A narrative inquiry: Hispanic women in leadership

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Content HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 1

A NARRATIVE INQUIRY: HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP

by
Emma Marie Robles

A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

May 2019

Copyright 2019 Emma Marie Robles
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Tables 4
List of Figures 5
Abstract 6
Chapter One: Introduction 7
Background of the Problem 8
Statement of the Problem 9
Purpose of the Study 12
Significance of the Study 12
Theoretical Framework 13
Limitations and Delimitations 14
Limitations 14
Delimitations 14
Definition of Terms 14
Organization of the Study 15
Chapter Two: Literature Review 16
Hispanic Culture, Beliefs, and Values 17
Role Expectations of Hispanic Women 19
Obstacles When Breaking out of Role Expectations of Hispanic Women 22
Young Hispanic Female Beginnings 25
Changes in the Promotion of Female and Hispanic Leadership 30
Leadership 32
Theoretical Framework 33
Microsystem 34
Mesosystem 34
Exosystem 35
Macrosystem 35
Chronosystem 36
Chapter Three: Methodology 40
Sample Population 41
Instrumentation 44
Data Collection 45
Data Analysis 46
Theoretical Framework 47
Materials: Interview Questions 49
Thematic Coding 50
Summary 52
Chapter Four: Results 54
Results for Research Question 1 58
Theme One: Strong Parental Support 58
Theme Two: Experience with Discrimination Against Women 70
Theme Three: Experience with Discrimination Against Latinas or Hispanics 81
Theme Four: Importance of Having a Mentor 88
Results for Research Question 1a 99
Theme Five: Leadership Motivations 99
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 3
Theme Six: Teaching Motivation 106
Theme Seven: Promoting Female Leadership 113
Chapter Five: Conclusions and Discussion 126
References 131
Appendix A: Interview Script 140

HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 4
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: U.S. Population by Race and Ethnicity 2000 and 2010 (from Vega-Costas, 2010) 16
Table 2: Home/School Cultural and Value Conflicts for Hispanics (Ginorio & Huston, 2002) 30
Table 3: Interviews 43
Table 4: Ecological Systems Theory Theme Connections 46
Table 5: Interview Question Justification 55
Table 6: General Results of the Thematic Analysis 57
Table 7: Results of the Thematic Analysis with Strengths of Each Theme 57
Table 8: Theme One Results 58
Table 9: Theme Two Results 71
Table 10: Theme Three Results 82
Table 11: Theme Four Results 88
Table 12: Theme Five Results 99
Table 13: Theme Six Results 106
Table 14: Theme Seven Results 114

HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 5
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Theoretical Framework of Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems 39
Figure 2: Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory. 48
Figure 3: Conceptual Framework. 54

HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 6
ABSTRACT
Previous research suggests that Latinas face a host of obstacles that may impair their ability to
enter leadership positions and motivate them to pursue non-leadership positions. Culturally,
Latinas tend to be expected to fulfill domestic duties, eschewing opportunities to advance in their
careers into leadership positions. There is also evidence that women, in general, face a number of
obstacles in the ascendance to leadership positions. Fewer training opportunities and lower
expectations lead to women being promoted to leadership positions less often and to be
unprepared for leadership duties and obligations. These obstacles and relationships impacting
Latina and women in pursuing leadership positions have been found to hold in the field of
education as well. Yet, many Latina women overcome these obstacles and achieve leadership
positions in the field of education. The current study features an exploration of the narrative of
Latinas in leadership positions in the field of education. The intention behind the work is to
explicate and contextualize the narrative of the Latina leader in education. It is revealed, here,
that Latina leadership in education tend to have had strong familial and social support, relied on
strong mentors, and been heavily motivated by teaching and improving school systems.

HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 7
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
The United States Department of Labor and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2017) has
identified a total of 918,000 education administrators who were employed in 2017. Of these
administrators, 64.2 percent were women and 10.3 percent identified as Hispanic, suggesting that
the number of female administrators who identify as Hispanic is very low. Research indicates
that same-sex and same-race role models are significant factors for student achievement and
career success (Austin & Nauta, 2016; Egalit, Kisida, & Winters, 2015; Jagsi, Griffith, DeCastro,
& Ubel, 2014). Given the importance of same-sex and same-race role models, there is a clear
need to increase the proportion of Hispanic females in educational leadership positions to serve
as leadership role models for female students.
There may be an even greater need for Hispanic women, in particular, to have role
models in leadership positions. The current literature reveals that Latinas begin their professional
careers with greater obstacles than other professional women, as Latinas were found to have to
work harder to be recognized as leaders (Lopez-Mulnix, Wolverton, & Zaki, 2011). Since the
1960s, U.S. Latinas have acted as agents of change in the battle against racism, sexism, and class
inequality in society (Mancillas, 2010). Mancillas continues to explain that these women have
had the extra burden of addressing gender oppression central in the Hispanic culture, also
referred to as machismo, which refers to male chauvinism common to Hispanic cultures.
The current qualitative study will feature an investigation of how Hispanic women who
have accomplished the role of administrative leaders despite the gender expectations placed on
them and the incongruities they experienced.

HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 8
Background of the Problem
The 1960s and 1970s featured the first major efforts of Hispanic women to identify the
complexities of the Latina experience and the features of the Latina identity (Mendez-Morse,
2000). The term Hispanic describes people of Mexican, Cuban, Puerto Rican, Spanish, Central
American, or South American descent (Mendez-Morse, 2000). Hispanic women leaders of the
1960s and 1970s addressed issues that continue to face Latinas living in the United States today,
including reproductive freedom, workplace and pregnancy discrimination, equal pay, lack of
education, domestic violence, and oppression by churches (Mancillas, 2010). There are many
possible reasons why Hispanic females do not pursue educational leadership, but the one that
will be the focus of this study is the cultural norms and beliefs Hispanic families have of their
daughters. This presents a problem for the future of Hispanic education leaders since young
Hispanic females do not see women who look like them in the leadership roles. Young girls need
mentors to look up to, as they aspire to become like them as leaders.
In the field of education, there are many women who are teachers, instructional aides, and
office personnel, many of these women are Hispanic. However, there are relatively few women
in leadership roles who are Hispanic. How did the few Hispanic women who are in educational
leadership roles get to that point in their career? Young Hispanic females need to understand the
lived experiences of these women and the strategies they used to obtain their leadership roles.
A primary target of the current research is to develop a better understanding of why there
are so few Hispanic women in educational leadership. The small number of Hispanic women in
leadership can be a problem for schools with a high percentage of Hispanic students. Schools
strive to have students who achieve at standard or above on state tests. If the young Hispanic
females attending school do not establish relationships with people who can mentor them and do
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 9
not see a curriculum that they can relate to then how can our young Hispanic female students be
engaged in their education with a goal of pursuing a leadership role. Education is a powerful tool
for any young student, but more importantly for young Hispanic females. Education will give
them a foundation to pursue leadership roles and go beyond the familial expectations the
Hispanic culture has for them.
A common cultural characteristic of Hispanics and Mexicans, in particular, is an attitude
of working hard and the possibility of achievement if one sets one’s mind to it (Lopez-Mulnix,
Wolverton, & Zaki, 2011). If young Hispanic females hear the stories of the participants in this
study, there is a possibility they would set their minds to pursuing leadership roles in education.
In fact, there is evidence that the mere recognition of opportunities and viewing the success of
others can be a motivating factor (Dahlin, Chuang, & Roulet, 2018). Thus, increasing the
awareness and recognition of successful Hispanic females in leadership positions in education
may be sufficient to increase the perception of opportunity in the field for Hispanic females and
encourage young Hispanic females to at least consider the possibility of such a pursuit.
Statement of the Problem
It is widely acknowledged that leadership is not an inherent characteristic but rather a set
of skills that can be developed and nurtured over time (Archard, 2013). Throughout time,
stereotypes regarding women and men have permeated society, creating many obstacles for
women, especially in the professional world (Coyne & Stufft, 2009). Words like nurturing,
compassionate, emotional, expressive, communal, passive, uncertain, subjective and supportive
have historically been used to describe women; words like intelligent, powerful, competent,
objective, independent, methodical and driven have typically been reserved to describe men
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 10
(Stufft & Coyne, 2009). In education, women are perceived as being better teachers than leaders
(Stufft & Coyne, 2009).
One of the major obstacles facing young Hispanic women is that they are often not
prepared for leadership positions and are not educated and trained in leadership (Rhode, 2017).
The notion of a natural leader has largely been debunked (Callero, 2017). Instead, leadership is
developed through a combination of education, training, and experience development. As a
result, those segments of the population that receive more leadership education, training, and
experience will not only be more likely to succeed in leadership positions but will also be more
likely to pursue such positions. In fact, research indicates that women and in particular racial
minority women are more likely to pursue leadership positions when they have received strong
leadership education mentoring and training (Robinson, Shakeshaft, Grogan, & Newcomb,
2017). The disadvantages and hardships faced by minority women in pursuing leadership
education and training are reflected in the career decisions of such women in the field of
education. Robinson et al. (2017) found that the “growing proportion of women in the
superintendency traces an arc toward equality of opportunity similar to that of other previously
underrepresented and underserved groups for example, children with special needs, children
whose language of origin is not English, children from low-income families, and indeed, children
from non-Caucasian families” (p. 21). Robinson et al. (2017) argues, then, that there are not only
increasing opportunities for women to assume leadership positions such as superintendent
positions in education, but also that recent increases, even if slight, in the participation of women
in such positions suggests more equitable opportunities for women in the field of education. The
importance of Hispanic women receiving adequate leadership education and training is, thus,
quite high.
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 11
Historically, Latinas have faced several forms of oppression-racism, sexism, and cultural
traditions that encourage passivity, submissiveness, and silence (Mancillas, 2010). Due to the
intersection of race, class, gender, ethnicity, and culture, Latinas have suffered varying degrees
of domination and social inequality (Mancillas, 2010). In his 2003 study, Galanti reported that
Mexican female students he interviewed said their grandmothers, who spent most or all of their
lives in Mexico, told them that the husband was the boss and that it was the wife’s duty was to
obey him (Galanti, 2003). The findings of this study hold that the role of the traditional Hispanic
woman continues to be focused on domestic responsibilities and family management from a
subservient position. Her job is to cook, clean, and care for the children. A good wife should be
submissive and take orders from her husband. She should not question him but rather should
stand behind whatever he decides, even if she disagrees. She must also be tolerant of his
behavior.
The Hispanic culture with its defined roles for females contributes to the paucity of
female Hispanic leaders in education. The continued pressures for Hispanic women to fulfill
domestic obligations from subservient positions create barriers for Hispanic women entering
leadership positions. Young Hispanic girls role play being a mother, raising children with dolls,
and pretending to be a teacher. It is assumed Hispanic girls do not go beyond being a teacher and
pursue leadership roles in education. Therefore, this study seeks to identify the strategies that
current Hispanic educational leaders have used to address and remove obstacles to their
leadership status. How have they overcome the traditional role expectations that may conflict
with leadership to meet their dreams and goals? How can they become a role model for future
leaders to move into roles beyond that of an instructional aide, office worker, and teacher if they
wish to?
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 12
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this qualitative study is to discover the level of incongruity current and
past Hispanic female educational leaders experienced while pursuing a leadership role. The
objective of the study is to identify strategies they can model to support young Hispanic females
toward achieving leadership roles in education. Therefore, this study is guided by the following
research questions:
1. To what degree have Hispanic women experienced cultural and gender role incongruity
when pursuing educational leadership positions?
1a. What personal and educational experiences have helped to support their professional
trajectory?
Significance of the Study
The importance of this study is to examine and understand how Hispanic women
obtained their leadership role. It is also important to understand what incongruities were
experienced and overcome to be in a leadership position and how their education supported them
in their role. Solorzano et al. (2005) found that of hundred Hispanic females attending
elementary school, only a little more than half graduated from high school, and only about ten
graduated from college, and less than one of the original one hundred completed a doctoral
degree. This information suggests that it is very important to support and encourage young
Hispanic females’ goals of seeking higher education in pursuit of educational leadership roles; a
goal that requires them to face many cultural obstacles. By interviewing Hispanic female
educational leaders and exploring their lived experiences, young Hispanic females reading these
findings may learn strategies they can use to meet their goals of becoming leaders. Findings from
this study are intended to provide both the leadership opportunities and perception of leadership
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 13
opportunities in young Hispanic females. Such opportunities will include hope, education, and
skill-development and provide a foundation for young Hispanic females to overcome obstacles
and barriers that they may recognize as hindering their progress towards leadership positions.
Demonstrations of perseverance and learning from those who have succeeded may serve as
lessons from same-sex, same-race role models. This approach will target the problems of young
Hispanic women have with the perception that they have few opportunities to ascend to
leadership positions, given the dearth of same-sex, same-race role models in leadership positions.
Theoretical Framework
This study uses Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory and bioecological theory to
understand the human development of the participants. Bronfenbrenner (1994) argues that in
order to understand human development, one must consider the entire ecological system in
which growth occurs. The system is composed of five socially organized subsystems that help
support and guide human growth. They range from the microsystem, which refers to the
relationship between a developing person and the immediate environment, such as school and
family, to the chronosystem, which responds to events over time. The five components of the
ecological theory are microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem.
Bronfenbrenner described a theory of human development. From the beginning of life,
the developing individual was consistently viewed as influencing, and being influenced by, the
environment (Rosa & Tudge, 2013). The family thus plays a key role: it does so as a
microsystem context in which development occurs. It does so in terms of the personal
characteristics which evolve in each individual in the family. Most important, it does so in terms
of the interactions among family members as part of proximal processes (Rosa & Tudge, 2013),
which results in a wide range of actions and interactions.
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 14
Limitations and Delimitations
Limitations
Possible limitations can include time to cover all interview questions. The researcher will
conduct interviews with the participants in their workplace. The roles of some of the participants
are high level and may need to step away from the interview to deal with a situation at the time.
Delimitations
This study is limited to Hispanic female administrative educational leaders in Southern
California. The researcher will interview Hispanic females who currently hold an administrative
leadership role in elementary education as an elementary principal, director, or superintendent.
The study will be limited to interviews and biographical data the participants have agreed upon.
The researcher is the sole person collecting data from the participants.
Definition of Terms
Administrator: A person who manages or has a talent for managing.
Chicano: The term Chicano is normally used to refer to someone born in the United
States to Mexican parents or grandparents.
Hispanic: In the United States, the term Hispanic is most commonly used to refer to
someone from Latin American (Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and
Central and South America).
Latino/a: Latino/Latina refers to someone from a Latin country once under the control of
Roman rule (Spain, Italy, France, Portugal, and Brazil). This term will be used interchangeably
with its synonym Hispanic.
Leader: In this study, a leader is used to describe a Hispanic female currently in an
administrative educational leadership role in elementary education.
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 15
Machismo: In this study, machismo refers to a strong or exaggerated sense of manliness;
a strong or exaggerated sense of power or the right to dominate.
Marianismo: In this study, marianismo is the belief that women should be religious,
giving, and attentive to the needs of their household.
Organization of the Study
This study will be organized into five chapters exploring the incongruities Hispanic
females experienced in their lifetime while achieving an educational leadership role in
elementary education. Data from in-depth interviews with Hispanic educational leaders were
collected and analyzed for this study.
Chapter One describes the background of the problem, statement of the problem, and the
purpose of the study. Chapter One will also give limitations and delimitations of study and
include a definition of terms discussed in the study. Chapter 2 will include a review of the
pertinent literature to support the investigation of research questions chosen for the study.
Chapter 2 will also include the presentation of theories to guide the researcher in answering the
research questions proposed. Chapter 3 will include the methods used to answer the research
questions and provide sampling methods and population description. It will also consist of the
theoretical framework used to guide the research. Chapter 4 will consist of the data collected
from the interviews of the participants and an analysis of the data collected. It will also relate the
findings to the research questions and literature review. It will include quotations from
interviews conducted that will answer the research questions proposed. Chapter 5 will consist of
the conclusions of the study and a summary of the findings of this qualitative research study.

HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 16
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
By the year 2023, the Hispanic enrollment is expected to increase to 30% of the total
school population (pre-K through 12) in the United States (Allison & Bencomo, 2015). It is
estimated that one in four Americans will be Hispanic by mid-century, twice the current ratio
(MacDonald, 2016). In states such as California and Texas, Hispanics will be the majorities
(MacDonald, 2016).
Table 1
U.S. Population by Race and Ethnicity 2000 and 2010 (from Vega-Costas, 2010)
Race and Ethnicity 2000 2010
Hispanic 35,306 50,478
White 194,553 196,818
Black 33,948 37,686
Asian 10,123 14,465
American Indian or Alaskan Native 2,069 2,247
Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander 354 482
Other Race 468 604
Multiple Races 4,602 5,966

Chapter Two begins with an exploration of how the gender roles play a part in shaping
the attitudes and perspectives of young Hispanic females. The chapter will also discuss how
young Hispanic females’ interactions with family and friends impact the way they think in regard
to their education. Examples of some of the perspectives of young Hispanic women that are
expressed through their ideas include the notion that “A leader is any person of great spirit and
heart” (Salmond & Fleshman, 2010) and the idea that “You don’t have to be a leader of a group.
You don’t have to be a leader of an organization. You don’t have to be a leader of a class. It’s
just personally within yourself, like knowing that you’re independent, knowing that you can
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 17
make the right decision. You can be a leader for yourself” (Salmond & Fleshman, 2010). These
quotes are from female Hispanic students in elementary school.
Hispanic Culture, Beliefs, and Values
The most powerful Hispanic family value—the tight-knit extended family (MacDonald,
2006). Hispanic families have close family ties with their extended families. The traditional
Hispanic family is patriarchal. The father usually has final say in making decisions and the father
is traditionally the sole provider for the household. Familism, the concept of family, is central in
the Hispanic community and extends beyond the nuclear family to include grandparents, aunts,
uncles, and cousins; friends and neighbors; and organizations that are important to the
community, such as churches (Clark, 2017). Familism has three main aspects: family
obligations; support and emotional closeness; and family as referent, or the need to live up to
family expectations (Clark, 2017). Elderly grandparents sometimes live with the family, and
there is frequent visiting among family members and all life events are viewed as occasions to
gather and celebrate (Clark, 2017).
The traditional Hispanic family is patriarchal. The father usually has final say in making
decisions and the father is traditionally the sole provider for the household. The father occupies a
position of respect and authority (Clark, 2017). The traditional view of manhood is strongly
influenced my machismo, which defines as the belief that men should be strong, brave and
honorable; they should also protect and provide for the families (Clark, 2017). Machismo is a
term commonly associated with Hispanic men and it can have both positive and negative
associations (Galanti, 2003). A man’s identity in traditional Mexican American culture is deeply
embedded within the values of machismo (Sobralske, 2005). Machismo places men over women
and gives males rights and privileges denied to women, such as independence and authority
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 18
(Clark, 2017). On the positive side, it dictates that men are expected to behave valiantly to
protect the honor and welfare of their families. A man with machismo is one with a strong work
ethic, who is a good provider, and who lives up to his responsibilities (Galanti, 2003). The ideals
of tradition command that men are supposed to be proud, brave, courageous, devoted, loyal,
honorable, the head of the family, the unquestioned authority figure, the authoritative caring
parent, and the leader and protector of their families (Sobralske, 2005). On the negative side, a
man with machismo can also refer to someone who is a heavy drinker and can hold his alcohol,
traits that are both socially acceptable and proof of manhood (Galanti, 2003). Also related to this
view of men is the notion that the men are the boss and the head of the family. Gender roles in
traditional Hispanic cultures are clearly defined and differ by sex, with authority typically give to
males (Phinney & Flores, 2002). Males hold the dominant positions in the husband/wife
relationship and they strive to maintain respect and the perception that they are stronger, more
reliable, and more intelligent than females (Phinney & Flores, 2002). From an early age, males
are granted more freedom than females while Hispanic women, on the other hand, are
encouraged to adhere to their submissive role (Phinney & Flores, 2002). They are expected to
assume responsibility for housework and childcare, this pattern of sex role differentiation is
typical of hierarchical cultures that emphasize family interdependence over the individualism
typical of the United States (Phinney & Flores, 2002).
Social support from family is of great importance in Mexican-origin families, including
those residing in colonias (communities that are underserved residing along the US-Mexico
border) (Allen, Meyer, & Sharkey, 2016). Both United States-born and immigrant Hispanics’
perceptions of support from family is considerably greater than that of non-Hispanic Whites
(Allen, Meyer, & Sharkey, 2016). This is of integral importance when considering that Hispanic
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 19
parents influence their children through role modeling, family interactions, and meals cooked in
the home, generally by the mother (Allen, Meyer, & Sharkey, 2016).
Role Expectations of Hispanic Women
It is widely acknowledged that leadership is not an inherent characteristic but rather a set
of skills that can be developed and nurtured over time (Archard, 2013). Throughout time,
stereotypes regarding women and men have permeated society, creating many obstacles for
women, especially in the professional world (Coyne & Stufft, 2009). Words like nurturing,
compassionate, emotional, expressive, communal, passive, uncertain, subjective and supportive
have historically been used to describe women; words like intelligent, powerful, competent,
objective, independent, methodical and driven have typically been reserved to describe men
(Stufft & Coyne, 2009). Women traditionally have easily entered roles that are considered
suitable to feminine stereotypes (e.g., in education), such as those that involve caring or giving
support, or that put emphasis on human interactions (Garcia-Retamero & Lopez-Zafra, 2006).
Through various means, a stereotype of Hispanic women has formed and focused on three
general areas: relations with men, the prevalence of domestic roles and responsibilities, and
subsequently, limitations for work outside of the home and education (Mendez-Morse, 2000).
Currently, the Latino population is the largest minority group in the United States and
accounts for more than half of the overall population growth in the nation (Mancillas, 2010).
Since the 1960s, U.S. Latinas have acted as agents of change in the battle against racism, sexism,
and class inequality in society (Mancillas, 2010). Yes, these women have had the extra burden of
fighting against gender oppression central in the Hispanic culture, also referred to as machismo
(Hispanic male chauvinism) (Mancillas, 2010). Historically, Latinas have faced several forms of
oppression-racism, sexism, and cultural traditions that encourage passivity, submissiveness, and
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 20
silence (Mancillas, 2010). Due to the intersection of race, class, gender, ethnicity, and culture,
Latinas have suffered varying degrees of domination and social inequality (Mancillas, 2010).
Latinas responded to critics by contending that chauvinistic adherence to preserving la familia
and “cultural heritage” was no more than maintaining the age-old concept of keeping the woman
barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen (Mancillas, 2010). For Latinas, religious oppression came
in the form of traditional gender roles that glorified motherhood and kept women in the home
rearing numerous children (Mancillas, 2010). One value is familismo, an emphasis on family
relationships and a strong value placed on childbearing as an integral part of family life and the
feminine gender role (Raffaelli & Ontai, 2004). Another value is respeto, which refers to an
emphasis on respect and hierarchy in social relationships (Raffaelli & Ontai, 2004). The
idealized traditional feminine gender role involves being submissive, chase, and dependent,
whereas the masculine gender role involves being dominant, virile, and independent (Raffaelli &
Ontai, 2004). They are expected to exhibit valor, dignity, self-confidence, and a high degree of
individuality outside the family and be knowledgeable regarding sexual matters (Sobralske,
2005). Masculine values, attitudes, and behaviors are mostly acquired through socialization and
modeling (Sobralske, 2005). Some scholars have criticized this depiction of traditional gender
roles as stereotypical and invalid; however, there is empirical support for the notion that
traditional values regulate the sexual behavior of many Latinos/as (Raffaelli & Ontai, 2004).
Gender stereotypes aside, women are equally as capable of being effective leaders as their male
counterparts (Stufft & Coyne, 2009).
In fact, there is evidence that female leadership can have a greater positive impact on an
organization than male leadership. Post (2015) investigated the situations in which women
leaders may serve as a competitive advantage for organizations and as major benefits for teams,
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 21
especially when compared to comparable male leadership. The researcher found that teams with
female leadership tend to have high levels of team cohesion (Post, 2015). Thus, teams and
organizations that require high levels of cohesion can benefit from female leadership. Similarly,
female leadership was found to be more strongly associated with cooperative learning and
participatory communication (Post, 2015). These characteristics allow for more vertical
communication between team members. The findings of Post (2015), then, provide substantial
evidence that female leaders can, indeed, be as effective as their male counterparts and even tend
to have certain significant advantages over male leaders.
Mothers in Hispanic culture are caregivers (Clark, 2017). Motherhood is highly valued,
and families expect women to care for children as well as elderly family members (Clark, 2017).
Given the centrality of the family in many Latino cultures, it is unsurprising that many families
emphasize or highly esteem traditional roles for women as wives and mothers (Ginorio &
Huston, 2002). For example, among Puerto Ricans with lower socioeconomic status (SES),
gender roles for women are extremely restrictive; many traditional adults question the value of
any education for women (Ginorio & Huston, 2002). Mothers may make the day-to-day
decisions, but fathers make or must be consulted for important decisions (Galanti, 2003). Given
the responsibility for the day-to-day raising of children, many Hispanic women may prefer
smaller families; however, their husbands often oppose limiting family size because having a lot
of children is seen as proof of their machismo (Galanti, 2003). Traditionally, the most important
jobs of Hispanic women are wife and mother (Galanti, 2003). Marianismo is the female version
of machismo; marianismo is the belief that women should be religious, giving and attentive to
the needs of their household (Clark, 2017). While most Hispanic women work outside the home,
they still must fulfill their traditional role (Clark, 2017). The role of the Hispanic woman is to
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 22
nurture while the father is the main disciplinarian (Clark, 2017). Clark (2017) continues to say
Hispanics traditionally put the role of parenthood over the roles of wife and husband, and
children are central to the Hispanic family.
Obstacles When Breaking out of Role Expectations of Hispanic Women
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reports that 30,000 cases of sex
discrimination in the last five years were settled or decided in favor of the person who filed the
charge, but blatant sex discriminations is not the only barrier; hostile work environments,
negative stereotypes about women in leadership, and bias also keeps women out of the top spots
(Hill, 2018).
The greatest single barrier to leadership is low self-regard of skills and qualities
(Salmond & Fleshman, 2010). A comparison of importance and self-assessment ratings reveals a
prominent gap between the two, for instance, while 64% of girls say “taking charge” is a very
important skill for leadership, only 24% think it is a skill that they possess (Salmond &
Fleshman, 2010). One key obstacle to women’s leadership is unconscious or implicit bias, which
can cloud judgement in ways people are not fully aware of (Hill, 2018). Another barrier is
negative peer involvement (Salmond & Fleshman, 2010). Fully one-third of girls who do not
want to be leaders attribute their lack of motivation to things like fear of being laughed at or
making people mad at them (Salmond & Fleshman, 2010). More than one-third of all girls (39%)
report having been discouraged or put down, usually by peers and classmates, when they were
trying to lead (Salmond & Fleshman, 2010). These barriers suggest that some girls still struggle
with the unwritten rules of what it means to be “feminine” and exhibiting stereotypically
“female” behaviors like being nice, quiet, agreeable, and like by all (Salmond & Fleshman,
2010).
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 23
Societal expectations continue to hold women responsible for family issues while being
expected to adopt the male working precedent (Newcomb, Beaty, Sanzo, & Hawkins, 2013).
Women faculty are less likely to have children, compared to women in other professions, and
regardless of tenure status, women are twice as likely to be single than their male counterparts
and twice as likely to be childless (Newcomb et al., 2013). Women with aspirations to leadership
positions as principals or superintendents in the U.S. are aware of the contextual problems they
face with regard to entrenched gender stereotypes around leadership, and traditional career paths
to obtaining it (Sperandio, 2015). Leadership is viewed as unfeminine, which puts women in the
unfortunate position of neglecting their natural feminine role expectations to foster their
leadership role expectations. And when women do arrive in leadership positions, particularly in
male-dominated areas, they tend to be judged more harshly than their male counterparts (Stufft
& Coyne, 2009). While many female applicants actively pursue administrative positions, data
indicates that male applicants are commonly chosen (Stufft & Coyne, 2009). It can be speculated
that this phenomenon might be attributed to men’s stereotypical innate ability to be strong,
powerful and intelligent, which drives them to want to be in charge, to want to be the almighty
decision-maker (Stufft & Coyne, 2009). Consequently, men, according to limited social
perceptions, naturally seem to fit the mold of educational leader, “Teaching is a good job for
women but a career with prospects for men.” (Stufft & Coyne, 2009). Although men may fit the
stereotypical role of leader, it is forgotten that women are just as capable (Stufft & Coyne, 2009).
Women of all backgrounds manage households, raise children, and quite often maintain status as
full-time employees (Stufft & Coyne, 2009).
For Latina educational leaders, some circumstances have changed, but many others
remain the same. Many Latina educators still contend with gender stereotypes and face questions
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 24
about their abilities and qualifications to fulfill their professional roles (Mendez-Morse,
Murakami, Byrne-Jimenez, & Hernandez, 2015). Young Hispanic females are not receiving the
knowledge to move past the expectations their family and/or friends instill in them as adults.
While there are now more Hispanic women in educational leadership positions; such women still
face incongruities on their journey to their educational leadership positions. A common obstacle
to women in educational leadership positions is the issue of having to be primarily responsible
for both maintaining the household or family needs as well as being the leaders of a school
(Mendez-Morse, et. al., 2015). Although generally there are some markers of demographic
changes in the educational administrative ranks, such as increased numbers of women
