The Impact of Career Planning, Leadership Orientation, and Mentoring Experiences of Secondary School Principals
Stavrakos-Theodorou, Carol Ann
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Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/71949
Description
Title
The Impact of Career Planning, Leadership Orientation, and Mentoring Experiences of Secondary School Principals
Author(s)
Stavrakos-Theodorou, Carol Ann
Issue Date
1993
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Thurston, Paul W.
Department of Study
Education
Discipline
Education
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ed.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Education, Administration
Abstract
The present study concerned the relationship of certain variables on the impact of career planning, leadership orientations, and mentoring experiences of the secondary school principalship in the collar counties of Chicago. A questionnaire was sent to 169 secondary school principals with a return of 129 questionnaires, with 16 of these principals being women. Interviews were also conducted with eight principals, four males and four females, whose schools were within Cook, DuPage, Lake and Will Counties. The interviewees were chosen based upon their responses to the questionnaire.
A comparison was made between male and female secondary school principals in the areas of educational background, career planning, leadership orientation, and mentoring experiences. Only 30% of the respondents had an earned doctorate; 70% of the respondents had been an assistant principal prior to becoming a principal; 100% of the female and 79% of the male respondents had a people oriented leadership style; 81% of the female and 51% of the male respondents had a mentor when they were assistant principals; and 81% of the women and 45% of the male respondents had been sought out to be mentored. The study gives a detailed comparison between males and females in the areas of background information, career planning, leadership orientation, and mentoring experiences.
The impact of the study indicates that women need to have an earned doctorate in order to be in the pool of candidates for a secondary school principalship. The decision to become a secondary school principal needs to be made early in one's career so that he/she may pursue the appropriate administration program and to pursue relevant administrative positions, like dean, athletic/activity director, and/or assistant principal. An individual needs to be highly people oriented in order to be a successful candidate for the secondary school principalship. Probably the most important career moves, next to becoming an assistant principal, is for an individual to be mentored.
There are several limitations of the study, one of which was that there were only 16 women in the study, and it was completed with only secondary school principals in the collar counties of Chicago.
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