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Comparison of attitudes of superintendents and board of education presidents in Indiana concerning the effectiveness of women as public school administrators

The purpose of the study was to assess the relationship between certain selected factors (age, sex, years of preparation and experience, size of school district, experience working for women administrators, existence of an affirmative action plan), and the expressed attitudes of superintendents and board of education presidents in Indiana regarding the effectiveness of women administrators in public schools.The Attitude Research Instrument developed by Eunice B. Warwick with Thomas A. Ringness and Glen Eye at the University of Wisconsin was used to measure the attitudes of superintendents and school board presidents concerning the effectiveness of women as public school administrators. A background data questionnaire was used to elicit data pertaining to the identification of various factors such as age, sex, years of preparation and experience, and existence of an affirmative action plan.The chi-square test of independence was utilized to statistically analyze sixteen null hypotheses formulate to test the relationship between expressed attitudes concerning the effectiveness of women administrators and the factors identified with the background questionnaire.The sixteen chi-square tests were significant at the .01 level. In addition, fourteen of the sixteen chi-square tests were significant at the .001 level. The sixteen null hypotheses were rejected.Findings of the study indicated that superintendents and school board presidents expressed significantly different attitudes concerning the effectiveness of women administrators when grouped according to the variables of age, size of school district, level of educational attainment, having or not having an affirmative action plan, numbers of women administrators employed, years of administrative or board experience. Superintendents and male school board presidents expressed significantly different attitudes than did female school board presidents. The data indicated a board approved affirmative action plan was not a significant variable affecting numbers of women administrators employed.The following conclusions were drawn from the data collected: The wide divergence in expressed attitudes suggest the probability of conflict among the groups. The most serious consequence for a school district exists in the probability of conflict between superintendents and school board presidents, groups with the second largest divergence in the study. The percentage of strongly agree and agree responses appear to suggest employment opportunities may be more readily available under these conditions: large districts, young administrators with earned doctorates and less than ten years administrative experience. The data in the study indicate that an affirmative action plan has not been an effective method of creating greater employment opportunities for women administrators in the public schools.5

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/182269
Date January 1976
CreatorsZumbrun, Arleen
ContributorsRiegle, Jack D.
Source SetsBall State University
Detected LanguageEnglish
Formatviii, 115 leaves ; 28 cm.
SourceVirtual Press

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