The Voices of African American Women Superintendents:
Strategic Insights into Recruiting and Retaining Diverse Leaders
by Dr. Veronique N. Walker
Recruiting, developing, and supporting a culturally diverse workforce presents school
districts with an opportunity to enrich districts’ leadership availability and practices. Recently I
completed a quantitative dissertation study – African American women superintendents:
Perceptions of barriers and strategies in accessing the superintendency (Walker, 2014) – that
examined, among other variables, strategies African American women superintendents identified
as most helpful when accessing the superintendency. Although the study was relevant to African
American women and the superintendency, the voices of the 56 participants provides insight into
how school personnel administrators may maintain, support, and strengthen their efforts to
recruit and retain highly qualified leaders and administrators overall.
The adapted survey instrument, Questionnaire on Perceptions of Barriers and Strategies
Impacting on African American Women Accessing the Superintendency, was used for the study;
Part III of the questionnaire contained 32 questions to assess perceived strategies. The original
survey was created by Dr. Betty Jane Dulac in 1992 and modified by Dr. Deanna Anderson in
1998. I obtained permission from Dulac and Anderson to use and modify the instrument, which
involved adding questions about race.
Of 32 strategies, at least 25% of study participants rated 27 as a 5 (highly successful; see
Table 4.19). Furthermore, African American women in the study tended to employ specific
categories of extrinsic strategies (Dulac, 1992), including professional development and a
professional network. The results highlighted in the study, and how relevant to school personnel
administrators, are discussed in subsequent sections.
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Table 4.19
Perceptions of Strategies
1
2
3
4
5
No
Response
%
%
%
%
%
%
Increasing visibility in professional circles. 
3.6
3.6
17.9
33.9
41.1
0.0
Obtaining a doctorate. +
5.4
5.4
5.4
37.5
44.6
1.8
Formulating and adhering to a plan of action to
achieve career goals. +
1.8
10.7
5.4
48.2
33.9
0.0
Preparing an effective resume. +
3.6
7.1
16.1
42.9
28.6
1.8
3.6
19.6
35.7
26.8
10.7
3.6
3.6
16.1
35.7
25.0
17.9
1.8
Enhancing interviewing skills. +
3.6
10.7
12.5
32.1
39.3
1.8
Gaining access to community power groups. 
5.4
8.9
12.5
41.1
32.1
0.0
Enlisting a mentor and/or sponsor. 
5.4
3.6
19.6
32.1
37.5
1.8
Gaining experience in leadership positions
outside the school system. +
3.6
10.7
19.6
46.4
17.9
1.8
Obtaining the support of family.
3.6
8.9
8.9
25.0
51.8
1.8
Reliance upon a religious or spiritual belief
system.
5.4
7.1
16.1
23.2
48.2
0.0
Knowing current trends in education. +
3.6
1.8
3.6
23.2
67.9
0.0
Learning coping skills to deal with conflicting
demands of career and family. +
3.6
3.6
5.4
44.6
42.9
0.0
Developing a strong self-concept.
5.4
0.0
3.6
28.6
62.5
0.0
3.6
3.6
3.6
25.0
64.3
0.0
5.4
5.4
5.4
30.4
53.6
0.0
3.6
1.8
7.1
23.2
64.3
0.0
Invoking affirmative action and Title IX.
21.4
25.0
25.0
17.9
5.4
5.4
Being proactive in seeking administrative
internships for top level positions. +
3.6
7.1
25.0
39.3
21.4
3.6
Increasing flexibility to relocate.
7.1
8.9
12.5
41.1
28.6
1.8
Learning how to deal with sex discrimination. +
5.4
16.1
19.6
33.9
25.0
0.0
Learning how to deal with race discrimination. +
5.4
14.3
5.4
42.9
32.1
0.0
Strategies
N = 56
Using a women's network similar to the "Good
Old Boy Network". 
Using an African American network similar to
the "Good Old Boy Network". 
Learning the characteristics of the school district
in which applying for position. +
Attending workshops to improve professional
skills. +
Developing self-confidence in ability to succeed
in top level positions.
Note: 1 = Not Successful; 2 = Somewhat Successful; 3 = Moderately Successful; 4 = Very Successful; and 5 =
Highly Successful. The findings are written in percentages.
+ = Professional Development Strategy  = Professional Network Strategy
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Professional development. Five of the seven top strategies rated a 5 (highly successful;
see Table 4.19) in this study contained an element of professional development, with the highest
rated strategy being knowing current trends in education. All of the top six strategies rated a 4
(very successful; see Table 4.19) also consisted of professional development factors. The
findings suggest that above all, participants in this study perceived professional skills,
competencies, and credentials the most important strategies when accessing the superintendency.
Based upon the professional development findings, school personnel administrators may
best develop and support aspiring leaders by providing quality staff development and education
credential acquisition opportunities, particularly those geared toward aspirants cultivating their
overall skill sets and competencies.
Professional network. There were seven strategy questions on the survey relating to
professional networks. Of the seven strategies, increasing visibility in professional circles and
enlisting a mentor and/or sponsor were the two highest rated strategies (see Table 4.19).
Increasing visibility in professional circles, considered the most important professional network
strategy to the participants in this study, strengthens opportunities to network with key
individuals for various reasons including support, career advancement, and the acquisition of
mentorship or sponsorship. Thus, school personnel administrators who provide opportunities for
aspiring leaders to network and to showcase their skills and talents may increase a district’s
ability to develop and support quality personnel.
Participants in this study viewed the lack of a mentor or sponsor as a moderate barrier.
Notwithstanding, they identified securing a mentor and/or sponsor was an important strategy as
referenced in past studies of African American female superintendents (Alston, 1996; BarrensAlexander, 2000; A. Brown, 2011, 2014; Daye, 2007; Downing, 2009; Herring, 2007; Hosier,
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2002; January, 2006; B. Johnson, 2012; W. Johnson, 2006; Marcus, 2012). Based upon this
finding, school personnel administrators are encouraged to assess the pipeline in their district to
see if any highly qualified and credentialed African American women or other persons of color
are being mentored or sponsored. Furthermore, school personnel administrators are encouraged
to establish district mentoring and sponsorship programs, if yet to be created, for developing
such is essential to the success of every school district.
Worth noting, invoking affirmative action and Title IX was the lowest-rated perceived
strategy (see Table 4.19). Participants in A. Brown’s (2014) qualitative study of eight African
American women superintendents from the southeastern region of the United States (p. 4)
expressed the continued need for affirmative action, yet wanting to be respected, hired, and
retained into the superintendency based upon their competencies rather than affirmative action
(p. 16).
Although participants in this study perceived that gender and racial bias in the screening
process were significant barriers, respect for competencies was of utmost importance. School
personnel administrators who deeply examine their respective district’s recruiting and hiring
practices for any biases, and correct such biases, will demonstrate one of the most significant
recruiting, developing, and supportive tools necessary for establishing a culturally diverse
workforce.
Essentially, an overarching theme of a positive attitude permeated the study that was
crucial to the participants’ overall success and ultimate ability to access the superintendency.
Participants appeared to be focused more on effective strategies to overcome perceived barriers
than on the barriers themselves. Their willingness to focus on strategies demonstrated their
perseverance to use intrinsic motivators and extrinsic strategies to access the superintendency,
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regardless of what obstacles they perceived existed. School personnel administrators and human
resource departments who also, thus, recognize the challenges of sustaining culturally diverse
workforces, yet focus on positive strategies to traverse such challenges, ultimately benefit
students and move their districts to become more reflective of their student enrollment and
demographics (Kowalski et al., 2011).
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References
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