Women's careers beyond the classroom: Changing roles in a changing world

Drawing from our own and others' research over the past decade and a half, we present four "readings," each illuminating a different dimension of wome n educators' career development, particularly their movement into work beyo nd the classroom. The majority of the participants in our studies are women who work for change in their classrooms, schools, and district organizatio ns, using the opportunities, vehicles, and channels available-or apparent-t o them. They do this work in professional and personal contexts that are co ntinually changing, sometimes as a result of their own choices and actions and sometimes not. While there is a growing body of literature on women's m ovement into, and their lives in, educational administration, we are concer ned here with the broader and more varied manifestations of leadership beyo nd the classroom. In the four readings, we bring together several strands in the literature o n women educators' lives and careers. We first lay out the taken-for-grante d oppositional contrasts in the educational discourses that have tended to obscure more complex understandings of work lives and careers. Next, we exp lore how the particular kinds of work available to women actually encourage some to move beyond narrow conceptions of the distinctions between classro om and nonclassroom work. Third, we discuss the developmental nature of ind ividual career paths. Fourth, we note the spatial and temporal nature of le adership work by showing how it is influenced and changed by greater econom ic, social, and political forces. We believe that these multiple interpreta tions are required to understand the range and combination of influences th at propel and compel women educators to take up various forms of leadership work beyond the classroom.