Gender bias impacts work, well-being of female education leaders

Women in education leadership often experience gender bias that impacts their work and their general well-being, according to a national survey of school superintendents and other school leaders.

The inaugural Insight Survey by Women Leading Ed, a national nonprofit network of women in education leadership, was taken by 110 women over three months this winter.

 “The results of our first annual survey paint a clear and at times painful picture of the reality that women face in education leadership,” said Julia Rafal-Baer, CEO of Women Leading Ed.  “Bias continues to hold talented and capable women back and constrain their impact. It’s a reality so ingrained and accepted that it’s taken on the quality of wallpaper or background noise. The survey results expose just how little has truly changed, despite women gaining some entry into top leadership. We are in the same spaces, but women are still required to play a different game.”

Key findings of the survey include:

• A majority, 82%, of the women surveyed report that they sometimes feel pressure to dress, speak or behave a certain way because they are women in a senior leadership role.
• Almost all, 95%, say they have to make sacrifices their male colleagues do not.
• More than half say they have been passed up for advancement or have had their salary negotiations impacted negatively because they are a woman.
• Nearly 6 out of 10 say they are considering leaving their job because of stress.