蜜桃影视

Education is one of America鈥檚 most female-dominated professions, yet the sweeping majority of school systems are led by white men. Often, the reasons are subtle. Sometimes, they鈥檙e not.

One not-so-subtle moment happened at the July 14 meeting of the Sarasota County School Board, where several members proceeded to explain why they were eliminating the sole female finalist, Marie Izquierdo, from consideration as superintendent.

鈥淚 think she鈥檚 delightful,鈥� one member explained. 鈥淚 think she鈥檚 wonderful. She was definitely in my top two until she told me that she would not be bringing her husband or daughter for a couple of years, and that was a non-starter for me. Because I think that we need a committed superintendent that will be here, will be involved in the community, but will have family along with he or she.鈥� Another member offered her own understanding that Izquierdo鈥檚 daughter is a high school junior 鈥斅燽ut said, 鈥淚 want somebody who is 100 percent totally committed to our community.鈥�

(The comments begin at around the 1:29 mark on the video.)

It鈥檚 frustrating not only because questions about family responsibilities, stability and emotionality are widely understood as code for denying women jobs they鈥檙e qualified for. It鈥檚 frustrating because, as we look at searches across the country and efforts by communities to bring more diversity to the tops of their education systems in seats largely held by men, the double standard is revealed so openly and so often. This is not an issue specific to one school district or region of the country. And while the continued existence of such obvious bias is hardly a novelty 鈥斅爄t happens in less public settings every day 鈥� it must be examined,聽especially when it involves a job that has such influence over young people鈥檚 lives.

My organization supported Izquierdo, along with two of the other five finalists 鈥� both of whom were men 鈥� and we were disappointed when none of the three got the job. But this isn鈥檛 about that disappointment, nor is it a knock on the well-qualified Brennan Asplen III, who was selected for the role. It鈥檚 about patterns of gender bias in the selection of superintendents across the nation.

Our prepares promising education leaders 鈥� largely people of color and women聽鈥斅爐o lead state and large-district school systems. Among the leaders we鈥檝e supported are four men who had to leave family members behind when they took jobs across the country. Not one of them faced questions about their commitment, or whether they could handle the dual responsibilities of chief executive and faraway parent. In fact, the topic was never raised in their interview and selection processes 鈥� not even once.

Contrast that with some of the women we鈥檝e supported: One female top deputy who was a strong contender to replace her male then-boss was questioned during the search about whether she could be a good mother in the top job, and she was told she was 鈥渁 great No. 2鈥� and 鈥淸her male boss] in a skirt.鈥� Another female top deputy in our Future Chiefs program was consistently questioned in job interviews about how she could be trusted to stay and invest in a community when she didn鈥檛 have a husband or kids with her to establish local roots.

Too often, school boards expect women to look, sound and talk like men interviewing for the position 鈥� but then hold them to a totally different standard in their decision-making process. We need to make it clear that being a woman is not inconsistent with being a CEO 鈥� it鈥檚 on school boards to change their vision of what leadership looks like and to play by one set of rules in asking: Who is the most qualified leader, best to serve our kids?

Women make up the vast majority of the workforce in schools and in positions from the classroom up to the superintendent’s office, but less than one-third of those in the very top role are women, and only 11 percent are women of color 鈥� numbers that have over the past decade. That鈥檚 a problem, because it means we鈥檙e passing over an enormous swath of the talent in our field. It鈥檚 a problem because schools are precisely the place where we tell our children they can be anything they want to be 鈥� so we ought to model it. And it鈥檚 a problem because, as the COVID-19 moment has shown, there鈥檚 ever more evidence that .

There鈥檚 a lot we can do to change the odds for women and people of color in our school systems, as we鈥檝e noted in an important on the issue. One element is creating networks that help women help each other, building some of the capital that men have long had. In our Future Chiefs program, about half the leaders who鈥檝e been selected for chief jobs are women.

Districts can do much to create family-friendly policies. And we can name the problem and set goals for progress. Similarly, school boards and selection committees should consider efforts that support an examination of their own gender bias as part of their diversity, equity and inclusion goals. As with any form of bias, the problem is not necessarily with anyone鈥檚 intentions but in unexamined ideas about what constitutes effective leadership.

And here鈥檚 one problem we can name and one goal we can set: Asking whether women can parent and lead at the same time is sexist. Ditching those questions would be an excellent start.

is the chief operating officer of , a bipartisan network of state and district education chiefs. A former assistant commissioner at the New York State Education Department, Rafal-Baer earned a Ph.D. in education policy from the University of Cambridge, where . She began her career as a special education teacher in the Bronx.

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