Attitudes toward women as Jewish day school administrators

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the attitudes of professional and lay leaders of Jewish day schools in the metropolitan New York City area toward women administrators in Jewish day schools.;In this study, the subjects included presidents and chairpersons of the boards and principals of Jewish day schools which are members of the Yeshiva Elementary Principals, Council of Metropolitan New York (1996--97) and the Yeshiva High School Principals, Council of Metropolitan New York (1996--97). The respondents provided demographic data regarding their personal background, and responded to a series of statements regarding: attributes of women and men administrators which are necessary in effective administration; opportunities for women in administrative positions in Jewish day schools; and problems women administrators face more often than their men colleagues in Jewish day schools.;A written questionnaire survey was used to gather the data. The survey questionnaire included: the Attitude Research Instrument, Supplemental Questions, the Background Data Questionnaire, and "Your Opinion".;The t Test of Independent Sample Means, the Analysis of Variance procedure, the t Test of Related Sample Means, and the Chi-Square test of Independence were used to analyze the data.;The study provides evidence that attitudes of women leaders are more favorable toward women administrators in Jewish day schools than are those of men leaders; attitudes of leaders with less than a bachelor's degree or a bachelor's degree are more favorable than of those with master's or doctoral degrees; attitudes of leaders with rabbinical ordination are less favorable than of those with Jewish education of afternoon school, day school, or college; attitudes of leaders from co-ed and all-girls schools are more favorable than of those from all-boys schools. In addition, the study indicates that there are more opportunities for women in administrative positions in larger schools (over 500 students), co-ed and all-girls schools, or in schools where the leaders are older or are women. When compared to men administrators, women administrators were perceived as possessing more attributes that are considered necessary in effective administration than men administrators.