Five former Texas Public School Board Members' Perceptions Concerning the Hiring of Latina Superintendents

Abstract

This qualitative study examined the perceptions of five former pubic school board members in Texas regarding the hiring of Latinas aspiring to the superintendency. The intent of this case study was to discover the characteristics of effective leadership that former public school board members desire in a Latina seeking the superintendency. This agenda is relevant because of the low numbers of minoritized women, in particular Latinas, holding a superintendent position in the United States and in Texas. Interviewing five former public school board members from Texas utilizing a semistructured interview protocol allowed the researcher to gather data about their perceptions of a Latina and the leadership skills needed or that could be used to her advantage to obtain the superintendency. Chemers’s model on leading diversity groups was used to contextualize this study. This model provides insight regarding skills that are needed to lead diverse groups. Findings were classified into three themes according to Chemers’s integrative leadership model. The image management theme examined the superintendents’ legitimacy, credibility, trust, and loyalty. The theme of relationship development probed the superintendents’ motivation efforts, effective relationships, and building among groups. The resource deployment theme investigated the aspiring Latinas’ empowerment, ability to work in teams, and ability to reduce stress in the organization.

There are more than 55 million Latinas/os in the United States and Texas ranks second in the nation with more than eight million Latinas/os. However, Latinas still comprise an unsatisfactory 1% of the school superintendents in the country. This study identified effective leadership characteristics that five former Texas public school board members considered necessary for a Latina to enter what has been called the most male-dominated executive position in any profession in the United States.