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Introduction: Women Leading for Social Justice

According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2004), there has been a societal shift over the last decade from the traditional expectation that wives are homemakers to the expectation that they are responsible for working outside the home as well. In fact, between 1970 and 2009, women went from holding 37% of all jobs in the United States to approximately 48%— an increase of 38 million women (Baush & Yee, 2011); however, there is a “leaky talent pipeline” in regard to women, and although women represent 53% of new hires, they represent only 37% of those promoted to management positions. Specific to the field of education, women comprise 51% of the general workforce—83% of elementary teachers, 52% of elementary principals, 57% of central office administrators, and 33% of assistant superintendents (Grogan, 2005). Although women have made inroads in school leadership in the United States, a recent American Association of School Administrators study reported that women represent only 24% of the top school leadership position in the United States—namely, the superintendency (Kowalski, McCord, Petersen, Young, & Ellerson, 2010). In 2010, Sherman stated, “The growing entrance and acceptance of women leaders will, hopefully, signal a shift increasing the representation of women principals and university professors worldwide and generate research on the different approaches and successes women bring to leadership practice” (p. 675). This special issue of the Journal of School Leadership is an explicit attempt not only to generate research on women