Educational Administration Quarterly Young, McLeod / WOMEN SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS Flukes, Opportunities, and Planned Interventions: Factors Affecting Women’s Decisions to Become School Administrators

This article presents the results of an exploratory study of women in educational admin-istration that focused on women’s decisions to enter educational administration. Find-ings suggest that the career aspirations of women who ultimately enter the field of educa-tional administration are intricately related to their career commitments, positional goals, and leadership orientations. Furthermore, although women who go into adminis-tration may have personal characteristics that set them apart from women who do not, it also appears that at least three factors greatly affect women’s entrance into administra-tion: their administrative role models, their exposure to transformative leadership styles, and the endorsements and/or support that they receive. Across the nation, state legislators and administrator organizations have determined that a leadership crisis exists in educational administration. Based on statewide surveys and data from studies like those sponsored by the National Association of Elementary School Principals, the National Associ