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At 5 feet tall, Wien Tiu doesn't tower over anyone, including many students. So when her boss told her she was too small to be anything other than an elementary school principal, she thought he was probably right.
“I accepted it because I didn't know any better,” Thieu said, but she also found no encouragement from her own Vietnamese family. “My dad was like, 'Oh, I'm really surprised they chose you to be principal.'”
Ten years later, Tieu is not only an assistant principal and principal, but also currently in charge of student support services in the Houston Independent School District, the eighth largest school system in the United States, and is an Asian woman and single student. She is also a mother. She still feels pressure to prove herself in a male-dominated field.
“I spend twice as much time making sure everything I make is 100%, if not more,” she said.
Tieu's comments about her height and job prospects were among anecdotes shared by district and state leaders as part of the first survey of women in high-level school positions. There is. Research conducted by Women Leading Ed, a national network of 300 members, shows that despite being promoted to senior positions in school systems and state departments, the majority of women leaders experience bias and are frequently It was indicated that he was thinking of quitting. More than 80% of the 110 women surveyed from 27 states said they felt they had to be careful about how they dressed, spoke and acted because of the high profile they received as senior leaders.
Angelica Infante-Green, Rhode Island State Education Commissioner and member of the Women's Leadership Education Commission, said, “I realized that I was attending a meeting.” She says, “In a world where traditional notions of leadership have been largely shaped by men, there is a strong need for diversity in expression.”
One expert said the study comes at a time when school districts could benefit from the strengths that many women bring to the table.
“Women who come through this pipeline tend to be elementary school principals, so they may not be selected to be superintendents,” said Rachel White, an assistant professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Last summer, she launched The Superintendent Lab, a research center to improve data collection about school system leaders. She said it's common for school boards to view high school principals, who are mostly male, as more authoritarian or to give preference to people with financial backgrounds. She said, “That's the type of leadership we need right now when it comes to family and student engagement, curriculum and instruction. Elementary school principals really get that right.”
But many women leaders say they face a double standard.
“When someone in a leadership position takes the time to coach a child's sports team, they are celebrated,” Infante-Green said. “If I chose to attend my daughter's dance recital rather than the conference, my opinion would be much different.”
One leader quoted in the report said he was told to wear a skirt rather than pants to the presentation “so as not to appear intimidating.” Black, Hispanic, and Asian American women were even more likely to feel pressure related to their actions: 55% compared to 36% of white women. One Black teacher's colleague said the way she greeted her students with “What's up?” made them uncomfortable because she was “talking Ebonics.”
Houston's Tiu said students are often surprised to see minority women, particularly Asian women, in leadership roles.
“I want to show young women that having ambition isn't a bad thing,” she said. “There will come a time when you will have to overcome a wall, but be smart and learn from it.”
The findings are based on a superintendent research project conducted by ILO Group, a women-owned business focused on education policy and leadership. According to the 2023 results, more than 20% of the nation's 500 largest school districts had the highest turnover rates. For women, the rate was slightly higher, at 26%.
The latest analysis also showed that despite a slight increase in the number of superintendent appointments, women still make up less than one-third of major school districts. However, women make up 80% of the teaching workforce and more than half of school principals.
Julia Rafal Baer, CEO of Women Leading Ed and the ILO, calls this the “glass cliff” and says that when women reach high positions, they “almost invariably get the job done.” “They experience bias that affects their abilities and how they feel about their work.” and their overall well-being. ”
60% of women leaders said they thought about quitting because of stress, and three-quarters of them said they thought about quitting daily, weekly, or monthly.
Lauren Widmer, director of student services for the Afton School District in suburban St. Louis, has left the neighboring district after her efforts to break into administration failed.
“I really felt like the only possible way forward in that district was to be part of the good old boys club,” she said. “If I hadn’t gone to school there, played on the football team and worked my way up the ranks, I wouldn’t have had a chance to progress.”
She realized this in 2017 when she was scheduled to take up the position of assistant principal. The district offered her an interview at 9 a.m. on a Friday, the same day her C-section was scheduled. She asked for another time to do a virtual interview at noon on the same day her son was born, but officials turned her away. After that, her position was transferred to a man.
“Some of these men.”
This new survey follows a recent thread started by Rafal Baer on LinkedIn asking women leaders to share some of the worst comments they've heard in their “professional journeys.” Some of America's top education leaders weighed in.
“One of my colleagues said to me[in front of everyone]'You must be really proud to be the only woman among these men,' and held my shoulder a little longer than anyone else.” recalled Deputy Prime Minister Caroline Quintana. For New York City schools.
Leslie Muldoon, executive director of the National Assessment Management Board, which oversees the National Assessment of Educational Progress, shared comments she heard as a new mom.
“An older male co-worker bitterly lamented that he wished he had three months off after I returned from a horribly miserable and painful maternity leave,” she wrote.
Daylene Long, CEO of a STEM education company, also posted that someone told her that being competitive is not an attractive trait in women.
“You don't have to choose.”
But some leaders also see signs of progress.
At Afton in the Widmer district, half of the top-level staff and four of the five principals are women. She believes the support the women feel contributes to the stability of the district.
“You don't have to choose between staying home with sick kids and leading your department,” Widmer said. “You can do both.”
And during the early months of the pandemic, Infante-Green participated in daily press conferences with then-Gov. Gina Raimondo and former state health director Dr. Nicole Alexander Scott. Her mother even sent the commissioner a card featuring Superwoman as a thank you for inspiring her daughter.
“In that moment, I realized that us being together at a press conference was not just symbolic; it was a powerful statement of unity and resilience,” she said. “This sent a positive message that leadership in Rhode Island knows no gender boundaries.”
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