A national survey of the relationship between the sex of school board members and their perceptions of how they respond to policy questions

The purposes of this study were to report on the effect of female board members and to determine if male and female board members held different perceived roles and responsibilities. Women have been stereotyped as having board interests which differed from their male counterparts. Women have also been viewed as having different perceptions of board responsibility than men. A stratified random sample (4,441) of 18 percent was drawn from the population of subscribers to The American School Board Journal who are local school board members. A return rate of 34 percent (1,525) was realized. The survey used in this study was divided into three parts. Part I of the survey gathered demographic information about the school board member's school district and the pressing management concerns of the same districts. Part II, provided personal information about school board member subscribers to The American School Board Journal. Part III sought information about personal views, opinions, and involvement of female school board members as seen by both males and females. Respondents reported that males are more involved and more interested in facility and financial issues. This study indicated that if women gain more seats in the future, there will be an attempt to shift board emphasis from facility and financial concerns to curriculum and community involvement concerns. Female respondents were more likely to believe that school system operation would change if women became a majority on school boards. The study showed that the number of female board members has not increased significantly over the past three years and a majority of female board members worked outside of the home. Females believed themselves more qualified in curriculum while males believed themselves more qualified in finance.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ed. D.

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educational Administration

Department dc:contributor.department

Educational Administration

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Year dc:date.issued

1986

Author dc:creator

• Luckett, Rebecca Gatlin

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Underwood, Kenneth E.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Fortune, Jimmie C.
• McKeen, Ronald L.
• Worner, Wayne M.
• Hatch, A. Bernard

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10919/74740

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/74740