Attitudes of Male Administrators Toward Hiring and Promoting Female Administrators in the Seventh-day Adventist Educational System in the North American Division
Problem. The ratio of female to male educational administrators is considerably lower than the ratio for teachers. This study investigated the attitudes of male administrators toward hiring and promoting female administrators in the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) educational system in North America. Method. A questionnaire was prepared consisting of four subscales with a total of 45 items measuring attitudes with respect to recruiting, performance evaluation, promotion, and general areas. This questionnaire was mailed to 458 male educational administrators of whom 322 returned usable surveys. Four hypotheses were tested by analysis of variance and chi-square. Findings. (1) On 40 of the 45 items, male SDA educational administrators expressed a positive attitude toward hiring and promoting women administrators. On no item was a bias against women administrators indicated. (2) There was little indication of any difference in attitude toward recruiting and promoting women administrators on the part of male conference administrators, college/university administrators, and academy administrators. (3) There was no perceptible difference in the attitude toward recruiting and promoting female administrators on the part of male administrators of different educational levels. (4) Male administrators of different age groups do not differ with respect to their attitude toward recruiting and promoting female administrators. Conclusions. The strong, positively expressed, attitudes are somewhat surprising, considering the small proportion of females among educational administrators. It is to be hoped that in the near future these attitudeswill bear fruit in practice. Greater opportunity should be given for women to participate in training programs for higher levels of educationaladministration. The respondents were strongly of the opinion that ordination is not generally essential for holding administrative positions within the church. It is recommended that the denomination reserve ordination for workers directly involved in pastoral ministry. Men and women should be honest with each other concerning their similarities and differences. They should both recognize the unique leadership qualities possessed by women which may provide a balance to male styles of management.
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