elementary school principals, females as high school principals are a rarity (Mendez-Morse, et.
al., 2015).
Latina educational leaders continue to face gender stereotypes as well as racial or ethnic
bias if not outright discrimination or belligerence (Mendez-Morse, et. al., 2015). Contrary to
stereotypes of Latinas as male-dominated and mainly family- and home-focused women, Latinas
serve in educational leadership roles in positions ranging from the local campus level to national
levels (Mendez-Morse, et. al., 2015). Research on women as educational administrators indicates
that even though women are obtaining more access to education than in previous generations and
are more independent economically and politically, they continue to serve in low numbers when
it comes to leadership positions, not only the principal position but the superintendent position as
well (Mendez-Morse, et. al., 2015). Hispanic women in the public school superintendency are
three times a minority as they encounter the challenges of navigating a position that is very
political, yet isolated from the organization (Quilantan & Menchaca-Ochoa, 2004).
Consequently, the superintendency can be attained through extensive networking in a community
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 25
when the ethnicity of the leader and the community are similar – both influenced by similar
culture and life experiences (Quilantan & Menchaca-Ochoa, 2004). Differences between
minority and nonminority women administrators include the fact that many minority female
educational leaders lack sponsorship or mentors, are largely leaders of predominantly minority
students campuses or districts, and contend with the double burden of ethnic or racial as well as
gender stereotyping (Mendez-Morse, et. al., 2015).
Young Hispanic Female Beginnings
A Latina will form the first images of who she can be and what should be considered
realistic and rewarding options for her future self within her family of origin (Ginorio & Huston,
2002). Most Latina parents value education and encourage their children to do well in school
(Ginorio & Huston, 2002). Academic success is seen as the ticket to a better life for both the
child and the entire family, especially in a context where the American Dream is a powerful
incentive for immigration and heavily promoted in the school and popular culture, however, this
desire for academic achievement must be embedded within other cultural values (Ginorio &
Huston, 2002). Middle school and high school girls indicate a desire to graduate from college,
though they tend not to expect to graduate from college (Unmuth, 2012).
By the year 2023, the number of Hispanic students is predicted to increase to 30% of the
total school population across all regions of the country, creating challenges for teachers,
communities, and society who must accommodate their needs (Allison & Bencomo, 2015). In
education, women are perceived as being better teachers than leaders (Stufft & Coyne, 2009).
According to the United States Department of Labor and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2017),
there were a total of 918,000 education administrators employed in 2017. Of the 918,000
education administrators, 64.2 percent were women. Of the 918,000 education administrators,
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 26
10.3 percent were Hispanic. Of the 10.3 percent of Hispanic education administrators the number
of female is unknown.
There is no lack of qualified women to fill leadership roles (Hill, 2018). Women earn the
majority of university degrees at every level except for professional degrees, and more women
are in the workforce today than ever before (Hill, 2018). Exposing adolescent girls to leadership
and providing them with opportunities to both learn and develop their leadership skills will be an
important step in preparing girls for future leadership roles (Archard, 2013). Today, most little
Hispanic girls dream of what they want to be when they grow up, but the family puts an
expectation of the girls to be a certain way when they grow up. Even at a young age, girls and
boys have well-formed ideas about what it means to be a leader (Salmond & Fleshman, 2010). In
focus groups around the country, the top-of-mind definition of leadership was in terms of
authority exercised through power and control (Salmond & Fleshman, 2010). However, youth
find this traditional definition of leadership the least appealing or aspirational (Salmond &
Fleshman, 2010). Their preferred definitions of leadership imply personal principles, ethical
behavior, and the ability to effect social change (Salmond & Fleshman, 2010).
The results of an online survey show that 69% of youth define a leader as someone who
“brings people together to get things done” and 62% define a leader is someone who “stands up
for his or her beliefs and values” (Salmond & Fleshman, 2010). When asked what kind of leader
they would want to be, both girls and boys express the aspiration to be someone who stand up for
her or his beliefs, brings people together to get things done, and tries to change the world for the
better, although girls feel these sentiments more strongly than do boys (Salmond & Fleshman,
2010). Youth have a variety of motivations to be leaders (Salmond & Fleshman, 2010). Girls are
more likely than boys to want to be leaders because they want to help other people (67% vs.
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 27
53%), share their knowledge and skills with others (53% vs. 45%), and change the world for the
better (45% vs. 31%) (Salmond & Fleshman, 2010). Boys are more likely than girls to be
motivated by the desire to be their own boss (38% vs. 33%), make more money (33% vs. 26%),
and have more power (22% vs. 14%) (Salmond & Fleshman, 2010).
Other factors related to leadership are support systems of people and environments
(Salmond & Fleshman, 2010). The influence of family, particularly mothers, on youth’s
leadership goals and aspirations cannot be overstated (Salmond & Fleshman, 2010). Eighty-one
percent of girls say their mothers have influenced their leadership decision (Salmond &
Fleshman, 2010). Additional influential actors in girls’ lives include teachers, coaches, and
religious leaders (Salmond & Fleshman, 2010). Friends and classmates play an important role for
all youth and teens, but particularly for adolescent girls, they can serve as positive and negative
role models in terms of their leadership aspirations and efforts (Salmond & Fleshman, 2010).
Before taking on the task of preparing adolescent girls for leadership, it is important to
first ask why such preparations are necessary (Archard, 2013). Young girls, especially young
Hispanic girls need to be exposed to leadership opportunities in order for them to break the cycle
of gender role expectations. Most Hispanic girls face the gender role expectation from family
and friends, so young Hispanic girls need a different environment where leadership and the purse
of education is front and center. Latinas may be expected to take on additional duties as
caregivers, such as helping to watch younger children or aid elderly family members; they may
be expected to live with their parents until they are married, making it difficult to leave home to
go away to college (Unmuth, 2012). In addition, young Hispanic females need to have role
models and mentors that can guide them to pursue education as an important part of their path to
leadership. Role models are individuals who provide an example of the kind of success that one
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 28
may achieve, and often also provide a template of the behaviors that are needed to achieve such
success (Lockwood, 2006). By identifying with a role model, individuals can become inspired to
pursue similar achievements (Lockwood, 2006). Exposing adolescent girls to leadership and
providing them with opportunities to both learn and develop their leadership skills will be an
important step in preparing girls for future leadership roles (Archard, 2013).
The current imbalance of male and female leaders in society indicates that more must be
done to ensure that young women assume these positions in the future (Archard, 2013). This is
not to say that girls need greater leadership development than boys. Rather, due to the gender
imbalance of leaders in the workplace and the social and cultural assumptions about women as
leaders (Archard, 2013). Girls must overcome greater barriers in their pursuit of leadership
positions and thus they need to be adequately prepared for these challenges (Archard, 2013).
Since schooling is an experience shared by most girls, educational settings seem the opportune
place for both assessing and implementing leadership preparation and, as a consequence, the
wider social issue of gender inequity may be addressed (Archard, 2013). Young Latinas face a
host of challenges when pursuing education, such as working to graduate from high school, go
on to community college, and then enroll in a four-year institution (Unmuth, 2012). Young
Latinas also face cultural, economic, and educational barriers to finishing high school and
entering and completing college (Unmuth, 2012). According to a Pew Hispanic Center analysis
of 2011 census survey data, about 17 percent of Hispanic females ages 25 to 29 have at least a
bachelor’s degree, compared with about 10 percent of Hispanic males, 43 percent of white
females, and 23 percent of black females in that age span (Unmuth, 2012). Family loyalty can
cause Hispanic girls to choose less-competitive colleges than they are qualified to attend so they
can keep living with their parents (Unmuth, 2012).
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 29
Some studies find that adolescent girls report more closeness and attachment to their
relationships with parents than boys do, as well as a greater willingness to initiate conversations
with them (Riegle-Crumb, 2009). Within the walls of school, there is also evidence suggesting
that girls are more likely than boys to forge close ties with teachers and staff, possibly as a result
of their greater tendency to ask questions and work to meet and exceed school rules and
expectations (Riegle-Crumb, 2009). These relationships form possible conduits through which
students can receive both concrete information and guidance, as well as access fewer tangible
resources like emotional and psychological support (Riegle-Crumb, 2009). Previous studies
confirm that Hispanic girls rely more on their friends for academic support than do their male co-
ethnic peers, and that they are similarly more likely to have strong relationships with parents as
well as tighter connections with school personnel (Riegle-Crumb, 2009). Other studies indicate
that Hispanic youth are less likely to have academically productive and encouraging interactions
with school personnel due to several factors, including language and cultural barriers, as well as
more subtle form of racism or patronization that comes with the damning of faint expectations
(Riegle-Crumb, 2009). While many Hispanic female students report having caring relationships
with teachers, nevertheless these relationships did not focus on academic development or college
opportunities (Riegle-Crumb, 2009). For Hispanic women, mentorship and sponsored mobility
create more opportunities; role models, especially same-sex one, become significant in the
formation of expectations (Quilantan & Menchaca-Ochoa, 2004).

HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 30
Table 2
Home/School Cultural and Value Conflicts for Hispanics (Ginorio & Huston, 2002)
Home School
Nurtures dependency Values independence
Children loved and enjoyed Teacher is seen as distant or cold
Nurtures cooperation Values competition
Authoritarian style Democratic style
Low-income children usually do not have
preschool experiences
Expects preschool experiences
Low-income families are forced to value daily
survival more than the educational needs of
their children
Expects parents to value education above other
values
Girls do not need to be educated as much as
boys
Both sexes should be educated equally
Admonishes immodesty in girls Physical education requires changing in front
of others
Promotes ignorance of sexual matters Advocates sex education
Achievement is for family satisfaction Achievement is for self-satisfaction
Nonsegregated age groups Segregated age groups
Machismo for boys Less sexually typed male ideal
Marianismo for girls Less sexually typed female ideal
Some low-income families do not see the
connection between school related behaviors,
such as daily school attendance, and doing well
in school
School assumes that families know the types of
child and family behaviors that lead to good
school performance

Changes in the Promotion of Female and Hispanic Leadership
When race is placed at the center of the discourse – in this particular case, the field of
educational leadership – the human experience will be grounded in the realities of lived
experiences, which tend to include elements of racism (Alston, 2012). Subjective experiences
tend to feature the open acknowledgement of the perceptions of truth, fairness, and justice
reflected in the mindset, status, and experience of the knower (Alston, 2012).
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 31
There is a plethora of recent and pending legislation and regulations that are intended to
promote the development of women leaders and increases in the opportunities of women leaders
through pay equity, family support, and salary transparency (Hill, 2018). Despite more than 20
years of legislative and educational change, women are still underrepresented in leadership
positions compared to men (Archard, 2013). Reasons for this disparity include the lack of
acceptance of women leadership style and gender stereotypes that place women outside the
leadership role (Archard, 2013). However, the influence of stereotypes and the lack of
acceptance of women’s leadership style are the result of a much larger phenomenon; that being
long-held social and cultural assumptions regarding the different abilities and roles of men and
women (Archard, 2013). Therefore, in order to combat these misconceptions, a concerted effort
is required to develop girls for leadership so they can challenge these ideas and be provided
additional opportunities for leadership advancement (Archard, 2013). Latinas constitute one of
the fastest-growing segments of our population with 13 percent of the total female population
and 21 percent of the under-five-years-old group, all of whom need role models (Lopez-Mulnix,
Wolverton, & Zaki, 2011) On average, minority and majority youth differ greatly with regard to
educational opportunities and attainment; it likely follows that minority females endure different
obstacles and employ different strategies in their path to college than their white female peers
(Riegle-Crumb, 2009).
Hispanics are the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States and have increased in
number by 267% over the past three decades (Riegle-Crumb, 2009). Similarly, Hispanics now
comprise a much greater share of K-12 students (Riegle-Crumb, 2009). Previous research has
shown that enrollment in college is related to the resources that young people can access through
their relationships with others, such as parents, teachers, school staff, and peers (Riegle-Crumb,
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 32
2009). Such relationships have the potential to increase college matriculation in a myriad of
ways, including providing psychological encouragement, emotional support, academic
assistance, and relevant information and guidance in the college application process (Riegle-
Crumb, 2009). This research applied Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory as a theoretical
framework. In the research of the five environmental systems, three match the research on how
relationships with the direct environment of the child can and will impact their educational path
the microsystem: the mesosystem, and the exosystem. The microsystem comprises the daily
home, school or daycare, peer group or community environment of the child (Kounin, 2010).
Interactions within the microsystem typically involve personal relationships with family
members, classmates, teachers, and caregivers, in which influences go back and forth (U.S.
Sports Academy, 2016). How these groups or individual interact with the child will affect how
the child grows (U.S. Sports Academy, 2016). Similarly, how the child reacts to people in his
microsystem will also influence how they treat the child in return. More nurturing and more
supportive interactions and relationships will understandably foster the child’s improved
development.
Leadership
Women in industrialized societies want the same opportunities given to men to attain any
position, including leadership roles (Garcia-Retamero & Lopez-Zafra, 2006). Although women
have gained increased access to supervisory and middle management positions, they remain
quite rare as elite leaders and top executives (Eagly & Karau, 2002).

HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 33
Theoretical Framework
In a narrative inquiry study on understanding how the Hispanic females became leaders,
it is important to utilize a theoretical framework that incorporates a perspective of the different
environments within a child’s life that ultimately play a role in the adult one becomes. As a lens
to examine the incongruities the Hispanic females faced, this study will utilize Bronfenbrenner’s
Ecological Systems theory (1986). This theory is one that focuses on the child’s development
within the context of relationships that form the environment of that particular child. According
to Bronfenbrenner, the composition of the systems can help or hinder appropriate development.
Utilizing this framework, allows for the researcher to examine the environments and
relationships in one’s life and the development of self.
Bronfenbrenner (1994) argues that in order to understand human development, one must
consider the entire ecological system in which growth occurs. The system is composed of five
socially organized subsystems that help support and guide human growth. They range from the
microsystem, which refers to the relationship between a developing person and the immediate
environment, such as school and family, to the chronosystem, which refers to events over time.
In his theory, direct and indirect influences on the subsystems are defined and examined.
Ecological Systems Theory offers a lens to examine the interrelations between the individual and
her/ his environment. The systems are: 1) microsystem, 2) mesosystem, 3) exosystem, 4)
macrosystem, and 5) chronosystem. This model is useful in visualizing the different systems
within an individual’s environment. Additionally, it shows how the interactions within each
system integrate with one another. Bronfenbrenner’s theory will be utilized as a framework to
investigate the different environments that can ultimately affect the child in the center. Because
there are multiple levels of influences on the developmental outcome of mixed citizenship status
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 34
families, understanding the interrelationships between the individual and their surrounding
environments is important.
Microsystem
The microsystem is closest to the child. This system is the one that is made up of the
most direct relationships with the child. Microsystem consists of the interpersonal interactions in
an individual's life. Feinstein, Driving-Hawk, and Baartman (2009) explain, “Individuals have
direct contact and interactions with this part of their environment. Examples include family,
friends, school, and work. Traditionally, this has been the system examined exclusively by
psychologists and educators” (p. 13). An example of microsystem relationships may include
family, neighborhood, or childcare. “At this level, relationships have an impact in two directions
- both away from the child and toward the child. For example, a child’s parents may affect his
beliefs and behavior; however, the child also affects the behavior and beliefs of the parent”
(p.17). Bronfenbrenner (1994) refers to this as bi-directional influences, and he shows how they
occur among all levels of the environment. Bi-directional influences are strongest and have the
greatest impact on the child according to Bronfenbrenner. However, outer environments
(mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem) can always have implications on the
microsystem.
Mesosystem
The mesosystem is composed of the interrelationships among the various settings of the
individual's microsystem. Some examples of this can include relationships between the parent
and teacher or the relationship between parents and their teenager's friends. The mesosystem is
focused upon how these relationships affect the individual (Berk, 2000). Therefore, the
mesosystem and microsystem are very much parallel because it examines how the relationships
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 35
within the microsystem interact. Examples of this are parent involvement and experiences in
their children's schools, language barriers that arise when parents who speak a language other
than English interact with American schools, and access and information in applying and
navigating higher education. For example, it can be the language barrier that parents experience
at their children’s school and as a result may impact their involvement in the school. This can
impact the student and his or her interaction with the school and staff.
Exosystem
The exosystem is composed of external forces on an individual's life with which the child
may not interact directly. These indirect forces include such factors as a parent's workplace, the
school board decisions, or extended family such as distant relatives. School board decisions
surrounding English language learners and the programs and opportunities awarded to students
can impact them. Equally, the workplace of parents can impact whether parents have time off or
make enough pay to take time off to volunteer at their children’s schools. Feinstein, Driving-
Hawk and Baartman (2009) explain, “the student does not interact directly with the entities in the
exosystem but is impacted by relationships and decisions made in the exosystem” (p. 13). The
exosystem layer involves the larger social system in which the child does not function directly. It
can also include parent workplace schedules or community-based family resources (Berk, 2000).
Macrosystem
This layer is composed of the cultural values, customs, and societal laws of the
individual's community. This is described as the more broad society and culture. Hong, Chiu,
Lee, and Ai-Ping (2011) list examples of macrosystem as race/ethnicity and policies (p. 867).
An example of this can be the term “undocumented” or “illegal alien” that some Latino
undocumented people may be labeled because of their race. Labels such as these can ultimately
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 36
affect a child and their development. This layer may be considered the outermost layer in the
child’s environment. The effects of the macrosystem are known for having a ripple effect into
the other layers. “For example, if it is the belief of the culture that parents should be solely
responsible for raising their children, that culture is less likely to provide resources to help
parents” (p. 867). This is an example of how the parents are affected by the structure (culture)
that can control the way in which a parent functions. Therefore, the parents’ decision on what is
best for their child can affect that same child’s microsystem.
Chronosystem
The final level of Bronfenbrenner’s (1994) ecological framework, the chronosystem,
includes consistency or change over the life course. That would include historical or economic
events that occur that can impact an individual. Some children may react differently to
immigration policy and laws that have either affected them or other loved ones throughout the
course of time. Thus, time changes how one may react or how things influence one.
Additionally, the component of access to higher education over time can affect those students in
pursuance of a higher education.
Using an ecological approach allows the researcher to consider a variety of
environmental factors shaping the day to day experiences of children and youth as they move
through the developmental spectrum from birth to adulthood. Suarez-Orozco et al. (2011) states,
the social-ecological perspective considers human development as unfolding in reciprocal
interactions between individuals and their environments, varying as a function of the individual,
his or her context and culture, and time. This study aims to examine the different environments
through the lens of the theoretical framework that exists and can impact the individual.
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 37
Urie Bronfenbrenner Ecological Systems Theory allows the researcher to look into how
the relationships within the different five environments can ultimately impact and help or hinder
a child’s development to pursue a leadership role. Utilizing this framework allows the researcher
to look deeply into those very systems.
The importance of Bronfenbrenner’s framework is to understand that while these are
defined as different systems, the model calls for the interactions within all systems. Hence, some
interactions within one system may, and often do, bleed into other systems. The socio-ecological
framework is an opportunity to consider the multiple factors that can affect the potential
responses and outcomes of Hispanic children and young adults growing up to pursue leadership
roles.
The following literature review will focus upon significant factors that fit within each of
the highlighted systems. Bronfenbrenner (1986) explains that an advanced study looks at how the
impact of personal and historical events that a family experiences have received increasing
attention. As a result, the chronosystem in this literature will focus on the trajectory of historical
and political policies surrounding immigration and access to higher education facing mixed
citizenship status families. The next system is the macro system. Macrosystems are the
overarching institutions of the culture or subculture, which shape the attitudes and ideologies of
the culture.
The exosystems are the “external” environments that exist within an individual’s life.
Bronfenbrenner (1986) explains “the psychological development of children in the family is
affected not only by what happens in the other environments in which children spend their time
but also by what occurs in the other settings in which their parents live their lives, especially in a
place that children seldom enter—the parents' world of work” (p. 273). Bronfenbrenner (1976)
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 38
explains the exosystem is an extension of themes that impose upon the individual. “These
encompass, among others, the world of work, the neighborhood, mass media, agencies of
government (local, state, and national), the distribution of goods and services, communication
and transportation facilities, and informal social networks” (Bronfenbrenner, 1976, p.13).
The mesosystem is made up of the interactions between the microsystem. The
mesosystem typically encompasses interactions among family, school, peer group, and so on.
The difference between both the systems is that these interactions indirectly affect the child,
whereas the effect is directly on/with the child in the microsystem. “In sum, stated succinctly, the
mesosystem is the system of micro-systems” (Bronfenbrenner, 1976, p.12). “A micro-system is
an immediate setting containing the learner (e.g., home, daycare center, classroom, etc.)”
(Bronfenbrenner, 1976, p.11). Therefore, the literature in this review will address access to the
variety of relationships that exist within different environments. Lastly, the framework will
examine how the relationships can affect the individual. In particular, these areas of research
have been chosen to pinpoint the closest relationships with the individual. Bronfenbrenner’s
theory is a comprehensive framework and for the purpose of this study was not intended to
replicate all of the components. Instead, the study focused on the components suggested by the
literature that is most likely to impact mixed-status families. The elements highlighted in the
following figure are those that will be discussed in greater depth in the review of the literature. In
this study, the theoretical framework is being utilized to examine how the different systems can
ultimately impact the individual. Often in educational research, the focus is on the individual
student. This study, however, looks at Hispanic females and different external environments that
have impacted their goal to become an educational leader. The central premise of this study is
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 39
examining the multiple systems that impact the development of the individual. Below is a model
of Bronfenbrenner’s theory that was discussed in this literature review.

Figure 1. Theoretical Framework of Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems

HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 40
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY
This qualitative study will explore how current Hispanic female educational leaders
experienced some level of incongruity in pursuing administrative roles in education. This study
will inform young Hispanic females on how they might achieve leadership roles in education by
understanding how to maneuver around incongruities they may experience. Young Hispanic
females may be able to incorporate findings in their own personal road to educational leadership.
Qualitative research is based on the belief that knowledge is constructed by people in an ongoing
fashion as they engage in and make meaning of an activity, experience, or phenomenon in their
environment (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Therefore, this study is guided by the following
research questions:
1. To what degree do Hispanic women experience cultural and gender role incongruity
when pursuing administrative leadership positions in education?
1a. What personal and educational experiences have they had to support this trajectory?
This qualitative study will use narrative inquiry to understand and study the methods the
participants engaged in to become educational leaders. The oldest and most natural form of
sense making is that of stories or narratives (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Merriam and Tisdell
(2016) continue to say stories are how we make sense of our experiences, how we communicate
with others, and through which we understand the world around us. Narrative inquiry is based
firmly on the premise that, as human beings, we come to understand and give meaning to our
lives through a story (Trahar, 2009). Narrative inquiry is a form of qualitative research that
involves the gathering of narratives—written, oral, visual—focusing on the meanings that people
ascribe to their experiences, seeking to provide "insight that (befits) the complexity of human
lives" (Trahar, 2009).
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 41
This study will include interviews with participants; followed by a thorough analysis of
the data collected. Research suggest that the fewer, more open-ended questions are, the better
such questions are able to capture the true motives and attitudes of respondents to
interviews(Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). In qualitative interviews, the researcher conducted face-
to-face interviews with participants, telephone interviews, or engaged in focus group interviews
(Creswell, 2014). These interviews involve semi-structured and generally open-ended questions
that are few in number and intended to elicit views and opinions from the participants (Creswell,
2014). Having fewer broader questions unhooks the researcher from the interview guide and
enables the researcher to listen to what the participant has to share, which in turn enables the
researcher to follow avenues of inquiry that will yield potentially rich contributions (Merriam &
Tisdell, 2016).
This chapter will describe the sample and population, instrumentation, data collection,
data analysis, related to the theoretical framework used in this narrative inquiry.
Sample Population
This study will use purposeful and snowball sampling. To begin, purposeful sampling is
based on the assumption that the researcher wants to discover, understand, and gain insight and
therefore must select a sample from which the most can be learned (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
A typical sample would be one that is selected because it reflects the average person, situation, or
instance of the phenomenon of interest (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). In order to use purposeful
sampling, a list of specific criteria was developed in order to find the participants who are
relevant to the study. The idea behind the qualitative research is to purposefully select
participants or sites (or documents or visual material) that will best help the researcher
understand the problem and the research question (Creswell, 2014). In criterion-based selection,
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 42
it is recommended that researchers decide which attributes of the sample are crucial to your
study and then find people or sites that meet those criteria (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). This
criterion-based selection consisted of participants who are female, Hispanic, and were or are in
leadership positions.
Snowball, chain, or network sampling is perhaps the most common form of purposeful
sampling (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). This strategy involves interviewing six key participants
and then getting recommendations for others to participate that meet the requirements of the
researcher. Some participants knew other Hispanic females in leadership positions who knew the
researcher would benefit from their experiences as well.
The criteria selected for the participants are each possible participant needs to be a
Hispanic female who holds a currently or formally held a position as a principal, director,
superintendent, or another educational leaders. Holding one of these titles in educational
leadership constitutes their leadership role. Each participant will be asked to share their
experiences of incongruity they faced as they worked to become leaders. Levels of incongruity
will differ for each participant and share their level of incongruity will be beneficial to the study
by informing young Hispanic females.
The importance of the criteria for the sampling is crucial to the study. This study tells
about Hispanic women’s incongruities as they followed their path to become educational leaders.
In order to tell Hispanic women’s stories, one must use participants who are Hispanic and
female. No other female from a different culture was used in this study. Six participants will be
a part of this narrative inquiry study. Creswell (2104) recommends that sample size
determination relates to the analysis plan for a study. One needs to first determine the subgroups
to be analyzed in the study then sample size depends on the qualitative design being used
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 43
(Creswell, 2013). Sample size always depends on the questions being asked, the data being
gathered, the analysis in progress, and the resources available to support the study (Merriam &
Tisdell, 2016). Table 3 below gives a brief description of the participants. The table includes
information on other relevant characteristics, which are focused on the relationships between the
participants and their families. Such relationships are important for several of the factors for
Hispanic women leadership in education.
Table 3
Interviews
Participants Relevant
Characteristic 1
(e.g., Years in
current role)
Relevant
Characteristic 2
(e.g., Years of
experience in a
leadership role)
Other Relevant Characteristics

