New National Survey of Education Leaders Rebuts Claims of an “Ambition Gap” Among Women

Key findings of the 2026 WLE Insight Survey:

• 87% of women education leaders want to advance in their careers

• 68% have taken on expanded leadership responsibilities in the past two years

• 92% say stress is a significant problem in education leadership

• Nearly 4 in 5 report their work-life balance is not good

• AI use has more than doubled in one year

The report argues that the sector must move beyond narratives that question women’s drive and instead address the structural conditions that make leadership harder to reach and sustain. Women Leading Ed calls for earlier and more explicit leadership pathways, greater investment in the sustainability of education leadership roles, expanded access to operational skill-building, and stronger infrastructure to support responsible AI leadership across districts and states.

“The idea that women are losing ambition just doesn’t match what we see every day,” said Dr. Julia Rafal-Baer, Founder and CEO of Women Leading Ed. “These are leaders who are raising their hands for more responsibility in one of the hardest moments education has faced. In many ways, the sector is being held together by the bootstraps of hardworking women, and it’s on all of us to make sure they have the support to advance and lead at the level they’re ready for.”

The findings come at a time of exceptional pressure across K–12 education. Funding and budgets top the list of concerns for women leaders (52%), followed by declining enrollment and ongoing challenges with staffing and board dynamics.

As the role becomes increasingly complex, women leaders are being asked to do more than ever, building financial, operational, and strategic expertise while also navigating a rapidly evolving technological landscape.

More than half of respondents say AI has introduced new, not formally defined responsibilities into their roles, including evaluating tools, guiding responsible use, responding to community concerns, and developing policies and guardrails in real time.

Yet access to training and development has not kept pace with these expanding demands. Only 32% say they received high-quality professional development in finance and budgeting, and just 29% say the same for negotiation. At the same time, nearly two-thirds of women leaders (65%) say they lack the resources needed to implement AI safely and effectively.

“We keep hearing that AI is going to save time,” said Dr. Julia Rafal-Baer, Founder and CEO of Women Leading Ed. “But what we’re hearing from women leaders is that it is actually more work. They’re the ones being asked to figure it out in real time, how to use it, how to make it safe, and how to set the rules, often without guidance. AI’s promise of efficiency is, in practice, adding one more thing to already very full plates.”

If education offers any signal to the broader workplace, it’s this: women’s ambition is not declining, it’s rising. Today’s women leaders have a harder job than ever before, and without stronger systems of support, we risk losing the very leaders who will shape the future.

About the Survey Respondents

The 2026 WLE Insight Survey is based on responses collected in January 2026 from 218 women education leaders, including superintendents, cabinet leaders, and senior state and district executives. Respondents collectively serve 17.4 million students across more than 130 entities in 40 states. Twenty-four percent of respondents are sitting superintendents, 53% identify as women of color, 91% are former classroom teachers, 62% are former principals, and 63% hold or are pursuing doctoral degrees.