State Surveys; Superintendents

Women seeking or holding administrative rositions in Pennsylvania schools reported having mentors as frequen14 as men, according to a stateride survey. A questionnaire was Lent to 1,324 people holding admin.strative certificates and currently employed in public schools, and 622 responded. Thutse were divided into 16 subgroups according to the position concerned (elementary principal, secondary principal, assistant superintendent, or superintendent), whethur the respondent held the position or was seeking it, and the sex of the respyndent. Among the topics addressed in the survey were mentors and mentoring functions. Respondents were asked to identify the sex and role of 3 mentors and to rate these mentors ' helpfulness in 21 mentoring areas. Fewer job aspirants than incumbents reported having mentors. Males were mentors in 1,133 pa:,:s and women in 252 pairs. Men served as mentors for women in 434 cases and women for men in 128. Mentors for superintendents were most frequently superintendents, and mentors for all other groups were most frequently principals. Psychosocial rather than career functions were deemed more helpful by both men and women. Since women, both incumbents and aspirants, reported mentoring support, it was difficult to reconcile this with the lack of women in school administrative positions. (PGD) ****t*****************************************************%************ * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that csn be made * * from the original document. * **************************w*******************************1.***********