Vice Principal 6 6 Siblings and participant attended
college
Parents got their GED and no
college education
Principal 5 6 Siblings and participant attended
college
Parents got their GED and no
college education
Director 4 9 No siblings for the participant
and only one out of cousins to
attend and graduate college
Parents did not receive their high
school diploma
Assistant
Superintendent
3 13 Siblings and participant attended
and graduated from college
Participants children also
attending/attended college
Parents attended college
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 44
Table 3, continued
Participants Relevant
Characteristic 1
(e.g., Years in
current role)
Relevant
Characteristic 2
(e.g., Years of
experience in a
leadership role)
Other Relevant Characteristics

Superintendent 4 15 Siblings and participant attended
and graduated from college
Participants children also
attending/attended college
Parents attended college
Dean’s Assistant 3 26 Siblings and participant attended
and graduated from college
Participants children also
attending/attended college
Parents attended college

Instrumentation
This narrative inquiry study will use semi-structured interviews to gain understanding
and knowledge of the participants’ experiences. In qualitative interviews, the researcher will
conduct face-to-face interviews with participants (Creswell, 2014). This type of interview varies
to where all questions are flexibly worded or are in-depth criteria of women who meet a mix of
more and less structured questions (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Interviewing is necessary when
one cannot observe behavior, feelings, or how people interpret the world around them (Merriam
& Tisdell, 2016). It is also necessary to interview when they are interested in past events that are
impossible to replicate (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Stories are collected of individual oppression
using a narrative approach (Creswell, 2014). Creswell (2104) continues to state individuals are
interviewed at some length to determine how they have personally experienced oppression. The
purpose of interviewing, then, in this study is to allow one to enter into the other person’s
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 45
perspective and worldview (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). When one enters the person’s
perspective, one gains knowledge that will help to create a path desired. The desired path is to
inform young Hispanic females of possible incongruities that were experienced by the
participants which can be helpful for them to overcome to pursue a leadership position of their
own.
The interviews will be conducted in each participant’s place of work in a comfortable
setting. Each participant will be asked to answer the questions thoroughly without any outside
influences. While at work, participants are more likely to be assertive in their answers in relation
to their job title. Each interview is scheduled to be 30-60 minutes in length to conduct. The
length will vary depending on how detailed the answers are in response to the questions. The
interviews will be recorded through a transcribing application so every word will be heard.
This narrative inquiry study has multiple perspectives from six different participants of
different job titles. Each participant has their own story to tell which allows for authentic data to
be used. Using authentic data helps to keep the study credible and trustworthy. The study
collected data purely from the interviews with no bias from the researcher. Interview questions
are located in Appendix A.
Data Collection
The interview protocol will be guided by the two research questions posed for this study.
The interviews will be conducted in each respondent’s place of work. When at work, each
respondent will feel they can answer the questions thoroughly in a private setting. Each
interview will take between 30-60 minutes to conduct. The length depends on how elaborate
their answers were to the questions. Receiving data from the transcription application allows for
accurate data collection.
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 46
To have an ethical study is to have a study that is authentic and transparent. Policies,
guidelines, and codes of ethics have been developed by the federal government, institutions, and
professional associations. Actual ethical practice is reflected by the individual researcher’s own
values and ethics (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
Collecting data through interviews is vital to the narrative inquiry. Telling the story of
Hispanic females in leadership positions and incongruities they experienced will be better
understood through interviews. Being explicit with the data collected can inform young
Hispanic females how to pursue leadership roles in education.
Data Analysis
Hesse-Biber and Leavy (2011) explain that analysis usually begins with descriptive codes
that in turn become categories and further themes. The researcher’s focus was on identifying a
set of themes generated from the interviews to better understand the experiences of the
incongruity of Hispanic females in leadership. The analysis of the data took place immediately
after each interview. The interviews will be transcribed by a professional application to
transcribe word-for-word from each participant so information is authentic and credible. After
the transcription of the data was complete, themes emerged. There may be various connections
between the different ecological systems and the themes. The table below displays the ecological
systems and examples of how they may be connected to the themes identified in the interviews.
Table 4
Ecological Systems Theory Theme Connections
Systems: Examples:
Microsystem Strong Parental Support
Mesosystem Importance of Having a Mentor
Exosystem Leadership Motivations
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 47
Macrosystem Experience with Discrimination Against Women
Experience with Discrimination Against Latinas/Hispanics
Chronosystem Teaching Motivation
Promoting Female Leadership

Theoretical Framework
In a narrative inquiry study on understanding how the Hispanic females became leaders,
it is important to utilize a theoretical framework that incorporates a perspective of the different
environments within a child’s life that ultimately play a role in the adult one becomes. As a lens
to examine the incongruities the Hispanic females faced, this study will utilize Bronfenbrenner’s
Ecological Systems theory (1986). This theory is one that focuses on the child’s development
within the context of relationships that form the environment of that particular child. According
to Bronfenbrenner, the composition of the systems can help or hinder appropriate development.
Utilizing this framework, allows for the researcher to examine the environments and
relationships in one’s life and the development of self. The employment of the Ecological
Systems theory and its focus on child development are intended to help explain the factors that
may have contributed to the participants attaining leadership position in education. Such factors
may emerge in both childhood and adulthood.
Bronfenbrenner (1994) argues that in order to understand human development, one must
consider the entire ecological system in which growth occurs. The system is composed of five
socially organized subsystems that help support and guide human growth. They range from the
microsystem, which refers to the relationship between a developing person and the immediate
environment, such as school and family, to the chronosystem, which refers to events over time.
In his theory, direct and indirect influences on the subsystems are defined and examined.
Ecological Systems Theory offers a lens to examine the interrelations between the individual and
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 48
her/ his environment. The systems are: 1) microsystem, 2) mesosystem, 3) exosystem, 4)
macrosystem, and 5) chronosystem. This model is useful in visualizing the different systems
within an individual’s environment. Additionally, it shows how the interactions within each
system integrate with one another. Bronfenbrenner’s theory will be utilized as a framework to
investigate the different environments that can ultimately affect the child in the center. Because
there are multiple levels of influences on the developmental outcome of mixed citizenship status
families, understanding the interrelationships between the individual and their surrounding
environments is important.

Figure 2. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory.
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 49
A child typically finds himself simultaneously enmeshed in different ecosystems, from
the most intimate home ecological system moving outward to the larger school system and the
most expansive system which is society and culture (Psychology, 2013). Each of these systems
inevitably interacts with and influences each other in every aspect of the child’s life. The
Bronfenbrenner model organizes contexts of development into five levels of external influence.
Bronfenbrenner’s levels are categorized from the most intimate level closest to the child to the
broadest, farthest away from the child (Psychology, 2013).
Materials: Interview Questions
The interviews are semi-structured. The participants were asked the same set of
questions, but the follow-up questions provided more information in each of the interviews. The
following interview questions were asked of all participants:
 What is your ethnicity?
 And what is your current title?
 What expectation did your parents have of you growing up?
 What obstacles did you face while pursuing a leadership role?
 What support did you have to pursue a leadership position?
 What motivated you to pursue leadership?
 What keeps you engaged in leadership?
 To what degree have Hispanic women experienced cultural and gender role incongruity
when pursuing educational leadership positions?
 What personal and educational experiences have helped to support your professional
trajectory?
 What changes do you feel need to happen to have more females like you lead?
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 50
The questions were amended to better fit the narrative being developed by each participant. In
addition, follow-up questions were asked for clarification and additional detail.
Thematic Coding
To identify the emergence of themes that connect the accounts of each participants and,
thus, generate a narrative of Hispanic women in leadership positions in education, thematic
coding criteria was developed. The identification of seven themes related to the narrative of
Hispanic women in education leadership served as the basis for the creation of such criteria.
Each theme contains four criteria. If three or four of the criteria were met in the interview of a
participant, the theme was marked as Strong in the account of the participant. Two of the criteria
being met was considered moderate and only one criterion being met was considered weak.
When no criterion was met, then the theme was not identified for that particular participant.
The first theme is the presence of strong parental support, which includes encouragement,
motivation, financial support, emotional support, social support, and the promotion of the
fulfillment of the participant’s goals. The criteria for this theme are the following:
 Identified Parents as Supportive
 Provided Example of Parental Support
 No Mention of Parents Hindering Leadership/Education Pursuit
 Parents Encouraged Pursuit of Dreams/Leadership
The second theme is experience with discrimination against women. The criteria for this
theme are the following:
 Mention of a Structural Barrier Based on Gender
 Mention of a Specific Instance of Discrimination
 Mention of Discriminatory (Gender-based) Motives of Others
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 51
 Negative Impacts of Gender Discrimination
The third theme is experience with discrimination against Latina or Hispanics. The
criteria for this theme are the following:
 Mention of a Structural Barrier Based on Race/Ethnicity
 Mention of a Specific Instance of Discrimination
 Mention of Discriminatory (Ethnicity-based) Motives of Others
 Negative Impacts of Ethnic Discrimination
The fourth theme is the importance of having a mentor. The criteria for this theme are the
following:
 Identified Help from Leadership Figures
 Names a Specific Leadership Figure
 Described an Example of the Impact of a Mentor
 Mentor Played a Very Important Leadership Role
The fifth theme is the leadership motivation of the participants. The criteria for this theme
are the following:
 Described the Motivation to be a Leader
 Mention of a Desire to be a Leader
 Described a Leadership Motivation Example/Situation
 Described Why She Wanted to be a Leader
The sixth theme is the motivation to teach. The criteria for the motivation to teach theme
are the following:
 Described the Motivation to be a Teacher
 Mention of a Desire to be a Teacher
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 52
 Described a Teaching Motivation Example/Situation
 Described Why She Wanted to be a Teacher
The seventh theme is the promotion of female leadership in education by the participants.
The criteria of this theme are the following:
 Identified Importance of Future Female Leadership
 Indicated Active Mentorship with Women
 Promoted Female Leadership in General
 Recognizes Need for Female-Female Mentorships
Summary
This qualitative study will explore how current Hispanic female educational leaders
experienced some level of incongruity in pursuing administrative roles in education through a
narrative inquiry. This study will use purposeful sampling and snowball sampling of participants
who are relevant to this study. The researcher will conduct 30-60-minute interviews with each
participant. The interviews will be semi-structured to gain understanding and knowledge of the
participants’ experiences of incongruity. Interviewing the six participants in their respective
roles will be helpful in answering the researcher’s two research questions in the narrative inquiry
study. Collecting data through interviews is vital to the narrative inquiry. During data collection,
themes from each participant will emerge and guide the researcher to final data analysis.
Using Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory will help identify certain aspects of
a young Hispanic female’s life will find where they need support to overcome the obstacles
standing in their way. Bronfenbrenner stressed the importance of studying a child in the context
of multiple environments.
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 53
Young Hispanic females will gain from knowing the stories of the six participants. Their
stories will help them relate to any incongruities they are going through with their families and
help in determining what path they should take growing up to pursue leadership roles.

HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 54
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS
The current chapter features the presentation of the results of the interviews, organized
thematically. The figure below depicts the conceptual framework used to organize the data and
findings from the interviews using thematic coding for the findings.

Figure 3. Conceptual framework.
The results are presented thematically. Each theme is supported by multiple excerpts
from the interviews. Not all themes are supported by excerpts from all participants, though all
themes are supported by the accounts of at least three participants. Each theme features only
those parts of the interviews that are relevant to the theme. All of the interviews were coded to
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 55
determine whether the responses of the participants met the criteria for the seven themes of the
current project. The themes were identified by a recognition of similar responses from each
interviewee. Table 5 below establishes the connections between the research questions,
interview questions, and literature.
Table 5
Interview Question Justification
Research
Question
Interview Questions Literature Support
To what degree
have Hispanic
women
experienced
cultural and
gender role
incongruity when
pursuing
educational
leadership
positions?

What expectation did your parents
have of you growing up?
What obstacles did you face while
pursuing a leadership role?
What support did you have to pursue
a leadership position?
What motivated you to pursue
leadership?
What keeps you engaged in
leadership?
What changes do you feel need to
happen to have more females like
you lead?

Leadership is predominantly shaped by
external and cultural influences, including
familial and educational support
(Archard, 2013). Stereotypes of women
and Latinas generate obstacles to limit the
leadership progression of Latinas (Coyne
& Stufft, 2009). Family values play major
roles in Latin cultures (MacDonald,
2006). Support for Latinas, including in
their educational and leadership
endeavors, stems from numerous sources,
including immediate family, extended
family, governments, school systems and
local communities (Clark, 2017).

