The Invisible Wall- Barriers to Advancement for School-based Administrators

Although recent statistics have revealed an increase in the number of womenin educational leadership positions the number of females serving assecondary principals still lags proportionally behind the number of elementaryfemale principals. The purpose of this mixed methods study was toexplore women's perceptions of under-representation in educational administrationat the secondary level. As reported by the secondary schoolparticipants some of the major barriers preventing women from aspiring tobecome secondary principals included managerial and weekend responsibilitiessafety or discipline concerns and time commitments. Participantsat the elementary level believed that women are underrepresentedat this level because of family obligations elementary schools becoming moreof a community center and unrealistic parent expectations. The study concludeswith recommendations for changes in educational leadership programsin addition to changes in hiring practices at the state and local levels.This book is for aspiring administrators current administrators humanresource personnel and university personnel.