ....

y·su~ary

^{.•..... . ...•... ... .' ' .}

ix

..1"· ;....

'."

i

.

^-~,

,Page

111

112

112

113

114

115

116

117 118

118

119

120

121

122

.

123124

-.'; . ....

.\ '

peroeivedBarriers an d Faoc il itators ••

,perceiv,ed.Barriers•• •••. .•• ••• • •: •• P~rceivedfacilitators .~.• ••. .••.•.

, : . . r

S'urrimar y •.~••••.••• .•. •••. • •~.•.•.••

Reas.ons-f'or'Caree r Aspirati o ns . Written Comments·- ~'Attaln .

As'pirati0f.ls " .

WrfttenComments "-".Remai n Aspirations 'l :..•.••.•..•.•.

s~mmary ^{.: . .: : .:..--:'} Chaptl r.sumroa~y-^{•.•:. :•.:..• •..\.• ..• • •:}

.

^{/ '}

SUMM!\RY, CONCLUSIONS, AND'RECOMMENDATIONS The Probl.em•.•.•••••••...••.• .•... .• •.

~nstrume ntat i on andMethodolog~

The Population... ...• ".•.••.

, ,

Summary or" Findings .: •... . ...••..•• Conclusions .• .. • • ....•.. . .. .... • . .• •'.J

" - -Recommepdations :•.• .

RecommendationsforAct'ion •... ._... Recom;'endaticns. :

Furt~er ~tudY.~

.BIBLIOGRAPHY••.••.•.••••..'••.• ••• • •~.~/" •....••.

,

;,

APPENDIXA- Female Administrator'sctie atIcnneire.

APPENDIX·· B - Co r L"e s po nd e n c e.•','..••. .••.•:... ....• .

\.

Page;. 128 128 129

"0

..

1 ,31

'"

- _{" 6}

"8

"9

140 140

'41

142 14 2....,

' 47

149

149

,

• -J

150

7" .

15'

'16 0

"69

:':'>

Ta bl e

·LI ST OF TABLES

Page Reliabili ty ofQues t io n n ai re It e ms ... . Dis t;r i b ut ion of Te ach e rsin Each School System bySe~..••.•. ..••..•.•. . . . ... . .. Di strib utionof Scho o lAd min istr a tors In Elich School Syst em by Sex :... Dis tr ib u tiGnof Cen tral Office Personne l.

in EachSchool'Sys t e m by Sex . Distributio n ofFemale Principal s in the Rom~ nCat h o lic.System .• . . ... • .•• •. Distt;.ibu t ionof Respondent s by School

System... ••• .• •• • • •.• •••. ••. . . . .... ...•••• 83 D~str~~ tionofnesp o nderrte by Subgroup ...

Fema le Adm i n i s t ra t o r s'Career As p i r a t i o ns:

Ois tribut ionbyDes~ rean d"Subgrou p . Freq ue n cyDistri b u t i on : Highest posi tion Desire d fo r 'At t a in ' As pir a t i on .. .•.. . . . .. Career As p i rationbi Me an Age .• • . .. Ca r e e r Aspirat ionbyMar ital Status

-

Career Asp i ra t i on by Mean Numb e rof

Children •.•..• • •.•. . ... . .... . ... . sa 13 Car ee r Aspira t i on by Mean Ag e ofChi l d r e n 14 Car ee r Aspi rat ion byMothe r ' s Educatio n '15 Ca r ee r

,

Asp i r a tionby Fath e r ' s Ed u c at i on •. •

~~~~:~ ~~:~~~~~~~ . ~~~ ~~~~~~~~ . ~~~~~~ ... ..

17 Car e e r Asp ii:- at i onpy BirthOrde r ... .•.. 18 Care er'As p ira t io nbyHomet ow n Popula t i on ..

ceee oe'Asp i ra tion by'Mot her's oc cup atic,lM 20 Car~er^Aspiration~yPath~r 'sOc cu pa t i on

xi

Table. P!\ge

CareerAspirat ionbyMean Score s on Sex-roleId e o l o g y Scale

Dist.ributionofMean ScoresAmo ng Female Respondents on Each Itemon Sex-role Id e o l o g y Scale .• ... .. . .. ...•. . ...

Career Aspi ra tio nby MeanScores for Ho u s eho l d/c hild c a r e Dut ies .._... Ca r e er Aspiration by GeographicalMobili ty.

25 CareerAspirationbyTe a ching Certific ate Level .. ....•..; ••, .• • ••.•.•••••.. . . . Career Aspirati on by MeanYe a rsor

Experience .• .... • .. ... . . .... .... ...•. 11 0 Ca r e er Aspi ra tion!:?y N.T.A. Inv ol v e me n t at"BranchLev!'!l ... . . ...•.•..••• .. . .•. IIi

112

2.

^{Car e e r AspirationbyN.T.A. r}nvo rveeent (S pe c i a l Int e r e st counc i ls) ..

..

....•...• • .^- ',' . Career Aspiration by N.T.A. Involvement at ProvincialLevel .. ..• ..• ... .. .. . ..•..•.

Ca reer Aspi ra t ionby In v o l'v e me n t,in Comniunity'org!\nl zat i o ns . Ca re er Aspira tion by Inv olvementin Sc ho ol till Boar d Committees .. .. .• •. . ...•. lIS

CareerAspiration by Involveme n twith Gove rnme n t Boards •...• ... ... . .... . aa Ca reer As p ira t i on by Inv o l v e me n t ~nOth er

organ i~ations ~.

cere er-_Aspiratio nby Enco urage ment from Co- work e r s ... . . ... ....• ... .. .•.. ....

11~

J5 cere er-As p ira t i o n by Encouragem entfrom 119 Fr i end s •• ••...• •,•. .. .... ... .. . CareerXs p ira t i o nby EnCQurai]emen t trom Super iors •.••... . ....•. . . ... . ... .... ... . . . . 37 CareerAspirationby Encouragemen t from

-- Fami l y He~ers... • ••• . .•.... . 122

xii

Table

, "

J8 Car e er Aspiratio nbyznc cueeqeeent; fr om Ot her Sources .. •... .. ....•.. ..•.. . ... 39 Ca reer Asp ir ati on byEncoura ge me n t from

~~~" " '\ "

... .

" " " " " " " .' ." " . 40 Ca r ee r As piration byHusband (Attit u d e) ... 41 CareerAspi rat ion by Attitu l1eof faMil y

Hembers •... .. .. . .... . ... ... . ... .. .... 42 Perce ntage Fre qu encyDi st.r»b ution:

Facto rs Hinder i ng Career A!fp irat ion 4J fr e quenc y Distribut i o n : fact o rs

Contr ibut ing toCareerAsp i r~t ion..

