SCHOOL BOARDS THAT HIRE FEMALE SUPERINTENDENTS

In a mailed survey, presidents of 278 school boards in 19 western stat es were asked to describe the processes and procedures used in their m ost recent searches for a superintendent. In general terms, school boa rds which hired female superintendents were more likely to head urban and suburban systems, to be better educated, to have a higher social c lass, and to have a majority of females on the board. By implication, the general increase in female school board members may lead to a gene ral increase in female superintendents. This bodes well for America's school systems.