INVESTIGATING THE UNDER-REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN IN POSITIONS OF AUTHORITY IN EDUCATION
ABSTRACT
In Failing the Future, Kolodny observes she entered administration because she was tired of hearing about the failures of women within the field and wanted to have a more active role in the development of plans to improve the inequity. However, five years later, she left her position, feeling pessimistic about the future. This paper proposes to look at some of the historical reasons for the dominance of males within educational leadership even though females occupy almost three-quarters of all education positions. In addition, the author offers a discussion regarding the structural barriers including: the lack of information networking, differential treatment regarding tenure, a concentration of studies in the humanities rather than the sciences and mathematics fields, and salary differentials that all impede the progress of women. Although many of the structural barriers can be changed through legislation and/or regulatory programs, a more insidious problem is that of the cultural barriers including: an apparent lack of desire with regards to personal advancement on the part of many females, the double bind that forces many women to balance feminine and masculine qualities like nurturing and knowledgeability in administrative positions, the glass ceiling that ensured many women nurtured the aspirations of others at their own expense, and, finally, a lack of mentors and/or role models. Finally, after looking at Shakeshaft's (cited in Bjork, 2000) model of feminine research design that, ultimately, encourages the comparison of both male and female characteristics to generate more effective administrative leadership, the realization that a reconceptualization of education and administration leadership will be needed to ensure future academic leaders will represent "the composition of our student pools" (Lively, p. A34) and act as models for future educators of the 21st century.