44 Fr e qu ency Distril&uti on : Reas ons to r 'tl.ttain' Aspira ti o n s ._ •.. ... 45 Freque ncy Distr ibut ion.: Reas on s fo r

'Re ma i n' Aspira tion s ...•...: .

)(11 i

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e-"

Page

123

124 125

126

129

130

132.'

136

l.IST OFFIGURES

Fig ure Page

Ps ycho logicalAspect s ofWomen's Career Devel opme nt ... ... . . . .. .. . 10 co nceptual Mod el of Facto rsInfluencing ca re er As pirations of re n eie .

Adminis t r ators 18

Hy p othet i c alMode l of the geje s of a

Married Woman. ... .. . ... .. . 42

xiv

CHAPTER I INTRODUc:rION

Althou gh the tea c h ing prof e ssion as a whole is pr e d o min antl y femal e, wo me n st ill hold ver y fe w pos i t i on s ' of leade rship wit h i n th e educationa l sys tem. Biklen and Brann igansUlllli,c1rl.1 e the ext entof thesituatio n thusly :

Oneof the mee t.interesting and deviant aspe c t s of thecereers of educationa l lead e r s (ccmpared withother occupat i ons) has bee nth e"d omi na nc e of women in the pool fr om whic h lea ders trad itionallyemerge and the absence ofwomen at the topof the hierarchy.¹

Sta~istics

^{fromboth"c::anada and the United}

~tates

indica t e thatthegrea t e st proporti on of.femal e ed~cators level of fema le admi n i s tr a t ors ,dec'rea s e as the

'C..

cluste r at the class room le ve l and the proportions of

respo ns i b.il i ty in the 'hi erar chy inc r ea s e s . One sur vey revea led tha t al t ho ug h 67%of all Americanteac hers '!"ere female , they ac c o un t e d for only 14%of all pr~ncipa ls . 2 For the19 81-8 2 school year. finding s ind ica t e th~t'women constituted lessthan2%'of a"l1American superln~endents.³ IS :}/; . Bikl e n and M.B. Br a nniga n , ~ i~~~r;l~?atLea d ers hi p (Ma~sachus etts: Lexin gton Books, ~

2Ibid., p. 5.

\

" JE.J .

Jone s and X.P. Monten egro, "F a c tors Pred icting

Women ' s Upw a r d Career Mobility"in Schoo l.Administr a tion,11

Joyrnal of Educat io nal Equity and Lea d e rs h i p 3 (1983):

233.. .

·

^{:; .:}

Statis t ics Canada figures show that for the school yee r 1983-84, 54\of all fu l l- timeteache rs in the country female, but th e y held only 14\ of all princLpa l sh Lp s, a decline from 17\ te n (10 ) years earlier. The proporti on of w'omen invLce-epr IncLp aIah Lps has inc r e a s e d from15 \ in 1972-7 3 to18 \ in19 83-84.4

With re sp e ct to the statusof women in educati on in Newf oundland and Labrador, Statistics Canada da t a reveal thatfor 't h e school year19 8'3-8 4 , fe mal es comp r i s ed52 % of the tot a l teach;ng population , 69\ of the elementa r y teachers and 27% of the secondary,teachers, Female s

to_ th e gr owi n g gendergapin educat ioh :

5 Ib id., p, 22.

accounted for 22 %of the total nu mb e r of principal s, 26% ", of the elementary'principal s , and 12\ If -t h.e secondary princ ipals.5 Between 19 72 and 198 0, the on l y area in whi c h the pe rc e n t ag e of women hired in admLn Lstr-etIve po s it,ionswas greater thanthatof their male co lleagues' was in the sUPP<;"rt posit ions of superv i s or/progra m coordi-Aa to r.⁶ More re c e n.,t. figures guoted byLewis at test '"

)

In Newfoundlan,d in 1972-73 , twenty-six percent of all.princ ipals were women. In1985"86, that

(Ot ta wa :"'su p p l yand Serv i c e s Canada, 195), p. 12.

!

!

6A.p. Ponder and-M.J. Fagan,

"oo~s

^a Principal's Ge nd e r or LeadershipSty l e In fl ue n c e Hjer/HiSRating? " Iill1 Canad ianSchool Exe cutive4 (1984): B.

c

J.

the lowe s t occupy les s

disa p pea r at figure hasplu Jl\lI\eted to ei ghteen perc en t. We have yet tosee a womandistrictsupe r inte n d ent in this province. and at the ass i stant superintendent level . a meager seven percent of the positions are filledby.!ernales.'

A s

evidenced fromthe citedstati s ti c s,-v o m en enter the educationalsystem

.

in great numbe r s as teache r s .^. One would expect the domi nance of women on th e first rung of the career' Ladder- to,b e a pos i t i ve feature for their caree r ad_vancement in th.e educ ati onal-hi era rchy. Ins t e a d, there has emergeda divi s i onoflabo u r intheeduc at i ona l

sy s t em whereby women ~ and men~'. The

la rqest nurn,berof fema le administrators

-

^'\

po:",erful suppor t po.\ition s , are in administra~ive ca teg orie'j' and vir tually higher level s.

The pattern 1s clea r . Though...omen are the majority of employeesineducat ionthey are the minority of administrators at all levels of edueatLen, and their numb ersdecrease with each step up the hiera r chical ladde r to near no n- representatio n at thetop.8

Explanations for women-;s underr~~re sentation in educational administrat ion foc u s on twoMjorthe mes: the nature of women's career aspirations anc, sexual cHscri mi nati o n in hirinq . Stoc k a rd andKempne rsta t e :

'B.

tewrs , "Wo men in Education- -the GrOWing Gende r\ Gap," NT ABu lletin 29 (19 8 6): 7•

.as.E. Es t l e r, "Women as Leade rs in Public Educa tion , "

SIG NS· Jour nal of Women-inCu lt ur e andSo c iet y1 (197 5):

364.

It.is suggeste d that women fail to aeptre to adminis t ration an d especi ally the most prestigious.fcoe . It is also suggested that those who hold th e power to hire women do not believe women should be ad mi nis t r a tocs and are reluctant to hirethem, . . . 9

The. fo rme r explanation implies an a nt.ernej, ba r r i e r to upward mob ili ty, whil e th e la t t e r implies 'a n external

. .

>~

ce rri er opera ti ng in society. For ot h e r wr ite r s. z-ee ponsLbLli.t.y forthelac k.of female administratorsrests with female educators th ems e l ve s in their pas si ve acceptanceof thesituat ion. Schmuckcon tends:

for.Whateverreasons, women have not aspi red to be adminis trators and hav e not acti vely sought management positions. Women are part of the reason there isn ' tagreater equalizationof the .se x; :in educat.:i:-onal manage ment.IP ~.

