An Oxygen Mask First for Female Superintendents

A half dozen female school system leaders, four of them superintendents, serving in districts around Wilmington, N.C., and beyond, had gathered together for the fourth of what would be a half dozen informal networking sessions. Given their familiarity with each other, the room was oddly quiet. Finally, one of the superintendents broke the silence.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I guess we’re all feeling it, and we’re not sure how to turn the treadmill down from this sprint pace.”

My role, as a university professor and a former school administrator, was to convene these women superintendents to help them overcome shared struggles through a professional network.

Through my research on the superintendency and involvement with female superintendents and administrators in recent years, I’ve heard countless stories of women sharing examples of “trying to do it all.” The struggle these women were experiencing wasn’t different from those of any others with whom I’ve worked.