Congratulations to Mariya Pushkantser who on Tuesday, December 16, 2025, successfully defended her dissertation.
The title of Mariya’s dissertation is “ACT LIKE A MAN AND SMILE”: A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF WOMEN PRINCIPALS’ EXPERIENCES NAVIGATING GENDER ROLES IN SECONDARY PUBLIC SCHOOLS."
Overview of Problem: Although women comprise 76% of the K-12 teaching workforce, they remain significantly underrepresented in secondary school leadership, holding only 35.5% of high school principal positions. Women high school principals continue to experience gendered expectations, symbolic biases, and organizational practices that privilege masculine norms. High School principalship remains male dominated, creating additional barriers for women who must navigate leadership, motherhood, and societal expectations.
Research Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative study is to uncover the gendered lived experiences of women, who are mothers and high school principals. Using Acker’s theory of gendered organization, this study described ways in which high school principalship is shaped by gendered expectations, structures, and practices.
Research Design: This study is a qualitative interpretive inquiry with phenomenological interview methodology. Acker's gendered organization theory served as the theoretical lens.
Sample: Fourteen women principals of U.S. public high schools (grades 9–12) who were also mothers of children under 18 living at home.
Data Collection and Analysis: Data were collected through semi-structured, In-depth, open-ended interviews, which were recorded, transcribed, and verified. Transcripts were coded inductively and deductively using Acker’s four substructures—symbolism, division of labor, interactions, and identity. Codes were synthesized into themes and examined alongside existing literature.
Findings: Four key themes emerged: Textbook Sexism: Credibility Questioned, Smile More: When Looks Define Leadership I’ve Sacrificed So Much: The Cost of Leadership, Just Having People: Support Is Necessary. These themes revealed how gender operates through interlocking systems of gendered expectations embedded in language, labor, relationships, and self-concept, perpetuating inequality in educational leadership despite rhetorical commitments to equity.
Implications & Conclusions: Women high school principals experience gendered organizational structures that constrain leadership credibility, work -family balance, and opportunities. Districts must address inequities in compensation, hiring, redefine principal workload, family-supportive policies, and intentional formal and informal opportunities for mentoring structures. Broader societal shifts in caregiving norms, inclusive definitions of leadership and expectations of leadership are necessary for sustainable gender equity in educational leadership.
DISSERTATION COMMITTEE CHAIR(S):
Dr. Susan V. Iverson
DISSERTATION COMMITTEE MEMBER(S):
Dr. Robert Feirsen
Dr. Lynn Allen 
Take Your Career to the Next Level
Elevate your leadership skills, deepen your understanding of critical and contemporary education issues, and learn to help solve the current challenges in P-20 education.
Learn to Inspire Change
The Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership from Manhattanville, offered in partnership with Putnam Northern Westchester BOCES, utilizes a forward-thinking approach to educational leadership that is ideal for practicing and aspiring leaders in any educational context. It is designed to support the goals of educational professionals who seek to develop their leadership skills for career advancement or current job enhancement.