~o s s e conclUded in her study of female educatQ:s" in Newfoundland:

. In theteach ing profess i on , women appe a r to be following rol e pattern s wh i c hhav e been di ctated to. tihen-b y the trad itional social or de r. . Women do not perceive th ems elv es as administrators and ar e , theref ore , not sufficiently co mp eti t ive.11

9J. Sto c k ard and R. Kempner, "Women ' p Repr'esentatio n in Sch o o l Administrati on : Recent Trends,I t Educati onal Admi nistrationQ~artE7'rly17 (198 1): 82.

. lOp.A . Schmuck, "The Sp i r it of Ti t l e IX,II ~

~20(1~7 6):1.2 .

llS.H . Gosse, "The.seetue .ct Women in Educational Administration: A comp, ,.ative Analysis by Sex and by Rank" (Unpubl ished M.Ed. Thes is , Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1915) , p,1.4 0.,

Howe empha tli c a ll ywrites: "Th e cruci al is s u e in wome n ' s education, th e re f ore , isasp ira t i o~,,12 ", 1'

Fo r th o se female s in Ne wfo undl and and Lab r-ador- who already hol d adminis tra tivepositions in th e edu~ational sys tem, whatare.t.hs.1J::ca reer aspi r a ti on s? 00 the y aspire t,o p o sLtLe n s involvi n g greater administrativ e

-

responsibili t ies? Do the y as p ire to support or line po s i t i ons or.are they content to

~main

^{wh e r e they are ?}

Ar e. they intere s t ed in, prepar i ng'thems elves for, and ac ti velysee~ingup wa r d mobil i t y: What factors operatin g in their perso na l and pr o f e s s i on a l lives influence their ca r e er aspira tions ? This study focussed on 1;he.career aspirations Qf the se wo a en

influencing these aspira tio ns.

and exami ned

"

fac t o r s

STATE MENTOF THEPROBLEM

Th e ma j or purpose of thiJ stUdywa.stoascertain"the prese~t status

of

^{wome n ineducation, examine the car e er}

aspira tions of female ad mi nis trators in the pr ov i n c e of NeWfou ndla nd and Lab r a d o r, and det ermine fac tors infl ue ncing th e s e asp iratio ns. Mo r e speci'(iCally, this stUdy attemp tedt~nsw~r~he follo~ ingquest ions: ,. ' \ . .

1. Wha t is the present~of women in educatiori in NeWfoundlanda~dLab ra doras evidenced fr om an an a l y s i s

12 r.Howe , "Sexi sm andthe Aspirat ionsofWomen,"£h.i

pel tll KMPjt~⁶⁰ (19 73 ): 100.

'J

.~.

I

of the propor t io ns of female .t e l!l~he rs. ^{tem:,.l e school} ad mini s t r at o r s ,and femaledist rict offic e pet-ecnne'I.?

2. Wha t are the care e r aspirations of fe ma l e '" admini s t r ato r s in Newfoundl a n d an d Labr adoras ev Ldenced

from anan a lysis ofth e i rdes ireto :

(a) re ma i n inad minis t rative pos i t i o ns pr esentlyheld for thedu rati~nof th eir care e r s ?

(bl atta in admi nist r a tive pos iti on s invol v ing greater re s pon s i bilit ie s ?

To ....hat·exten t are the career aspirations of femal e admi nis t rators in Ne wf ou nd l an d and Lab r.~dor infl u enced

backg round , pr o f e s siona l

by de mogr a phic Char~cte rist ics, fa mil y sex-role ideology. fami ly Obligations, cre den tia ls', prof e s s i o nal lovolverae r rt , lind encou ragem e ntfromot he rs ?

4. Wha t facto rs are 'p e rc e i v e d by fema le admin i stra tors in Newf o un dl and-and Labrador as ~to and facHita t or s ofttl~car eeraspirati ons?

5. What ~ aregiv e n by fe mal e ad ministrato rs in Newfoundlandand Labrador fo r theircareer

as~~tions?

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

In an attemp t to provid e a conceptaal frame....ork for the c~eer aspi ra tio ns of femal e admin i strat ors , i t is necessaryto examinethevario u s aspect s of women 'scareer... development and int e rrel ated factors af fecti ng it. Mos t

- ^...

, /~.

stu d ie s hav e tocussed on :the neture of men's

~ aspiI.at i ons with the assumption tha t th ei r career, go a ls and develo p ment provide the no rmby which womenesca r e e r s aremea sured. Career de ve l opme nt theo r y has been defined Inte rms of conc eptual sys t ems whi ch identify, describe and interre li\te fa ctors aff ecting human involvement with wc r k•13 Wha t al l the approaches seem to share is the aeaumg rtIcn that ther e i~.sometl)i ng systematic a~ut the deveLo p me nt; of people 's careers.

Caree rs as opposed to "j ob s" signify "c ons i stent attachment to ·an oc cup a t i o n us ually.resuitin g in inc r e a s i ng resp onsibilitie s and rewards,,14 and career de v e Lcapme nt; haspe e n defined as"thepro c e s s of preparing' for, en t ering, adapti ng to , and moving fr om one position to an o t he r dU~ing,the ^course of~the^{wo rk lif e .,,15 Both} de rLnLt Icne impl y that mere ly.hol ding a posi ti on in an or g a niza tion doesnot constit u te a ca r e e r and th a t to have a ce r-ee r, th e jobs ' on e -hol. ds over a)period of time mus t follow alog i ca l 'and orderly se que n ce , Ac cord i n g to these defin i tion s , there is a sex dime nsion to car ee rs in

IJ O,J. Sre b a l us, R.P, Marinel li and J.K.·Messi ng, Care e r pevelopment (Cal iforn i a : Brooks/Co le Publishing Comp a ny , 1982),p, 15. '

14A,M. Yoha l em, The Car eers of Professional Women:

15Ihe Internati o n aj Encyclopedia of Education, 1st ed,, s.v~,"careerdev el op ment".

..

.·:i

education whereby woaen hol d th e majority of "j ob s "

cl a s s r o o m teachers and it is

primaril~

^{aen who have}

"care e rs" as they move logica lly and or d e r ly from clas s roo m te,a ching through various levels admin i s t i ilo rs.

.. .... .

