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The Importance Of Mentorship, Sponsorship, And Politics For Women Of Color Who Aspire To The Superintendency And Other School Leadership Roles, Cicily Mccrimmon

Doctor of Education Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if mentorship and sponsorship could help identify the potential political pitfalls or “hidden rules” of senior-level leadership to increase the identification, recruitment, and retention of minority women, specifically African American women in the role of superintendent or executive at the school and district level. This phenomenological study explored how leadership expectations for women of color have changed over time; however, the narratives illustrate that perceptions related to women of color in senior-level leadership have largely remained unchanged. The absence of the narrative for minority women in leadership, including the limited number serving …