Education Commons^™

African American Women Superintendents: Their Point Of Exit, Minta Maxine Downing

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Only recently have scholars paid attention to the African American woman superintendent who is an anomaly in this powerful leadership position in public education. Additionally, only a few academicians have asked why talented African American women who successfully obtain the superintendency exit the position so quickly. The primary purpose of this phenomenological focused qualitative study was to identify and document the experiences contributing to the decisions of selected former African American women superintendents to exit, voluntarily or involuntarily, their public school superintendencies and not to seek another one, choosing instead to pursue other positions, either in education or in a …