The~<d.efin itions are, limi ting in thatth.eyexcl ud e mu c h0f the female population because they donotacc ount forall as~ects^{of a'}person's experie nce. Byrn~^suggests that when one considers the caree'r developm~ntofwo me n, should no t genera lize about women an? men. Rathe r , one should examine funct.Lcna I stat.us differences among

"The.diffe,rences betweenaer z-Ledand singl~wo me n, women with and without dependentsis more infl uent ia l than between'men and-women.,,1 6

Mishler desc ribesSenesh andos i p ow' s17 pe z-ediqm fo r the dev el opme n t of a ca r e er'which provides a base fo r a woman's ca r e e r development. They st a te that ca r e er decis ions. inf l u e n ced by two se ts of facto rs:

ind iv idual and social. Indiv id ua l factors inclu d e pe rsonal attributes,abilities , interests and knowledge of oppo r t uni t y . Soc i a l factors include those political, econom ic and social aspect s of a per son ' s l ite.

16E.M. Byrne, !"Iomen andEdUca t ion (Lon don: Tav isto d:

Publis h e rs Ltd. , 1978 ), p. 234.

17

5;11. . MiSh~.R"""'riers

of Women." in ·S·.iH.~OW, Analysis and Outlook (Ohio:

1976) , pp.117- 18.

to the Career Development Emerging Woman' Ca r e e r Charles E. Merrill Co"

·9 ----/

Mishler,IS in s p ired bytheirpar a di gm', devel ope d a

Char~'

. <,.

depicting aspect s of wome n 's car ee r eev erepe en e. As il l u s t r a t e d in Figure 1, she~how s how women' s ca r e e rs are influen ced by these tv c set s of fa c tors. The social va r i abl es are ca( e gori ze d as those whi ch delim i t or restric t the range of exp r es sio n o~the ind,i vidua l fa c t o r s in car e e r decision- making. These so cial fa ctors create potl:lnt'ia1 road b locks to ~omenls as pi rati o ns , co mmi tme n t and thus, ca r e er'deve lopm ent. It is believed th a t most of thenegat i ve~yinf l uenc i ng fac t ors see m to havea so c i et a l ant e c ed,e nt whi ch create Inue'rna r barrier s to vceen r s "bil it ie s , intere sts and atti t udes towa:cd th e ms el v e s. Sex - role stere otype s and occupat iona l stereot ypes are ma n ifest e d

.

in

,

"ro le conflict, roll ' ov e rloa d . fear ofsuc c essanddis c rimi natio n.

Fogarty etal. po i ntout:

The job sequences in a ca,reer te nd to form a meaningful whole and the re is a sense'of high involveme n t and moti v ati on (commitme n t ) and progress i o n .t owa r ds va l ued goals or

achievement .19 .

Th e se two fa c t o r s, commitmentan d goa l setting, wo u l d be co n side r e d by Mi sh ler as indivi dual fact ors me d i ated by ~ sqci~"rectcr-e, The underrepresentat i on of fema l e s in educati onal administrat ion has been attr~ed ^{by some}

18 Ib i d., p. 5.

Caree r and Famil y 1971), p , 189.

•

^.,

^,

- ^\

....

10

..,.-...

" ,

11

theo r!st s to the lack ot car ee r commitment and goa l set ting' on the part of wcme n th ems e l ve s . Theorists and resee rcnerez1n attempt i ng to explain thepe rpe1:.u,lI,t i o n of this unde r rep r ese n tati on, ha ve espoused as one l;?f the iritertwined pr ocesses diverting wome n from le a de rs hi p' Pos~ti?ns' in'" education , the nature of female'car ee r

~ ill)d the i r vie wof_careers in genera l .

'd e f in es aspl rat ~ons...as "i n v o lving90a1 set t"in9 , efforttul

·s t r i v ing ...²⁰ I thas beenccn ce ncec tha t thesalienceof a

'p e r s on'S aspirations. is. dep.~n~ent upon the kind of

'achieveme~ts th a t an individ ua l 'f e el s are importa n t. These internal val u e s and. motivat ion then gov e r n th e

·d'1 re~t :i.on ~nwhich th e pe r s on will expend er ro e c to ,re ac h his~her clesi~ed ~oals. Hennig .en d Ja~dim2 1 re~ort. that wo men'see care e r~evelopmentdi t terent lytrom men, Women v Lev i t in teTmS of self-imp rovement and fulfillment , while men vLeue Lfae.a care~r es a ,series of jobs or or g a ni za t i o nal adv~ n ceme n t s.· ,Ashbu rn ci t e s data supporti ng the ~ene:ta-l-' find~ngs that ~omen have wider intere ststh an men, andte nd tobe lessmotivatedto reach

/: :

'the uppermos t ":~ ~el s of powe r and money, Th ei r

rt:

aspir atio'ns' .tend' to be "hj r .t.z o n t a l" ins tead of

20J.L. Laws; "Wo r k Aspiration ofWome n : F:alseLeads and,New Sta r ts; " SIGNS' JQurnal QfWomen inCu l t u r e and

~3-(1976):33 .

"

.

^"

21M. Hennig and A. Jilr dim,Th e Manage r i alWoma n (Ne w Yorlu P? ck et,Boo k s,1977 ) , p,33.

';

12

,

"v e r t i c al "..22 Paddock, in her st udy on ma l e and femal.e career paths in school administrati o n , present s findings whi ch indic a t e th a t women ....ne are alre a dy adml n! Jlt r a t or s do not aspire to attain~h_atis customarily thought of as

•~hedominant rewardsof a ca r ee r, suchas greaterstat us 'lilnd gr eat e r administrat ive responsibil ity . Instead , the:

wo me n admin ist rators.in her st udy cona l dered jo b cna rec t-e rremcs more impo rtant th a n position ti t l e. The co nc e p t of' a ca r e er as - ; ti me l y , orderl y . vertic a l proqress~onof positio ns wa s met wi\h antipath y fromso me

"Women's def initions of th e key

-to

^{succe s s were}

good working re l ation S h i ~ s and 'doing a jOb wh!eh is int e r e s t i ng and chal 1eng"1n g.•,,?3

These sex differencesin ca r e e r;'dspirationshav!! been s~g~estedas acons t a nt internal ear-rter -that"affects.the ac h'iev e me nt o-f"womenil). educational'administration. 24 In'

~ttempting to explain why ....omen 's aspirations are different fr o m men's, th e oris t s and researchers agai n poin~ to the infl u enc e of the s'ocial"ization pro c e s s ",hich

~2E.A. As h bur n" Hot'i vAti oo Pers^{9 P!l]}'tv an d Work- Rela ted 'Ch a r act e ris t j g s of Womep In Ma]e - por:l!nllte d

~ (Washing ton: NAWDAC , 1977) , p. 19.