What personal and
educational
experiences have
helped to support
their professional
trajectory?

What expectation did your parents
have of you growing up?
What obstacles did you face while
pursuing a leadership role?
What support did you have to pursue
a leadership position?
What motivated you to pursue
leadership?
What keeps you engaged in
leadership?
To what degree have Hispanic
women experienced cultural and
gender role incongruity when
pursuing educational leadership
positions?
What personal and educational
experiences have helped to support
your professional trajectory?
What changes do you feel need to
happen to have more females like
you lead?
The greatest single barrier to leadership is
low self-regard of skills and qualities
(Salmond & Fleshman, 2010). Only
around a quarter of young women believe
that they have the necessary leadership
skills and abilities, strongly suggesting
that additional barriers for this population
will be particularly obstructive (Salmond
& Fleshman, 2010). Implicit biases
restrict the progress made by women
towards leadership positions (Hill, 2018).
A dearth of Latinas in leadership
positions contributes to a cycle of women
being unable to achieve such positions
(Salmond & Fleshman, 2010).
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 56
The themes are first presented in a table (Table 6) that show which participants provided
support for each theme. Such summative information can be used to identify which themes are
supported by which participants. Next, the level of support is summarized in a table (Table 7)
for each theme. The level of support was determined by the number of criteria met in the
interviews for each participant. Finally, tables are presented for each particular theme,
demonstrating which participants met which criteria for the themes. The supportive information
from the interviews will be provided in narrative form to support the thematic conclusions.
Table 6, below, depicts the general results of the thematic analysis. Theme one received
unanimous support from the participants, providing strong evidence that the narrative of
Hispanic women in leadership in the field of education is predominantly characterized by strong
parental support. None of the participants indicated that their parents discouraged the participants
from entering the field of education or a leadership position in this field, while all participants
indicated that their parents provided motivational and emotional support for entering leadership
in the field of education. There was also quite strong support for the themes of experience with
discrimination against women, experience with discrimination against Latinas or Hispanics, and
the promotion of future female leadership. All of the themes had support from at least four
participants.
As shown in Table 6, some of the participants had responses that more strongly reflected
the seven themes than others. For example, the first three participants met the criteria for all
seven themes, while participant six had responses that only reflected three of the seven themes.
This likely represents the length of the interviews, as the first three interviewees gave the longest
responses to questions.
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 57
Table 6
General Results of the Thematic Analysis

One Two Three Four Five Six
Theme One: Strong Parental Support O O O O O O
Theme Two: Experience with Discrimination
Against Women
O O O O O X
Theme Three: Experience with Discrimination
Against Latinas or Hispanics
O O O O X O
Theme Four: Importance of Having a Mentor O O O X O X
Theme Five: Leadership Motivation O O O O X X
Theme Six: Teaching Motivation O O O X O X
Theme Seven: Promoting Female Leadership O O O O X O
Note: Circles (O) mark the presence of the theme while an x (X) indicates that no theme was present.

Table 7, below, depicts the strength-specific results of each of the participants’ thematic
analysis. As mentioned in the methodology chapter, the strength of the themes in each account of
the participants was determined by the number of criteria met by the responses of the
participants. The blanks in Table 7 indicate that no criteria for the theme were met.
Table 7
Results of the Thematic Analysis with Strengths of Each Theme

One Two Three Four Five Six
Theme One: Strong Parental
Support Strong Moderate Strong Strong Moderate Strong
Theme Two: Experience with
Discrimination Against Women Strong Strong Weak Strong Strong
Theme Three: Experience with
Discrimination Against Latinas
or Hispanics Moderate Strong Moderate Moderate

Moderate
Theme Four: Importance of
Having a Mentor Strong Strong Strong

Strong
Theme Five: Leadership
Motivation Strong Strong Strong Strong

Theme Six: Teaching Motivation Moderate Strong Strong

Strong
Theme Seven: Promoting Female
Leadership Strong Moderate Strong Strong Strong Strong
Note: Circles (O) mark the presence of the theme while an x (X) indicates that no theme was present.

HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 58
Results for Research Question 1
The first research question asked, “To what degree have Hispanic women experienced
cultural and gender role incongruity when pursuing educational leadership positions?”
Theme One: Strong Parental Support
The first theme is strong parental support. All of the participants indicated strong parental
support, although there was some variance in the specific references to the parental support
received by each participant and the specific types of support received by the participants, there
was a clear trend showing that the narrative of Hispanic women in leadership positions in
education reflects strong parental support. Table 8, below, depicts the results for theme one on
strong parental support. All participants indicated that their parents were supportive. There were
two brief mentions of parents encouraging the respondents to go into different fields, but these
were accompanied by overwhelming support for the individual respondents pursuing their own
dreams and ambitions in education and leadership.
Table 8
Theme One Results

Identified
Parents as
Supportive
Provided
Example of
Parental
Support
No Mention of
Parents Hindering
Leadership/Education
Pursuit
Parents
Encouraged
Pursuit of
Dreams/Leadership
Theme One: Strong
Parental Support
Participant One O O O O
Participant Two O X X O
Participant Three O O O O
Participant Four O O O O
Participant Five O O X X
Participant Six O O O O
Note: Circles (O) mark the presence of the theme while an x (X) indicates that no theme was present.

HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 59
Participant one’s account regarding the support received by her parents contributes to the
narrative through the clear examples of her parents providing a strong base for her to pursue
education. Her account strongly suggests both motivation and encouragement, as well as specific
examples of support that contributed directly to her pursuit of leadership in the field of
education. There is also inspirational content, suggesting that her parents hard work inspired her
to work hard as well and pursue her dreams.
When we were younger going through the school process my parents valued education.
So although, they were blue collar workers and they did immigrate here after their
marriage. So my parents came-- when they first arrived to the country they were 26 and
28. So they were older. They actually got married a little bit older for that generation.
And they worked in factories and they knew that once they had children that education
was basically the ticket to the American dream. So we were always instilled that
education was extremely important and everything that we did was-- we would go to
school every day. We were the kids that wouldn't miss. We were the ones that would
complete all of our assignments, make sure that our mom called in if there was a problem
at school. They would ask questions. Whatever it was, they had a good relationship with
the teachers. And when we got home we were always held accountable for what our
homework was. So although, there was that language barrier and they couldn't help us
with homework they always had a place for us to do our homework. And it was very
evident that they valued the expectation of this homework concept. And ensured that we
had the tools to be able to complete our homework. So we did have pencil and paper and
erasers and crayons at home. And even though I'm sure it was even probably a task for
them to get, because money was measured at the time, they still focused that we had
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 60
whatever we needed to be able to accomplish whatever the teacher expected for us to do
at home. (Personal Correspondence, 2018)
Participant one also provided strong support for the notion that her parents alternated providing
support for her, each sharing duties.
It was equal. My parents had a shared role because sometimes my dad would work
nights, sometimes my mom would work nights. So they flipflopped schedules. But there
was always a parent with us. So I was always taken care of by a parent. I was never at a
babysitter’s house or anything like that. So their work shifts would change. So it really
was whoever had the day shift that would take care of the lunches, the homework, and all
that good stuff. It was the kitchen table where-- so usually my mom or dad would be
cooking whatever it was that we would have for dinner. So they would be there and we
would sit at the kitchen table and complete our homework. I remember my brother and I
completing our homework together and we couldn't go play until our homework was
complete. So we knew that we would get home, do our homework, and then go play and
then have dinner. (Personal Correspondence, 2018)
Participant one also attributes her academic success to her parents and the academic success of
her students to their parents, which also reflect her experiences
I think parents play a crucial part in student success, but I don't think it's the only factor
because I've also had parents that are just amazing, but their child doesn't have any
intrinsic motivation to succeed. So I think it's a balance. I think it's both. I think it's parent
and child, parents and their child working together and understanding this bigger vision
for each other. And it's also a little partnership that you're creating because a parent is
telling their child, "You're going to be great," and the child truly believes, "I'm going to
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 61
be great, and I'm going to do this, this, and this." So it's having that vision. So I think
when parents and children have that vision together, and then coupled with a teacher that
has rigor and high standards for them, I think that's a recipe for students of color to be
able to succeed, especially first-generation students because you have to have high
expectations at school and high expectations at home for that child to be able to flourish
into their full potential. (Personal Correspondence, 2018)
Participant two also indicated strong familial support, as well as support from other
family members. For the purposes of this project, the support of a grandparent or guardian is
grounds for supporting the first theme. An interesting part of participant two’s account of her
familial support is the fact that she was motivated and inspired by her mother’s inability to attend
school. Her family encouraged her to attend school and go into the field that she wanted partially
because they did not have such opportunities. This adds considerably to the narrative because it
demonstrates the many sources of support and motivation that stem from families of second- and
third-generation immigrants.
So I'm going to back up. My family is very colonial in practice. My maternal grandfather,
you couldn't eat at the same table that he could eat. You had to kiss his hand and kneel.
He was a Don in every sense of the word. In Mexico with a hacienda, with the capataces,
and the whole bit. So my mom wasn't allowed to go to school because she had to tend to
the older siblings and help and everything. One of the biggest things that she-- and I
mentioned it earlier. It was that I would be able to stand on my two feet. And so in order
to counter all that, I know how to do things. I can cook. I can clean the house. But even
when I was going to school, she did everything for us. My dad worked, and we were very
blessed that we lived comfortably. So I'll say it in Spanish because it's kind of funny.
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 62
She's like, "Isidro le puedes lavar la ropa a Susi porque ella no sabe lavar." So he started
washing my clothes in college. And his mom is a single mom. And he's a phenomenal
human being, and we are partners in every sense of the way. He doesn't want me to wash
even now because it's not a good idea. So I'll help separate and he's like, "Remember,
cold." And I'm like, "I got it." Or sometimes I'll put things to dry. And he's like, "Can't
dry my shoe." Like, "Sorry." But our family is very much a democratic partnership.
Sometimes he cooks. Sometimes I cook. I don't do breakfast. He does breakfast on
Saturdays. He's like, "I'm hungry." And I'm like, "Bring me breakfast." And he takes care
of me. He's something else. We've been married 18 years and together 26 or 27 years.
(Personal Correspondence, 2018)
The parents of participant three were also extremely supportive in numerous ways,
contributing to the participant seeking to complete her education and enter into the field of
education, as well as enter into leadership positions. For participant three, her older siblings
provided additional support and guidance. The theme of parental support can also, then, be
extended to general familial support for the narrative of Hispanic women in leadership positions
in the field of education.
I never felt that there was-- that I was on track for a particular type of role in terms of
being a housewife or a factory worker or anything like that. What I not necessarily heard
from my parents about careers or futures, more about just working hard, and I would see
that more so than hear it. And I really saw my older siblings kind of taking those first
steps towards higher education and so forth. So I think they really framed and shaped that
for me. My parents' message was be a good person, work hard, behave well, respect your
family, and make the best out of the opportunities you have in this country, so. Yes. Very
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supportive. Family and friends always encouraging or it's like, "Oh, of course, that's--"
people perceive that everything's so easy for me, "Oh, that's so easy for you. Of course."
And little do they know like you don't even know how long I've been tormenting about
this or thinking about this. Or when I present on something-- you don't know how hard
I've worked to just feel ready to present on something because It's really important to me
to-- it's part of my personality trait is to feel very well read and understand something
fully before I can speak to someone else about it. So, that's just, kind of, how I approach
work. If I have to speak to something, I want to know I know it well, but in terms of
transitioning into a different position, sometimes you might not know it all, but people
believe that you have the skill set that will be able to overcome and do anything easily,
but then you tell them, "It's not that easy. I actually had to work really hard on writing
that." "Oh, it's like, so easy for you to write that." "No, it isn't. It took me some time to be
able to write that," but, nonetheless, encouragement, absolutely, from friends, family. My
parents are very, very proud of-- they tell everybody, "My daughter, she was a teacher
and she--" oftentimes, my mom was like, "So and so said they saw you." and I know how
proud that makes them, and that is very encouraging to me and very validating, so that is
absolute encouragement. And, again, peers, and to this day my supervisors continue to
give me feedback that helps me reflect and change, address, grow and kind of move
forward, so it's ongoing. (Personal Correspondence, 2018)
Like the previous two accounts, the account of participant three reflects strong motivation
stemming from the family of second-generation and third-generation immigrants.
I grew up always knowing that if my parents came to this country, they came for a
reason. That was for the opportunities it was going to provide to themselves and their
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children because no one picks up and leaves for the fun of it. And I absolutely believe
that part of their reason for doing that is to have access to the great things that this
country could have. So at a young age, I just saw my mom and dad working really hard. I
would see my mom-- they both worked in a factory, and my mom also sold, and to this
day, sells Jafra, which is a cosmetic company. And through that, her world blew up and
she started going to conferences and learning, and I remember becoming a manager and a
director and just her win. I would watch her, and I would sit there and sit with my papers
and pretend I'm signing things and writing things and all or being in charge of things.
And that kind of just made me-- I felt like I had a responsibility to pursue my education
and have to maximize the possibilities of what a career could offer and also make my
family proud because I know that they are working very hard to be-- that they worked
very hard to get here, so I think—And then, so a little bit of just seeing those
opportunities develop along the way because I didn't have a plan that I was going to
become a principal or go to the district office. It's kind of those answers come, and I truly
believe that you just kind of start in motion and those opportunities appear, and then it
kind of-- well, it's cyclical. Then it motivates me, "Well, other people are doing this."
Because there's times that you just-- well, at least growing up and the people I defined as
people in power, I ascribed certain personalities and skills, and usually they weren't
Latina or Hispanic. So you kind of get to that point where you're like, "Oh, that could be
me. I can see myself doing that." So little by little I've had those mentors who have
painted that picture a little further, who have given me the confidence and the vision to
see myself in those roles and to then want to pursue more. Why not? Because if I'm very
candid, sometimes you see other people being in certain roles, and you're like, "Well, I
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 65
could've done that too." And not to take anything away from that person, but they're
doing a fine job. But knowing that not to discount yourself, that you could also be in that
type of role and you could also be contributing in that fashion. So that's, I think, an
ongoing thought process that I go through sometimes as I think of, "Oh, what would be
my next step for myself? What would it be my next leap? How scary and big does that
seem? And what people do I know that do that already? And do I masked by self to that
level of skill and feel that I could do the same thing?" So I think it constantly still
happens as I transitioned from different roles. (Personal Correspondence, 2018)
The parental support of participant four was very different than that of the other
participants. In particular, such support came in the form of encouragement to be a good person
and work hard. Participant four characterizes her parents as being very supportive, but not
particularly talkative or instructive. This contributes to the narrative by demonstrating that there
are different forms of parental and familial support. Such support does not have to be and is not
always a very active and instructive form of support.
My parents didn't really say a lot to us, but I was very argumentative as a child. So one
time, I did hear my dad say to his friends, "That girl better grow up and be a lawyer
because she likes to argue." But my parents' expectations were really that we be good
people, that we be hard workers, productive. They didn't identify a position or a title for
us. It was more about a quality of being, a human being, as opposed to a position in
society. So my parents, my dad specifically, brought us to this country for the purpose of
having an opportunity and equal access to an opportunity. That was something that he
emphasized with us. And so he never denied us the opportunity to attend college. I am the
second in my immediate family to attend college, but I have other relatives in Mexico
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 66
who are also university graduates. My dad actually paid for one of my cousins to attend--
to pay for school. So my parents valued education; didn't impose it on us, didn't make it
an expectation, but celebrated when we were able to attend college. I think it was my
upbringing, where my parents really instilled self-determination and hard work ethics in
us. That we were never permitted to see ourselves as victims or as something happening
to us. So I suppose that as I've grown up in my career, there have been barriers. But I've
never seen them as true barriers, I've just seen them as, "Oh, I can't go through that path, I
have to find a different way." There's been quite a few obstacles, but nothing that I feel is
insurmountable. But if I step away from it, I can see how other people may find some of
those barriers and kind of use them as a reason to not find an alternative way. I think, for
me, that's probably one of the things I'm most passionate about. Whenever I'm with
university people, that's something I bring out like, "Can we talk about teacher credential
programs?" I think that that's a very old fashion system that just needs to be completely
reinvented. We don't take into consideration that in our classrooms today, we have a lot
of paraprofessionals and many of whom we could train. We have ROP students. I have
some in my district who are phenomenal. And why can't we count that as experience?
Why do we have to do that? So for me, when I finish my undergrad and I was going to go
into the credential program, there was only one way for me to do it and that was through-
- there was a block where I was an intern. And originally, they didn't accept me into it
because they said the program was full. And again, being the daughter of my parents, I
went to the office and I sat there the entire day, and I'm like, "I'm not leaving until you
place me in that program. Because if you don't hire me as an intern, into this program, I
am not going to be a teacher." And by the end of the day and it was-- I was literally there
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 67
the entire day in the office and I got in. And so I started my first year. I'd been working as
an assistant for three years. And so I knew what teaching was like. I had seen some really
good models from teachers and some really poor models. And I got hired as an intern
teacher, got paid, which I needed too. I'd just gotten married and I was now the provider
because my husband was still in school. And without that opportunity, I would not have
gotten into education. And I just feel like we are not giving people of color specifically
because a lot of people of color tend to be more on the lower class, low socioeconomic
class. And until we change that system, we're not going to produce the number of quality
teachers that we need who happen to represent our kids. It's just not going to happen.
(Personal Correspondence, 2018)
Just as participant four had parents and family who were less active, but still very
supportive, participant five was raised by her mother and her mother’s family and did not receive
strong, explicit instruction. Instead, the support manifested in the form of encouragement.
Participant five was strongly encouraged to do well because her mother and the rest of her family
recognized her opportunities and talent. Her husband, too, provided strong support after she was
already in college.
My mother was a single parent. My father was-- they back and forth, back and forth, but
my primary was a single parent. Her expectations was that I was doing well in school,
and not cause any problems, and be a good student, and just do well. There was never any
explicit directive. It was just understood that you're smart and you do well, period. The
family barrier that I had early on in my career was my mother didn't want me to go away
to college. She didn't want me to leave the house until I was either married or done in
college. So she stopped me from-- she regrets it. She says, "I stopped you from going into
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the Peace Corps." I said, "Yes." "I stopped you from going away to college." I said,
"Yes." But it all worked out. My husband was always supportive. (Personal
Correspondence, 2018)
Participant six’s parents were not highly instructive either, but were also highly
motivating and had high expectations for her.
So the expectation that [my parents] had was just to go to school and do the best that I
can. And then they always encouraged me to go to college, but they didn't really know
what that took. They didn't know that there was an application process, for example, and
all that other stuff. So they would just-- they like the idea of college, but I think, secretly
in their minds, they didn't know if that was attainable for me for financial reasons but also
because they didn't really know if I was smart enough to go to college. So I would say
that their expectation of me was to go to school and do the best that I can and, most
importantly, what is stressed in my family is to be respectful. So my mom, she went to
school, but she went to school kind of on and off. She went up to about the seventh grade,
so she has a seventh-grade education. And school wasn't always a priority for her because
she grew up in poverty, so she had to work a lot. And that's pretty much-- school was
secondary to making and earning-- to making food and making sure that they had stuff to
eat and all that stuff. So that was her experience. And then my dad, he was actually-- my
grandmother, his mother, comes from a wealthy family in El Salvador, but she abandoned
her kids, and he grew up with different family members. So he kind of bounced from
house to house, but they were still in pretty good shape, so he was able to go to school.
He definitely went to school to about eighth grade, and he was able to go more
consistently and go to private schools there, but that was the extent of his educational
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 69
sum. But when he came to the United States, he took some courses at a local community
college because he's a machinist. So he did courses to kind of get that trade. That was it.
(Personal Correspondence, 2018)
Participant six’s parents were also highly supportive in the lengths to which they helped her
overcome the obstacles she faced. Without such strong support, it is unlikely that the participant
would have the opportunity to go to school and become a leader in education. Nevertheless, there
were less expectations for participant six than most of the other participants. After all, women
were not expected to go to school, but instead to fulfill domestic duties. Even so, it is clear that
her parents were highly supportive of her education and career achievements.
If there's any obstacle, it would be like personal obstacles as far as my-- luckily my dad,
as the male and the model of our family-- the role model of our family, he's not this way.
But a lot of my uncles are very much like-- believe in males taking leadership roles. So
it's very strange for them that I've been opinionated, that I went off to college, that I
pursued my doctorate and all these leadership kind of hats and roles that I played. Now,
they're accepting of it because I'm in the position, but it's typical in my family for them to
be like-- well, I guess my upbringing is like, women stay at home, they cook, they take
care of the kids, and they do all of that. So that has been probably personally the only
guilt that I feel, is that I work a lot, and I'm so focused and driven by my career, my
career goals, my professional goals, that personally, I feel guilt that I'm not spending
enough time, maybe with my son, being a stay-at-home mom, and that I don't have a
desire to do that because I don't want to do it [laughter]. Well, luckily, like I said, my dad
has always been very supportive of me doing whatever I want to do, but I think that's
largely-- my dad and my older sister have always been like, "Yeah, do it. Apply for an
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administrative position. You can do it. You can do it." But I think that's as a result of the
fact that I pushed myself to get to the point where I'm at already, that now it's just like,
"Oh, yeah. Apply." It's nothing else because I've already taken all the courses to lead me
up to this point, or all the work. But now, maybe support-wise-- you know what? I did
have, in high school-- no, I had two teachers that I would say played a big role in the fact
that I'm pursuing education in an administrator capacity. One was a sixth-grade teacher,
and he was just like, "You are so gifted. You're so smart." And he just kind of told me
that over and over again, like, "What are you going to do when you grow up? What do
you want to be when you grow up?" And I always had said, "A teacher." (Personal
Correspondence, 2018)
Theme Two: Experience with Discrimination Against Women
Theme two is the experience that Hispanic women have with discrimination against
women. This theme is concentrated on the participants experiencing such discrimination
themselves, but may also include witnessing or developing knowledge about gender
discrimination in academics and the field of education. The results suggest that every participant
recognized or implied gender-based structural forms of discrimination and others even had
specific accounts of such discrimination. A major sub-theme to emerge, here, is that women
already being in leadership positions at the schools in which the participants work reduced the
levels of gender discrimination faced by the participants. Table 9, below, presents the results.

HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 71
Table 9
Theme Two Results

Mention of a
Structural
Barrier Based
on Gender
Mention of a
Specific
Instance of
Discrimination
Mention of
Discriminatory
(Gender-based)
Motives of Others
Negative
Impacts of
Gender
Discrimination
Theme Two:
Experience with
Discrimination Against
Women
Participant One O X O O
Participant Two O O O X
Participant Three O X X X
Participant Four O X O O
Participant Five O O O O
Participant Six X X X X
Note: Circles (O) mark the presence of the theme while an x (X) indicates that no theme was
present.

