It’s time for a new playbook.
The underrepresentation of women in K-12 education leadership is at a critical point that demands action. Though women make up the vast majority of the teaching workforce in America today, less than a third of school district superintendents are women, and even fewer are women of color. What that means is that our school systems overlook the vast majority of talent in our field as they develop, promote, and select top leaders. As education leaders ourselves, we have devoted our careers to expanding children’s sense of what they can be and achieve. We are committed to equity of opportunity. And when it comes to opportunities in K-12 education leadership for women — and women of color especially — we must accelerate change. Adding to our sense of urgency is the fact that while solutions have long been available, progress has been glacial — and nearly nonexistent throughout the “great resignation” that accompanied the pandemic.
Together, we are declaring our public commitment to advocate for fairness at every level (school, district, state, and federal) of the education system. Our purpose is simple: Establish policies and implement practices that enable women to rise into education leadership roles without barriers.
Women today face obstacles to advancement that don’t exist for men, such as societal prejudices against women in leadership, the lack of widespread family-friendly policies, skewed leadership pipelines, pay inequities, and biased recruitment and hiring processes. At every stage in her career, a woman encounters stronger headwinds. The challenges intensify the higher she climbs.
No more. The policies and practices we’re advocating for are not new, but our collective resolution is. Together, we will work in each of our contexts to bring change. Here’s what we’re fighting for. Our solutions are explored in greater detail at womenleadinged.com.
Intentional support systems to prepare women for leadership roles. Intentional supports are needed to help women build their confidence and overcome societal barriers that can inhibit advancement into leadership positions. Examples include:
Sponsorship as a formalized educational leadership practice. Sponsors and allies use their power to create access and opportunity, and invest resources in growth, development, and networking for women
On-the-job leadership coaching at every career rung
Coaching trees that prioritize prospective female leaders
Fair hiring processes that prioritize gender diversity and implement best practices. Hiring more women into leadership roles requires gender diversity in the recruitment process. There are many practical and policy changes states and districts can make to reduce bias against women and build balance into recruitment and hiring processes, such as:
Building gender-diverse applicant pools through interview requirements, equal opportunity promotions, and confidential applicant practices
Training search committees, boards, and management in approaches to mitigate bias
Committing to transparency and goal-setting around leadership hiring
Family and wellbeing supports. Ensuring more women can rise into leadership positions requires addressing underlying inequalities in gender role stereotypes and the distribution of unpaid work — especially when it comes to child care and elder care. Examples of family and wellbeing supports include:
Parental, childcare, and eldercare leave policies and practices
Comprehensive paid leave policies that allow all employees to take paid time off and return to work without repercussions
High-quality benefits including flexibility, emergency childcare benefits, and wellness support
Public goals for female leadership and increased employment transparency. What gets measured gets done. The federal government has an especially crucial role to play here, but states and districts also should set solid goals, track progress, and publicly report results to ensure gender diversity is given the priority it deserves. Leaders should:
Set voluntary targets for gender diversity on school boards and in senior management and commitments to meeting these targets
Require districts and states to publish indicators relating to pay and promotion disparities
Require data transparency through expanded USED and state data collection efforts
Financial fairness. Women should be paid the same as men for the same work. We can ensure fairness by:
Developing a self-assessment pay calculator for women to compare offers to expected salaries in comparable roles
Increasing awareness of the practices for conducting pay equity audits to uncover and remedy disparities in compensation
Requiring or encouraging districts and states to include salary ranges in job posts