2JS• C• Paddock, "Male"and Female car~"er ^{Paths in} School Administration ," in P.A. Schmuck, W.W.,Charters, ar, al"1d R.O. Car lson , eds, , Edllpational Polic y and

~(NewYork:. -Ac ade mi c Press, 19 81 ) ,p, 19 6 ,-

24A.M. Pi c ke r , "Female Educational Admi nistra to rs :

~1'~~~19:~~~C~~~: ^Male En viro nme nt," ~

.-t,J

· .

13

produce a psychologica l barri er preventing females tr o m des.iri n g .a nd/ o r"actively pur s uing non-traditional ro l es.

Angrist an d Almquist wr i te th at thi s socialization pr oce s s from ch i l d h ood on work s.

to

l imit women ' s care er aspi r a tions 1n that it sha pes"a.,femal e ' s per s on al i t y, att i tud e .s ,belie~sand preferenc e s•..as Ve r y ear l y,in'llte•.

children lea rn ap pro p ri a t e sex-ro le beha vi o r s in the social structu re and acquir e "ge nd er'iden tit y" --wh,at it

means to be ma l e or .female in terms of appropr ia t e rol e

o

~ ~

performance. One element or that "s tat us -set.typing" is the sex-typing of occupation s such th a t certain occupations ar e deemed as 'Suitable for.either 'males or temal.es, not both. Epstein2 6 contend s,that these x-typ ing of cert'ain,occupatiens has cons equences fo r entry to them and performa~ce-wi thin thelll by persons who ar e of the

"wro ng sex ". Occupations defLned as "neie'''p ro v id e an uncomfortable social co n t ext ~fo r women . Th e fe male pr o.f ess i o n s, su c h asprimary and eleme ntary tea c'hJPl;J , have dev eloped as ext e nsi on s of the tr adit i o n a l femal e role fu n ct i o n s' requ i r ing nurtu r ing , scc La I LzIn q and h9 l p i ng. Females who show..qualit i es of domi na nce H:-d .s t::riv ing

2 5s~s

^{• .An gr i sf an d' E.M.} Almqu i st,' Car e e r s 'a n d co ntin g e n g i e s (New York; Dunallen, ;1.975 ); p . 27.

26C.F.Epstein, "En c oun t e r ing theMal e Establ i shm~ t : Sex-StatusLim its on wcnen~s Careers in the Professi oh 1i,"..

in A. Th eo d o r e, ed., The Profe5s i oo a l Woma n (Massachusetts; Schenkma n.Pu b. Co .• Inc., 1971 ), p.53•

. . ,

14

engage in sex-inappropriate behavior and those wnc seek entry to male-dominated pr o f e s s ions are subject to~role ,.. ambiguity and role confli ct. Adkison succinctly

9umma.rizes the effects of the socialization proces s

! females' careeraspirations :

Wome~'s ^absence fr~m leadership positions often is attributed to the effects of sex-eose stereotyping and socialization. Sex-role socialization creates int erna l barriers for ' individ ua ls who accept cultu ra l prescri ptions fo r appropriate behavior,' Art a re s u l t , th e y do not even aspire ec-male-dominated prof essions .27 Estler2 8 proposed three explanatory models for the e~planationof females' li Tni t e daEiPiration~ . ^The"wom8n'.s place" mOdel supports

.

the

.

assumption of different '6ocializati~n of ma~sand fe~ales,tnat.re~.ults in their selection of roles an~eeeupeeIene defined01106app r o p r i a t e tor one sex or the other. Si nce le a d ersh i p roles have /tra?itionally been a s s Lqned to cultuJ"al 'Sex-

aspirations.

st~reotypes placed limitations on females' .c a r e e r

, .

The '\d i s c ri mi nat i o n" model assumesthatin s t i t u t i o n a l pattern s 's~s tema~ica l l Y exclude women ~rom administrativ e pcsIetons . As a result, womenadjust their aspirations to that which is possible- -teaching. Consequently, Es tler

27J•A. Adkison; "Strategies to Promote Women's 'cecee r e in School Administration," A,pmin!s tra to [' s

~29,(1980-S1):.i .

'S Es tl e r: op. cit., pp. J6S-J69.

a result of 15 propose s,< womjln nar'r o w their as p i r a t i o ns

lim!tedoppo r~unity.

L The'"meritocracy"model impliesthat men

are

selec ted

. ,

^.

.

for adminls t~ative pt!s l tlon s bec a us e they ~re more competen t. Frashe r and Frasher29 po i nt out thatresearch lends credi b il i t y'tothe f\.rst two models , but does not. suppor-t;the third. According tothem,~studie &summa r i zed by Fish~ land Pottker30 !ndica~ethatfewer warne" thanme n expr ess admini's trative caj-eer aspirat lons and prepare ,the mselve s' by pursuing graduate studi es in educationa l

admi nis t ra tion .

Horner 3! claimed social iz ation

~aJ

^{produced a}

psychOlogic~l barrier,t hat' is .i n t e r nali z e d early in a' woman 'sl~fe , pt'eventingher\fr om~spiringtoand actively

.s e e kin g success. Her research dealt with women's

motiyation- to llyoid success Which .s.h e describe s.as a disp~sitio~ to anxiety over suc c e s s brought on by th,e expectation of negative. consequences such as so c i a l rejectio nand/or loss of femininity. Ho r n e r claims ~his

30Ibid.,p. 4.

31M.S. Horner, "To wa r d an. Understanding of Achlevement -ReilitedConflictsin Women,"Journal.of Soc i al 1.uJ.l..u.28 (1972 ) : 157-59. .

, -7

'·1

_I

I

;"..

16

motive is acquire.d~arlY in

li t!

as a female learns rol e standards~nd s~~-rolaoccu at.Icns. She ~tates:

The expectancy that success 1n achievement- relatedsituations will be followed by negative consequences arouses fear . of suc c e s s in otherwise achievement-motivatedwomenwhi c h then inhibits their performance' and le ve ls of aspirations.J2 '

Her er qument; con cerning the adjustme nt of caree r as p i rations to thos e acceptable by soc i e t y as "f e ma le- or i e nt ed " is . in agr eementwith Estler's mode l of "woman 's plac e ". In her research, Hor!'ler. made a ca r e f u l analys i s of the ten dency of women to av oid ancce a a in non-' tr adit i o nal roles by setting their career aspirat i ons mode s t l y low.

eh ony , citing Ashburn, attribl\tes the nat ure of female s ' career aspirations to the.1r "affiliationmot i ve :'-.

whic h ca us es themto succumb toexternal societa l dema nds and se e k esteem by supporting others. Women la c k an ,"~chievement motive" which would allow themto set\thai.r

cvn inte r nal goal s and atta inthemJ 3,

32I b id,.p. 157 ,

33e•. cncny, "Women, in Educati onal Administrat i o n :

U k•• , . . . _,",.~,' ~._^{' 12}

(1 9 &2 ) ' 15. "- ( ; "":"

17

.,As per's.H stud y of female tea.chers in Manito ba' in di cate d.that these wo men ha d II poo r self- conc ept .!Inddid no t aspi re to admin istra t ive po s it io ns. .Tho se who did aspir e to administrat ive pos it i ons saw thems elve s in suppor tive st a f f positio n s ra t her th a n po werfu i Lf ne posit i o n s.

