A Feminist Critical Policy Analysis of Patriarchy in Leadership

Abstract

This chapter examines patriarchal assumptions of leadership in superintendencies in American public education. Using feminist critical policy analysis as a guiding framework, we first present historical trends of sex segregation in education, noting that while teaching has historically been feminized, higher positions in leadership are most often occupied by White, heterosexual men. We note shifts: as women have recently begun to fill more principal positions, this has been accompanied by a solidification of men’s dominance of the superintendency. We unpack the historical cultural assumptions of gender embedded in influential cultural texts, including the Bible and political discourse. These texts provide important insight into the prevailing underrepresentation of women in higher leadership positions they depict women as naturally subservient and in need of men’s protection. Thus, biblical and political speech reinforce and perpetuate traditional gendering of educational leadership. We conclude with a call for further integration of feminist theory and practice into educational leadership.