Critical review of article concepts

¶ … projected lack of leadership at administrative levels in the education system is a major problem that is getting worse. As a means of addressing that problem, the mechanisms that are involved in the progress of women within the education system, need to be studied and explicated. Unearthing new relationships and conceptual categories will assist in the creation of more pointed policies and programs that address the problem. The work of Young and McLeod (2001) is part of the attempt to provide innovative solutions to this difficult problem.

Three factors were presented by the researchers as being important to the progress of women within the educational system. The administrative role model they were in contact with, if they were exposed to transformational leadership, and the types and levels of endorsement and support the respondent received. The researchers determined that the advance of women is progressive involving multiple stages.

The authors engaged in an exploratory study in Iowa designed to examine the decisions and processes that assist or impede the progress of women in educational administration. Young and McLeod (2001) employed the concept of career aspiration in their study. The authors identified career aspiration as a three-dimensional concept, which combined career commitments, positional goals, and leadership orientation into a function mechanism that could be used to describe the progress of the participants in the study.

The data for the study were collected using two different methods of data collection. The quantitative data were collected by an examination of the records of graduate students who were enrolled in an education administration program. The entire list was first collected then screened for characteristics of interest to the researcher. The final sample size was 127. The purposive sample for the qualitative interviews was drawn from a wide cross-section of females at administrative levels within the Iowa education system. The sample size was 20. The qualitative data was the product of in-depth semi-structured open-ended interviews.

The quantitative data were analyzed using simple descriptive statistics employing percentages and the mean. The descriptive statistics generated were used to support several of the positions of the authors. Unfortunately, they did not provide statistical tests, which would determine whether the observed frequencies for a particular category were significant. Despite this concern, the researchers demonstrated that the mean findings for the duration of time spent before applying for an administrative position was comparable to that in found in other research.

The study contained several weaknesses that limit the generalizability and external validity of the findings. Firstly, the data are limited to a single state and the sample contained mostly White middle class women. The work cannot be easily related to other class, ethnic groups, or states. Additionally, the researchers point out that none of the women in their study entered teaching thinking that they would go into administration. The presentation of the finding without modification as that adds to the integrity of the research report. However, because of the nature of the finding, it may have been prudent for the researchers to search for a disconfirming case. It is possible that the women, who enter desiring to be administrators, will be different in key characteristics from the sample used.