The extent ee. whi ch demograp h l~ cnare ceer-I e tres, ta miiybac kgoround,..se x- ro l e ideQ;Logyi family obl igations,

prOfeS~ional

_",^credentia l s, pr ofe ssio nal invo lvement_u

·~nd ·

enc.ol4.r,ag~ment ^influence car~er ^{aspirat ions were} e~amined in this st ud y thr oug h analysis of th.e·concept ual JI'lo del 'illus t r a t e d

in

Figure 2.

Th e outli ned model contends that each of th e seve n factors 1s compos ed of ~bserva ble independent,.,varia b le s whi ch inf lu e n ce· the dependent 'var i a'ble ,·

..

aspiratio ns. ·In' the model. th e demog raphic characteristi cs factor 'i s rep r esente d by age (Xl AGE), mari ta l. tatus, (X2 MARITAL) , an~ nUnber of depe,nd e nt ,children"^(X) C~I1.oREN). "The family backg rOu nd..factfr is

repre eerreec.by .pa r~ntal educatio~ .^{(X4 .PARED),} Je>c:i~'­

economic statu s (XsSES), birt~order (X6BIROR)~ home town setting

ex,

HOMETOWN), and pare n ts '.cccopaeIcn ·( XS PAROCC). The sex- ro le id eology factoris re pre sente d bya

list O'f'st~~~ments t~be rated along a cont inuu m la bell e d

, J4L.B. Asper , ~IFactors Affecting the Entry of Wo men Teachers into Adlllin istrative Po sitions of the' Ma nitoba Pub l i c Sc hool Sy s t em^l' (UnpUbl ishe d Haste r ' s The s i s . Un ive r s i ty.of Hanitoba,1974). p'. 149:

"',,:;':,; .

-;

18

nmm: 2. COncePtUalIb1el.of Factors Influen::::ingcareer Aspirations of Ferrale Pdministrators.

\

19

"t rad i t i o na l" (Xg "TRAO") to "liberated" (XIO "LIB"). The

' . .

fa mi l y obligations factor is re p r e s e nte d by househ o l d chores (XU HO~SEHOLD ) . child-care"duties ()(12 CHILDCARE) and geographic immobility (Xl) GEOG) .· The pr o f e s sio nal credentjals factor is represented by !Q;el of edu cat i o n (X1 4 CERTj and teach ing/aclministrat~ve experienc e (X15 EXP). The professional jco1TlJJluni ty Lnvojvenent; fa c to r is rep rese nted by participatio n in professi onal organizations, special interests '_groups~ sch o o l _{b~a rd} committees and community groups (X1 6 PROFINV) . The encouragement factor is represented by support and encouragement from fall).ily, friends, co jLeequee" and superiors (X17 ,ENe) . The dependent variabl e s are desi r e to attain an administrative position invo lv i ng grea ter responsibilities ('1'1 ATTAIN) and desire to rema i n in o!ldministra tive-position presentlyheld'('1'2 REMAIN ).

SIGNIFICANCEOFTHESTUDY

!t is intendedthat the data gathered inthis st ud y will contr ibute to the growing attention being given to the career aspirations of female admin i strators and the facto rsinfluencingthoseaspLeeeIens. Hopf!!f ully, it will ensure that c~pable aspiring fe male admini str ato r s wi ll re c e i v e encouragementto apply for positionsthe y desire.

Th i s inqu i ry shoul d be of value to female te a c he r s who aspire to administrative positions. By identifying

infl u e n tia l fa c t ors, t.n e se wome n may be be t ter

"

able'

r

t o

plan t.heLr- careers in a ma~ner most con d uc i v e to mobility.

Up- to -date figures of the status of in educational admi nistration in this province are be i ng provided. By co mp a ri ng these ligure s to those gleaned from prey lous studies, one can as c e r t a i n direct ionthat r-epreserrt at.Lo n is moving.

LIM ITATIONS

in whieh

The result.s , study sh oul'd be I'imitations:

conclusions, andre c omme nda t i on s of this

""

conside red in ligh t of the fa ll owing

of the items o.n the quesrt.Lc r meLna ,

1. Data pertinent to career aspi rati ons were obtained directly from th e SUbjects and are vali d.tc the extent th a t re s p o nd e nts'we r e able and wi ll i ng to pr ovide accurateinformation . P

~2. Thi ss't.udy was dependenton the re tur nofmailed que s t.LonneLr-esi.

3. sene respondents might have encoun tered difficulties in interp r et i n g and responding to~ome^{or any}

!

4. Any biases held by the researcher.

,

21

DEFINITIONS

Admin istrAt i ye position: A posit ion Lnv oLv In q the performance pi major duties in organizi ng , man a gi ng Bupervising duties which calls for the execut ion of certain responsibilities in the direction , control management of an educationa l 10 s t1 t u t 100. 35

Admi nistrator: A pers on respons ible fo r the

\' administration of an educat.Lona I establishment or system or an administrativeunit of that system . J6 In this stud y the term refers to schoo l- department cne Irpe rec ns, vi ce-' prln.cipals , principals ,district supervisors or cu r ri c ulum co n s u l t a n t s. , di st r i c t as s ociate and as s i s t an t supe r i n t e nde n t s and di ~t rictsuperintendents.

Career aspirations : Th~ desires which ind i vid u a l s have to attain some future goal in a ca r e e r.37 In this

.s t ud y , the term refers to t-he des ire a femal e

administrator has to attain an admin i stra-t i ve po s i t i on involvil1.g greater adm1D

1

^{strat i ve} r:sPo~s ib ili t ies - -the desire for upwardmdbilityinthe

,

educ::at i on a l

.

hi e ra rc h y.

J5C. V. Good, pictiona r y of'Educat i o n (New York:

McGraw-Hill Book Co.•1973), p. 15. 36Ibid,.

37 A. Jl a ze . "Fa c t o r s Which 'I n f l ue nc e Caree r Cho ice and Future orientations of Females: Implicati o ns for Career Education" (Doctoral dissertation, Unive rsity of Toronto, 19 7 9 ) , p. 50.

