Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

2003

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Bogotch, Ira

Thesis/Dissertation Co-Chair

Acker-Hocevar, Michele A.

Abstract

Based on an observation that women have been more successful in ascending to the level of school superintendent within southern school districts that use electoral procedures, this study examined unique electoral strategies women superintendents use that maybe transferable to women who aspire to the superintendency within districts in which appointment is the only means of ascension. The researcher interviewed five superintendents in districts within the southern United States. The data were analyzed using three conceptual frameworks: (a) Murphy's governance theory, (b) Ferguson's bureaucratic theory, and (c) Lather's emancipatory theory. The data were also evaluated in terms of elected and appointed school districts. Analysis of the data revealed four emerging themes: (a) career pathway and representative democracy, (b) political administrative elite and the bureaucracy, (c) gender dichotomy, the representation of self, and (d) building networks of support. The data revealed information about each superintendent's personal attributes that contributed to her electoral success, which included: (a) career path, (b) support system, and (c) and motivation to run. The superintendents also discussed mediating factors that shaped their campaign strategies and electoral success, which included: (a) negotiating powerbrokers within the community, (b) their relationship with the school board, (c) governance issues, (d) personal leadership philosophy, (e) power, and (f) gender stereotypes. Findings from the study provide guidance to those women aspiring to the superintendency in appointed school districts suggesting that appointed women superintendents recognize, understand, and negotiate the bureaucratic structure and governance framework as supported by the state and administrative elites.

Extent

223 p.

Comments

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2003.|Thesis (Ed.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2003.

Identifier

FADT12037

Format

pdf

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