Women in School Administration: A Review of Research

The research area of women in administration, management and leadership is receiving increasing attention. This review focuses on research published since 1974. The dominant approach has explained women's underrepresentation in administration in terms of socialization to sex role stereotypes. In the past decade, other theories have been applied to explain women's experiences in organizations. The processes of career socialization and structural character istics of organizations maintain inequalities. Theories of devaluation of women and social power and status have been advanced to explain the behavior of men and women in organizations and in the larger society. The review examines research on minority women in school administration and discusses changes directed at improving women's access to leadership positions. A growing research interest in the areas of women in management, administration, and leadership has accompanied social changes of the past decade. The study of women in school administration initially concentrated on the problem of explaining the disparity between the percentages of women in teaching and in administration. To understand this problem, researchers examined characteristics of women and their socialization that affect career selection and ambition. Women's underrepresen tation in school administration continues to generate research interest. However, attempts to solve this problem and to explain the experiences of the few women in administrative positions have led to an interest in the impact of formal and informal organization on the behavior, effectiveness, and mobility of men and women. This review examines six theoretical frameworks that have guided research on women in administration, applies them to social intervention strategies, and discusses the smaller body of work on minority women in school administration. While focusing on research about women in public school administration published since 1974, it draws upon relevant research conducted in other settings. Because disserta tions on women in educational administration have been reviewed recently (Shake-shaft, 1979), this analysis makes only selective reference to unpublished dissertations