2'

Curricu lumand iost"ruc tioncoordina tor/supe rvis or : A personresponsi bl e for the coordinationand administration of district-widecurriculum .

Departmen t cha irperso n: A person in .a school

.\.

re s p o n sib l e for wo r k i ng with ot h e r teach e r s in planning , coordinating andadmini strat inga part i cu l arSUbje ctare a .

~: Aperson who is the chief administ rat o r an dpro f e s s i o n a l leader of a school.J8

Sc h o ol system: In this study, ascho ol systemis one of the four legal ly recognized denomi,nations fo r' educationalpurposes.

staff and line positions: Staff positions refer to those positions in the educ~onal hie rar chy that are supportive in natureand possess lit tlerea(.l>powe r .39 In thi s study, they refer to departme nt cha irper sons, vi c e- princ ipa ls and co o r di na t o r s/ s u p e rv i sor s. Line posi t i o ns referto th o s eha vin gectue f-p cwer in the hi erarchy.4 0 In this study they refer to prin ci pa l s , assistan t superi~t~endents and supe r Lnt.e nderrts,"

F JaGood,op,cit.,'p . 4J 7.

J9R • M• K~, ^{Men and Wom e n of} th e Co rOQratloo (N e w York: Basic Books, 1977), pp.186..87.

40Ib id .

Superintendent:

23

A pers on ....ho is th e chief administra.tor of aschool district .41

41Good,op, ci t.,p, 571.

"

, '

r:

. "

CHAPTER II· REVIEWOF RELATEDLIT ERATURE

INT RODUCT I ON

This c h apt er- focusses on three areas in the tit.ereeure relativeto th~study of career as pirat i o n s of female educati ona l admin is trators . The first section reviews lit e ra tu re concerned with :",omen's role\in the ed u c a t i o n system, emphasizing how it relates to their career eep Lr et.Ions . The"second section reviews empirical research t

'.

hat has examined "1;.h e ex tent of the career aspirat ions of reneie

/~~uc~tors

ⁱⁿ

co~parison

^{to their}

male,counterparts. The third secuIon examine s literature pertain ing to the socia-demog rap hi c facto r s examined in thfsstudy.

W0 !;113/ ' S ROLE IN EDUCA~ION

Withi n the work. force, educatio n is field in whi ch women have a1'\.lays played a prominent role. In Ca na d a, as elseW.here, hi s t or i c al ly ft~e~have compr ised and still comprrse the majo rity of-~l~entary ^{te ach e r s .} That distribution of renaLe e in the educa tion system has of ten be e n viewed as a\.ref'l e p t io n of ..lromen's responses t.o the different r-oles which sccIecy as s i gns to woren and men. The consolida tionof sc hoolswhic h create d.a~,seJ'l0o l..

systemwittl se pa r ate gradesga v eriseto th~p~~~om ina nce

. . .

25 Of, ('ema le teachers wo r k in g with younger children . Tradi t iona l ly, WOlllE!n we r e not encou raged to workoutside thei r home s; howe v e r, tea"chi ng young child renwas seen as an extensionof a woman 'li., na t ura l capacity tonurtureand care for th~youn g. It bec ame common consensus that the mate r nal ins ti n.;:ts of a female compl e me n t e d the role of pr i mary/elementa ry teacher, so'tha t she was most_often cha:;g e d wi t h' the ha nd l i n g and te a c h i n g of the you ng . Th~

jus.t.ificati o n fQt:, the' hi e r arc h i c a l pattern was that te,.c h i l'lg you~ng chil dre n was e~ s ie r , ·l ack ed to ug h disciplineproblems, requiredlesstra in ~l'Ig an~suitedene.

l1 f~~~le

^of'female

teache~s

^{wi th the i r own families:4 2}

Tea~hing was viewed,not ~s a lif et i me ca reer , but as an ante c e de nt,to marriage. Tha t scenar-Io of.t he role of _ , women in ~ducati"n, created by hist.ory, has preva iled

·v irt u a ll y~nchanged.into pr e sen tti me s.

Fox andHesse-Bib~r, -Ln defi-ning socializatio nas "a precess of le.arn~ng ~he expect.aticns appropriate for the varioussocial po s i t i o ns we occupy andthe groupstowhi,ch ,we.bel Ong ,1I4 3contiend

tha~

^successful socialization means

. .

inter na l izing.tho s e learned.atti tu.desand expect.ati on s and responding tothe mthrou gh overt behavior. The manner in 421.. Rich, "cartographiesof Silence," in R. Farrell, et ea• Women in Ed ucatio n' A pifferent Pr opos ition (Ontario: OSSTF, 1981)^I p, 4. \

/'"7t4?H. F. Fo x and S. Hes~e-Biber, WomeDat Work (Boston:

Hay~eld'PUblishi~g.Compa n)'9 1"984). p, 41. '

I,

2., wh i ch a female educato r re spo nd s to societal expectatio ns and prescr'ipt ions fo r behavior has implications to r'her career esp Iz-etIc n e.. Estler cl a ims :

In ou r cultu r e with its clearly de fi ne d sex roles, brightwomen-ere caugh t 1..n a'do ubl e bind be t we en the desire fo r soci a l eecept.ence and intellectua l achievement. This do ubl e bind results in pattern s of education and care er choi c e for most women tha t are li mi t e d and~ acce p t a b le tq societ y 's expec tatio ns of appropri ate ) rol e s for women. The resul t is limi t e dasp i r at i o n s.. . .44

How awo ma n respon dstoth e traditional

sex

^roles~nd sex- typedoccupations thatha v e been dev e l o p ed anddefin?d by society determines thethrustof her ce r eer aspirations in the edu~ation system, since prescribed roles requ'i~e certa inpat te r ns of l.cceptablebehavior. Fe ma l e educators who extend the tra d i t i ona l' role of caring for young child renfrom th e home into the i r pr-cfe s sLc neI role have been socialized to experience satisfaction from. functioning in-,; supporti ve cepectny. Le:dersh1:p pcettLcns in the field of education have been traditiona ll yvreveuby society as being incompatiblewith the femalerole as nurturer and as being more suitable for ma{\es.^{4 5}

Female educators who reject the tr a d i t i o n a l- prescrib~d rOl e"of caring for younger;children and who

4.4Estle r, op.cit.• p. 366.

45M.-B. Weber et al. " }'Why Wome n Are Underre pre s e nte d ii'l Ed uca t iona l Admin is tra t i on, " Ed uc a tiona l Leadersh ip 3~

(1981): 32p.

th eircar ee r aspiration s.

