The Perceptions of Female Superintendents within a Rural County in a Midwestern State

Authors

  • Travis Dimmitt Northwest Missouri State University
  • Linda Gray Smith

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3776/tpre.2023.v13n1p52-69

Keywords:

Rural Education, Female Superintendents, Discrimination, School Administration

Abstract

This paper discusses the perceptions of seven of the eight women to serve as school superintendents within a rural county in a Midwestern state from 1986 to 2021. From interviews with the women, we identified themes and compared and connected the thematic perceptions of the rural female superintendents to the overall framework of extant literature on the female superintendent experience across the United States. Throughout this process, we found that much of what the rural female superintendents we interviewed experienced in their jobs matched the experiences of other women superintendents across the country. There were, however, some divergent experiences from established literature in key areas. This paper highlights many of those similarities and differences.

Author Biographies

Travis Dimmitt, Northwest Missouri State University

Travis Dimmitt, Ed. D., is an assistant professor in the School of Education at Northwest Missouri State University. His career in education has been defined by his experience in rural areas. Prior to coming to Northwest Missouri State, he taught middle school and high school social studies for many years in rural Missouri, and was eventually chosen as a STARR teacher (Select Teacher as Regional Resource) by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. In this position, he traveled across the state, offering teaching training and techniques to hundreds of teachers in multiple districts, most of them rural. From there, he became a middle school and high school principal in rural Missouri. At Northwest Missouri State, Travis teaches classes in classroom management and curriculum to undergraduate education students. He also teaches graduate classes to educators seeking administration degrees. dimmitt@nwmissouri.edu

Linda Gray Smith

Linda Gray Smith, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the School of Education at Northwest Missouri State University. Linda teaches middle school, secondary content, and K–12 undergraduate curriculum courses and classroom management. Educational Leadership students are enrolled in courses that she authored and teaches in the Master’s and Specialists programs. Linda also coordinates the secondary education classes and advises middle school education majors. In collaboration with others, she has published articles, a book chapter, and presented at professional conferences at the international, national, regional and state levels. She has served as a K–12 administrator and a high school English teacher. Lsmith@nwmissouri.edu

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Published

2023-06-19

How to Cite

Dimmitt, T., & Gray Smith, L. (2023). The Perceptions of Female Superintendents within a Rural County in a Midwestern State. Theory & Practice in Rural Education, 13(1), 52–69. https://doi.org/10.3776/tpre.2023.v13n1p52-69

Issue

Vol. 13 No. 1 (2023): Elevating Voices within our Diverse Tapestry of Rurality

Section

Research Forum

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Copyright (c) 2023 Travis Dimmitt, Linda Gray Smith

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Articles will be published using a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Sharealike license. (For more information on this license, please visit the Creative Commons license page.) Please also note that the authors are explicitly granting permission for Academic Library Services to store a copy of the article in The ScholarShip, ECU's Institutional Repository under the terms of the current ScholarShip license. As a North Carolina agency, ECU contributes copies of all publications to the North Carolina State Archives.