A study of selected group attitudes toward the employment of women as educational administrators
Date
1974
Authors
McKinnon, Donald Findlay
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Abstract
The British Columbia Study concerns itself with the attitudes of groups of people closely associated with education toward the employment of women as school administrators. The participants in the study included the school trustees, administrators and teachers from a large urban school district (#61 Greater Victoria), a middle-sized urban-rural school district (#63 Saanich), and a smaller rural school district (#84 Vancouver Island West). A Likert-type questionnaire was distributed to the respondents in May, 1973, with the request that they respond as candidly as possible to 22 statements. The responses were subjected to an analysis of variance and to a post hoc multiple comparison of means.
The data revealed that the attitudes of the female teachers and the school trustees toward the employment of women as school administrators were not dissimilar. It was found, however, that a significant difference favouring the female teachers occurred when the attitude of female teachers was compared to those of both the male teachers and administrators. It was also found that a more favourable attitude was held by the total female group when compared to the total male group. The size of the school district in which the respondents performed their duties was not associated with significant differences in attitudes.
When the responses of the total teacher group were analysed, it was further determined that the qualifications of the teachers as determined by their teaching certificate, their number of years experience in the classroom, whether they taught at the elementary or secondary level, and whether or not they had previously worked with a woman school administrator were not significant factors in determining attitudes.