27

as pire to the non-t radit i ona l ro le of leadership may indeed have to resotve rol e conflicts bef o r e atta LnLnq their career ,9oals. Ashbux:nsugges t s that fe males who ee pLr e to the non-traditional ro l e of ad min i s tra t o r ha v e rejectect- t he tradition a l:sex-role pr-eac rLpti Lon s and ty ped occu p a t i o nof tea ching . She writ e s':

Th e psych ol ogi cal-e motional confl icts whic h res ul t trom the cla sh between the stereotyped femal e personality and the personality type and behavior norms thought to be requi red fromone with serfous co mmi t me n t to a prof es si o n

• domi natedby males wouldseem tobe grea t enoug h to have kept all but the most ext rao rdi nary wome n froma male-dominatedarena.46

ThUS, the-beha vi o r ex h i b i t e d by fe meLe edu c a t ors inthei~

roleas tea c hers ofyoun g childrenrefl e c t s.their res p o n s e and th e re spons e 'er th e ed,-,:c ation.system to societal expec t a ti o ns. The i r ac c epta nce or"r e j e c t ion of societal Dr inst i t u t ion al expectati ons is then tra nslate d into

r Ru s sel.? and Fi tzgi bb on s, 4 7 in wri t i n g abo ut car ee r choic es of females, contendthat roledefi niti ons cr e a t e d in soc i e t y are limiting in that :;'I].ey requ ire certain patterns of behavior and restri c t an ind iv idua l from de ve lopi ng to his/her fu ll potent ial. These roles act as barrie r s for bothsex e swhen one fee ls obligatedtofol l o w

46Ashb~rn, ^{op , cit., p. 6.}

47A.Russell and P. Fitzgibbons, Career jlDd Con fli c t·

A Woman's Guide to Making·Life Choices (Ne w Jerse y : Pre nt ice- Ha l l , Inc., 1982), p, 5.

.

.

\

2.

the minord er towin approvalfrom oth e rs and re wa rd sfro m society. Fo r femaleeducators,the tende n c ywasand st i l l is to chooseca ree rs that wo u l db~ conve nie nt tomarriag e' and mothe rhood. Careers in teaching allow females to comb i ne their fe male ro l e with th~career aspirations.

Th e role as teacher of young children is compatiblewith feminine~denti ficationas definedbyso c i e t y .

.Ortiz 4 8 claims tha t whe nwome n en t er the education syste.min't he roleof teac h e r , the gene ralexpecta tion is that they ""ill seme In t,bere . Sh e attr ibutes "t h a t

....ho express desires fo r

.\

expectationtot~ree fe a tu re s : the pr omi nence"of wo me n

atl

the ' .e Ieme rrtery leve l , the percep tio n that, women are

t...

appropria te far teaching ch ildre n, and the restraints ...impo s e d on thpse

admini str~tivepo si ti o n s.

We b e r et a1. 49 summar ize th e role of females in education as the result of traditional pa t t e r n s In soc iety, compou nded with ex i s ti n g myths and atti t udes.

These appearto have crea tedan a t.moap.here in whi c h fe W\.

female educators aspiretoad min i s t r ati v e posi tions.

48F'.1.7 Ortiz" ta r e e t Patterns in Edu c a t ion

~~~ s saCh.usetts: J.F. erg e nPub~ishers , rnc., 19 8 2 ), p, l

"a,

W~ber

^{et aL,' "A Stu dy of r-actce-e} Aft. i t l ng Career As p i r a t i o ns' of Wome n Teachers and tt1ucat 1onal Administr a to rs. " (UnpUblishe d pa per pres en t ed AERA, Boston, 19 8 0 ). p,3.

ASPIRATIONSFORADMI NI S TRATI VE POstTIONS - GENDER DIFFERENCES ..../

One of the intert wined processes eepcus ec in lit era t ur e as di v e r t i n g women from leadership roles.in education ha s beenthe extent of their careeraspirations. MuCh research ha s been undertaken to examine the

.

^~.

differences b~",een the ce reer aspfrat.Lcns c.t r ene l e- educators and their ma Ija counterparts in an ~ffort to understand gender dHferences in these occupatio,?algoals . Gross and Tr a s k

.

in a. study of male and female elementary prin c i p a l s found that women principals had lower caree r aspirations for career: eevanceeent.. Their dat a revealed that,the proportion of men who._expressed interestin top le ve l pos~tionswas considerably greater than women. As the level er res po n s i bil i ty in'" the hJ.erarchy increased women were.r e s s likely,t o aspire to those leadership ro l es. The researchers report:

4out of 5 of the women, in comparison to 2 out of every 5 men expressed no interest in becoming an assistant-superintendent . .-. And 9 out of 10 women, in compa r ison to 6 out of 10 men,_ stated that they had no desire to obtain.a

~hoolsuperintendency.50

5Hver aompa red219 femaleswith 430 malesand fo u nd:

while the females more often were seeking eleme ntaryprincipa lshi ps and progr,amdi r e,f t or -

501'.. Gross and A.E . Tr a s k,

Manage ment _of Sch ools (New York: J hn Wiley and Sons, 1976 ) , p, 21 3. -

"'-":

"'; ' ;'

30 ships, the males more frequently sought super~

intendenci es ~andassist ant superintendencies . 51 Barter quotes these fi g u r es

and maletea chers:

from a study of femal e

-

App roximate ly 46% of the men but onl y 7. 8\ of thewomen teachers....ere definitelyin t e r e s te d in theeleme ntaryprincipalshipas a career. 52 Picker 'sstudy of 100femal e and 100 male.educati o~l admi n i s tratorsshows different find i ng s :

The female administrators,_ in contrast to th e men ....ho participated in .t h e study , generall y aspired beyond the principal as thei r ultimate goal. . . . women showed greater desire to advanc e morethan on e step'up theor g aniza t ional

ladder.53 , . -'

.

^.

.

Colombuto s , reportingon a study of teachers, fo und that only 2% of the females as pire d toan~dministrat ive po si t i on , while almost 50%of the men expressed a de s ire"

to be c ome'sc ho o l admi n ist r ato r s.54

Joh ns t o n ,'Yeakey and Moore found that 54.9\'of the female administrators as opposed to 7l.8t of tne male ad min ist r ato rs 'i n the ir st u d y had ap plie d fo r ad mi n i stra t i v e posts. Th e hyp othesi s·that p rcpo r -tIcnetej y Slp. F. Silver , . "Ar e Wome q Unde rq ua li fied for Leadership?" Phi Delta Kappan~9 (119 7 7) : 207 .

52A• 'Ba r t e r, "The Status of WOJlIen in Education~ l ...-/

Admin i stration," The Educationpigest 25 (1959) : 41.

"

S3Pl c k e r , oP"cit., p. 147.

S4J, Colombutos, So u rce s of professionalism' A study