A Case Study: The Underrepresentation of African American Female Principals and Superintendents in a Small Rural School District in the South

Show simple item record

dc.contributor.author Hatcher, Heroyline D.
dc.coverage.spatial United States en_US
dc.date.accessioned 2025-04-11T15:28:38Z
dc.date.available 2025-04-11T15:28:38Z
dc.date.issued 2025-04-10
dc.identifier.other 6e6f6f3d-51a4-4658-89d8-69ef1b7e4fdf en_US
dc.identifier.uri https://hdl.handle.net/10428/7406
dc.description.abstract K-12 public school systems in the U.S. show a notable underrepresentation of female educators in top leadership roles, such as principals and superintendents (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2023; NCES - National Teacher and Principal Survey [NTPS], 2017; Public School Principal Data Files (Taie et al., 2022); School Superintendents Association [AASA], Tienken, 2020). The purpose of this case study was to explore the Four Frames of an Organization (OD) and the stages of Feminist Theory/Black Feminist Thought (BFT) as it related to the placement of African American administrators in formal leadership positions in a small rural school district in the South (Arinder, 2020; Bolman & Deal, 2021). I engaged in purposeful criterion sampling wherein the participants had completed the foundational credentialing programs and leadership development programs, participated in district-level mentor/mentee programs, and attended local and statewide professional development trainings/conferences. Interviews were collected and analyzed using a three-iteration coding system. I integrated the AI-assisted and In Vivo data sets in the discovery of key findings, themes, and patterns. The key findings are organized by RQs, theories, themes, and patterns. Overall, the participants identified the need for mentorship, formal, and informal support in their career advancement navigation journeys (RQ1). Additionally, perceived race and gender barriers highlighted the issues of disproportionality and underrepresentation of female leaders within the school district (RQ2). Key findings included the identification of ageism and politics as barriers and the participants’ utilization of voice as a strategy or empowerment tool to develop resilience within the school district. en_US
dc.format.extent 1 electronic record. PDF/A document, 270 pages, 4566714 bytes. en_US
dc.format.mimetype application/pdf en_US
dc.language.iso en_US en_US
dc.rights This dissertation is protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States (Public Law 94-553, revised in 1976). Consistent with fair use as defined in the Copyright Laws, brief quotations from this material are allowed with proper acknowledgement. Use of the materials for financial gain with the author's expressed written permissions is not allowed. en_US
dc.subject Educational leadership en_US
dc.subject Education and state en_US
dc.subject Education--Administration en_US
dc.subject Dissertations, Academic--United States en_US
dc.subject African American women en_US
dc.subject School environment en_US
dc.subject School management and organization en_US
dc.subject African American school administrators--United States en_US
dc.subject Teachers--Professional relationships en_US
dc.subject Sex discrimination in education--United States en_US
dc.subject Race discrimination in education en_US
dc.subject Organizational behavior en_US
dc.subject Rural schools--United States en_US
dc.subject Educational equalization en_US
dc.title A Case Study: The Underrepresentation of African American Female Principals and Superintendents in a Small Rural School District in the South en_US
dc.type Dissertation en_US
dc.contributor.department Department of Curriculum, Leadership, and Technology of the Dewar College of Education and Human Services en_US
dc.description.advisor da Cruz, Becky
dc.description.committee Lairsey, John
dc.description.committee Workman, Jamie
dc.description.committee Nobles, Kathy
dc.description.committee Pate, James
dc.description.degree Ed.D. en_US
dc.description.major Educational leadership en_US


Files in this item

Thumbnail
Name: hatcher-heroyline ...
Size: 1.864Mb
Format: PDF
View/Open

This item appears in the following Collection(s)

Show simple item record

Search Vtext


Advanced Search

Browse

My Account