2012 UCEA Convention

A New Generation of Leaders: Young Women Principals. Margaret Grogan, Claremont University; Whitney H. Sherman, Virginia Commonwealth University
Smulyan (2000) examined the lives of three women principals in her book Balancing Acts: Women Principals at Work. The purpose of this project was to extend Smulyan’s work a decade later with a shift in focus to an emerging population of leaders: women 40 years of age and under. Using an ethnographic approach to gaining life stories, we interviewed young women principals to add a new generation of voices to the existing scholarship on leadership.

A longitudinal study of women secondary principals in Texas. Jean Marcynski, Central Valley School District; Gordon Gates, Washington State University
Data gathered in 1998 and 2011 from representative samples of women secondary school principals in Texas are analyzed to identify differences in personal, professional, leadership, and school characteristics. While the percentage secondary schools lead by women principals show little change and is similar to previous research, a more nuanced examination of these women and their schools evidence progress.

Principal production, employment, and turnover: Differences by gender and race/ethnicity. Eryka Charley, The Pennsylvania State University
As the demographic profile of Texas school children, continues to evolve and become more diverse, greater attention needs to be directed towards the demographics of those in school leadership positions. This study explores the demographic match between school leaders and children in the school as well as the retention and turnover rates of women and principals of color in Texas, particularly with respect to differences across school level and the student demographics of the school.