Participant one immediately identified gender-based discrimination in the form of
assumptions made about women. This applies to the theme of racial discrimination as well.
Participant even can even identify specific instances of racism.
What obstacles did I face? I think some of the obstacles that you face are just the
perceptions as a woman or as a Latina that some people will not value your perseverance
and your existence. Because we are marginalized and considered of an oppressed class.
So sometimes I think when you are in roles, like when you're on an interview panel and
you are the only woman that is applying for the role or you are the only person of color
that is applying for the role you know that there could be perceptions of women in
leadership. And I'm going to say characteristics that are imposed by society like women
are more emotional, or women are a little bit-- they don't have a backbone, or those little
microaggressions that women have to face. There could be a chance that that's the risk
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 72
that people think when they're hiring a woman, especially a woman of color. (Personal
Correspondence, 2018)
Participant one also demonstrates that gender discrimination can occur in major leadership
positions. The fact that her leaders were men in conjunction with the responses from the other
participants, it seems that the lack of women in leadership positions in her school contributed to
the gender-based discrimination she faced.
I was in a unique situation that I think my first leadership position I would consider was
the ASB president when I was in high school. And I remember when I ran for that I ran
against another woman. But the woman was white, so she was Caucasian. And I think at
that time it was my first role in kind of wanting a leadership position and advertising it
and getting people to vote for you and kind of see your vision and your cause and getting
people on board. And I was successful. I won the election. But I think what was the most
interesting there is that my ASB advisor was a male. So he became my mentor, so being
led by a male and he was an African American male so I was led by a male of color in he
was very strategic in the advice that he would give me. I remember specifically I had to
go speak to the school board when I was a senior. And he told me the process of what a
school board meeting would look like how the speakers would go up there and that I
would be timed. So he explained this whole concept that, I mean, as a 17- year-old little
girl I would have no social capital in understanding how to navigate this world. But he as
a teacher or as the experience of knowing where students come from or our background,
he kind of used it to prepare me for my big speech in front of the school board, which
was a pretty big deal. Students were suspended and were asked to move away from our
high school a week before graduation so I was asked as a [AC?] president to have the
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 73
school board look into the suspensions in order for them to be able to walk with us at our
graduation day. And I remember that so vividly because I was timid. And I thought, "Oh
my gosh, this all falls on my shoulders so whether these kids get to come back to the high
school or not, it's all on me." And I felt this pressure because he told me that verbally. He
said, "You know, if these students are able to come back to the school or not, it all relies
on how you speak to the school board." So that was the first taste that I got to
understanding how having a voice and being present and conveying the message without
overreacting or being emotional or being perceived as typical women characteristics in a
sense was important in order to be heard by board members that were male. They were
all male at the time, but the superintendent was a woman. So I do remember that because
she was very kind to me after and came up to me and just kind of thanked me for
bringing that into perspective. So that was my first little run with leadership. (Personal
Correspondence, 2018)
Participant two also faced gender-based discrimination in the form of assumptions that
were based on gender norms.
I correct them when it's appropriate because I have to also-- I have to navigate that
softness because you know as a woman, if I'm in your face, then I'm not strong. I'm
something else. So it's having that and-- so I'm not good at posting these things - this is
Michelle - because now you get to see it's part of that making it in people's faces. So on
the outside, our elected officials and everything, it's-- and it's not a Susie thing. It's not.
I'm very, very well respected now. The title's carrying its own weight. But I'm starting the
fifth year in this position. So it's an interesting navigation. The placement of this office
here was because I would not stand down on some things. I used to have a pretty office in
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 74
the corner. But I used to have-- and it was by that gentleman who I told you was Ma'am
and then Doc. So because of that struggle in women in leadership and the fact that I won't
stand back, there's consequences that I'm very happy with because my moral and ethical
compass does not sway. And one last thing before you go into your questions. So I was at
a-- I sit on a bunch of boards, and that all can be enough. I sit on the Chamber of
Commerce, Economic Development Committee. The perception that when someone
looks a certain way, that there's nothing else. And by no means is it something that I say,
but it's, "Oh, she's so this," or, "Oh, she looks like this. She's shallow." And it was from
female peers. That I must tell you that one of the biggest challenges in changing the way
I'm perceived has been from my colleagues, from Hispanic, excuse me, first-generation
females. I don't know if it's part of us always wanting to make sure that we're being heard
and seen and overcome things that we're not as embracing and collaborative with our
female counterparts because we see each other as someone who can challenge or compete
with what we want to do. So it's almost like our self-doubts and our weaknesses kind of
get heightened. And we attack those and we highlight those in those who we maybe
sometimes see ourselves reflected on. With men, it goes almost to that basic need where
men fight it out, and it gets done, and it's over. And women, we hold that. And I'm being
very generalistic, but that's just been my experience. For the most part, I've had an
amazing amount of female leaders. But I would say that biggest challenges professionally
have been with female bosses, which I've learned phenomenally from because I have
learned what never to do. So it's been a wonderful learning experience. But I think that
with men, like the gentleman I was walking down with-- he's a very well-respected
community member. He'll be the first one to vouch and say, "This is what Susie's doing."
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 75
At first, yes. You get through that-- the men, I think, for the most part, from my
experience, has been, they get through the visual whatever, the first impression. And once
that's done, they're more likely to engage in conversations and be willing to change.
Again, this is very generalistic and it's very much my experience. (Personal
Correspondence, 2018)
Participant three offers a vivid reflection on women and leadership and how leadership
traits and characteristics were more associated with men. Her account also includes
intersectionality concerns about gender and ethnicity-based discrimination. The account provides
support for the narrative of Hispanic women leadership in education including facing obstacles
in the form of multiple forms of discrimination.
Again, that instance of being a female in leadership versus a man, I have felt that in terms
of that principalship. There's subtle little things where there's generalizations like Latinas
are more emotional or we are more expressive, so I wondered how those things can
maybe impact my leadership aspirations, but I haven't overtly felt that a door was closed
or not made available to me because I was Latina, other than ascribing these ideas of that
Latinas are more emotional or more expressive. And in terms of how you lead, does that
get in the way of leadership? I don't think so, and not that that directly has happened to
me, but that's what's coming to mind. I just haven't had an experience yet that I can think
of. (Personal Correspondence, 2018)
Participant four provides a clear example of structural discrimination and an example of
how such structural discrimination manifests in the behaviors of leaders. Fortunately for
participant four, the presence of female leadership provided strong grounds for the minimization
of gender-based discrimination at her school.
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 76
Well, I can give you the most recent ones, which was when I became a superintendent.
So when I became a superintendent or when I was applying for the position in the district,
there was a rumor, there was a conversation that another cabinet member was going to
become the superintendent. Everybody knew about it, it was a white male. And I didn't
boast to tell anybody I'm applying, but of course he found out. So he came and asked, and
I said, "I'm just going to try it." So I had that constant pressure from my colleague to not
apply or, "Why are you applying? What's going on? You know you're not going to get the
job?" That's a barrier and I think some people could see that as a harassment or a threat. I
just saw that as an I'm just going to be me. I'm going to take an opportunity for myself.
And for me, the current structure of how teacher credentialed programs are structured is
very limiting. And it is institutionally biased toward, in favor of middle-class people who
want to be teachers. And if we want to have school leaders, that means we need to start
with the teachers. And I can't tell you how many times I've encountered young women
who start out at college so enthusiastic about wanting to be a teacher. And then they
realize that you have to student teach, which means you work without getting paid. And
for a lot of women who are working class or emerging out of poverty, that's an
impossibility. I have been blessed my entire career to be in the right place at the right
time, and to be nurtured and guided by strong women leaders. I started out as a teacher in
Whittier City School District. And my very first year, I don't remember even her title, but
her name was Cynthia. She must have been something like HR Ed Services something.
So she worked at the district office. Goes to show you how new I was to the profession.
But as a first-year teacher, she saw something in me and she said, "We're looking for
trainer or trainers. And we'd like for you to be a trainer to our teachers. Would you like to
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 77
go in?" At that time, it was the California Literature Project, six weeks at Cal State
Dominguez Hills during the summer. They paid for me to do that. And I spent my second
year as a teacher training district personnel on teaching. So that was one teacher. I left to
another district, Anaheim Elementary. And my very first principal that I connected with
Patsy Tafoya, instrumental in my life. Very open. There's a stereotype about women not
being supportive toward each other. I've never felt that. She worked very long days. And
I liked to work, so I worked long days too [laughter]. And I'd go into her office and I'm
like, "What are you doing?" She opened the door and she would be like, "Oh, I'm
working on staffing. You want to see how I do it?" I'm like, "Sure." "Oh, I'm doing this.
You want to see how I do that?" "Sure." "Hey Norma, I'm doing school site council, you
want to help me organize it?" "Sure." Then I had another superintendent, Sandy Barry,
who I feel was another incredible mentor to me. She changed my life because not only
did I learn from her about communications, she's an exceptional communication leader. I
had been an administrator for eight years and then chose to go back to the classroom and
take care of my family during the time when my children needed me. (Personal
Correspondence, 2018)
The structural forms of gender-discrimination are also concentrated on the gender norms and
assumptions about women and leadership. Based on this account, a significant portion of the
existing leadership held the assumption that men tended to demonstrate leadership
characteristics. Women would have to demonstrate and prove their own leadership capabilities
beyond those of men.
When they talk about in a job application and you have a gap, "Why do you have the
gap?" Most women have gaps, not men. Women have gaps. And so then, again, because
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 78
I'm the daughter of my parents, I'm like, "Your loss, I'm going to start applying outside."
And I started applying for principal jobs and I wasn't even making paper screening. It
was the gap. So then leadership, mentors, I called up my former superintendent, Sandy, I
explained to her, "This is what's happening." I can't even get through the paper screening.
And then I'm like, "Would you mind helping me out with a letter that explains my
absence from leadership?" She wrote me the most beautiful letter of recommendation that
connected motherhood to leadership. It was beautiful. I have it. And I'm like, "When I
die, I want to be buried with that letter [laughter]." And so when I got it, this was the first
district I applied to. And I made paper screening and I got my principal job here. Five
years later, I'm superintendent in this district, so….Yeah. I'm just saying that I feel like
sometimes, we've simplified the complex issue of higher leaders who are going to
advocate for those who don't have a voice. And somehow, society-wise, we've equated
women with being that voice and that's not necessarily true. If you don't have the
empathy, if you don't have the experience of understanding children of color, children of
poverty, children from complex situations, I don't see a difference. I would like to say
that if we're going to hire people, we should invest in hiring people who have empathy,
who are going to seek to understand and empower these communities. We want to
believe that it's women. And is it our own stereotype that women are more nurturing? I
don't know. I want to hire people who are going to advocate for kids. So I don't know that
I'm necessarily one who can provide you input with how to hire more women. I want to
hire the right people. And for me, that starts again with my dilemma of hire teachers who
represent children that we serve. I really think that's the core. (Personal Correspondence,
2018)
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 79
Participant five experienced gender-based discrimination as well. In this case, however,
one of the primary leadership supporters of hers was male, providing additional context to the
associations between leadership, gender, and discrimination.
Part of the obstacles were political. When I was hired as a young teacher, I had great
experiences with my administrator, and he gave me lots of opportunities to excel. He saw
leadership ability in me early on before I even-- and I knew I had leadership ability
because of the things that I had done in my own career prior to that. Getting involved
here at USC in the master's program and leading some walk outs and things like that, so I
had already had some leadership ability. But as a new teacher, I was focused on my
teaching and my students, and I didn't see my roles-- I didn't set sights on what I was
going to do as a leader outside of that. But my principal saw some right away after my
first year and asked me to take on a leadership role in taking on a special assignment for
English language learners and working with the staff on English language development.
This was early in the '70s, so we had bilingual programs at Montebello, but it was still
new to everybody. And so he saw that in me and gave me some opportunities in the
school, which I am forever grateful. And it was a great school. The administrative staff
were always at the cutting edge providing new opportunities for us to learn new things,
and so it was exciting. So I was a young teacher, and I had a great master teacher working
with me, and so I took advantage of all the trainings they gave me, getting involved,
working with the parents, and so that was there. But as I moved up the career ladders, I
looked back on it. It's those implicit bias that happen that people have about not bringing
women into leadership roles. My colleagues and I have said we really need to have a
come to Jesus talk with boards of education and particularly your Latino boards of
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 80
education because they need a lot of-- they really do a disservice to our Latinas. They
don't treat them well. When they do get the job-- and they don't even think of them as-- I
think Latinas too. Latinas say, "Well, I could do the job." It's that whole woman thing that
happens, but. So it's the hiring and because we have many Latinas that are ready for the
superintendency, but they've seen other colleagues get beat up by their boards and not
treated well. And so why do I need that? I'll just be over here and be an assistant sup. But
we're missing that great leadership role model that they can have. And so I think it's more
about those that are in the hiring process need to really open up their eyes and get rid of
that bias that they have towards women leaders. (Personal Correspondence, 2018)
Participant five also contributes to the narrative by showing how certain administrators
deliberately seek to hire men, increasing major structural obstacles for women pursuing
leadership positions in education.
Yeah. They wanted it to be a man. So didn't get the job. And then I applied to be the
bilingual director, and I got that job. And then I wanted to be a principal, so that's when I
applied for the Winter Gardens job. And when I didn't get it, I thought, "Huh. Okay." So
then I went to El Rancho School District, and I applied there, and I got the job. And the
principal found out-- the superintendent found out, and he called me. He said, "I need to
talk to you right away." I said, "Why?" And I didn't have a good relationship with-- I was
far away from him. It's not something that I-- I mean, knew him, but I didn't get the job.
So he came, and he said, "Darline, I don't want you to leave." I said, "Well, you didn't
give me the job. I'm not going to sit around and wait for you to give me a job. I'm ready
to be a principal." He said, "No. Trust me. Trust me." That's when I found out that the
political environment, the one board member who was very, very powerful did not like
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 81
me because she did not like bilingual ed, and her teachers didn't like bilingual ed. They
didn't like the fact that I was pushing it and making it requirement and having them to
train for EL when I was bilingual director. And so that's when I found out about the
political, and I said, "Well, John," I said, "how is it going to change? She's still your
biggest supporter. The other board members and I know you want it to be a 5-O. So how-
-" he says, "Trust me. Trust me." So I trusted him because I didn't know him to be
disingenuous, and so I trusted him. So I went to El Rancho, and I said, "I'm not going to
take the job." And after they had offered it to me. It was like you tell people, "Don't do
that." But I did that because I really love Montebello, and I know that area, so. It's a long
story. So when the next one came up, he gave me the-- I got the job at Washington
Elementary School. My first principalship. (Personal Correspondence, 2018)

Theme Three: Experience with Discrimination Against Latinas or Hispanics
Theme three is the experience of discrimination against Latinas or Hispanics, meaning
racial or ethnic discrimination against these populations. The results indicate that such
discrimination is recognized at nearly the same level as gender-based discrimination for the
structural forms of discrimination, but there are many fewer direct instances of such
discrimination. Gender-based discrimination examples were more common and mention of their
direct negative impacts more common as well. Table 10, below, depicts the results for theme
three.

HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 82
Table 10
Theme Three Results

Mention of a
Structural
Barrier Based
on
Race/Ethnicity
Mention of a
Specific
Instance of
Discrimination
Mention of
Discriminatory
(Ethnicity-
based) Motives
of Others
Negative
Impacts of
Ethnic
Discrimination
Theme Three:
Experience with
Discrimination
Against Latinas or
Hispanics
Participant One O X O X
Participant Two O O O O
Participant Three O X X X
Participant Four O X O X
Participant Five X X X X
Participant Six O X O X
Note: Circles (O) mark the presence of the theme while an x (X) indicates that no theme was
present.

Participant one alludes to structural forms of racial and ethnicity-based discrimination,
but without providing a clear example of how such discrimination has directly impacted her or in
which she was clearly discrimination against because of her race or ethnicity.
After that, I would always have little leadership roles. I mean, college, and being in
committees so there wasn't barriers because everybody could join, in a sense. And
moving within my career, my first leadership position as a woman I think I would say it
wasn't difficult when I applied because I don't know who the panel was, I don't know
who I was running against or who I was interviewing with, but I think there have been
times-- I've had three different schools as an administrator and I've been paired with a
woman for gosh, eight years out of my-- so I've been a principal for seven years. And as a
VP, I was paired with a woman too. My first principal assignment, I had a male as my
vice principal. And my second vice principal, I had a woman. So it's been interesting, the
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 83
dynamics. I noticed my first transition - when I became a vice principal and my principal
was a woman - when we would address certain heated situations, and you're talking to
parents, especially males, they do throw little microaggressions and little digs. Well, yeah
it's because you're a woman. I have heard those type of comments from male parents.
Examples would be when you ask male students for certain things or when you're
disciplining a male student. I can't really think of a specific example, but I do recall being
told that, "Oh, it's because you're a woman. Oh, it's because you're this." (Personal
Correspondence, 2018)
Participant two provides a specific instance in which she was the victim of racial or
ethnicity-based discrimination, while recognizing the intersectionality of gender and ethnic based
discrimination. This account contributes to the narrative through the demonstration the Hispanic
women in leadership positions in education may have experienced racial- and ethnicity-based
discrimination.
For the Mexican Consulate, I work very directly with them. I am part of their Instituto de
los Mexicanos en el Exterior as well as their brain drain trust, which is phenomenal. I call
it the drain, but it's the brain trust, and it's all these people who have academia as a
forefront and how we collaborate so that we can continue elevating the intellectual capital
here outside of Mexico. So it's really interesting to see how all these things kind of
happen and how the dynamic of being, and not by my definition, a female, the way I
look, the way I speak-- when I speak Spanish, if the other-- "Oh, you actually speak--"
one of the reporters said, "Oh, you speak Castilian Spanish?" And I said, "No, let me
correct you. I speak Mexican Spanish because where I'm from, this is the way we speak
Spanish." So it's not just-- here, it's not just the opinions. It's everything else and I love it.
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 84
So ask away. Ask away, Emma. I gave you a bunch of information. I had a horrible,
horrible, horrible Friday. Horrible. One of my peers who is also Latina-- I mean, it was
the most abusive, horrible interaction, one of the-- and so I'm feeling horrible, but then in
between there, I'm asked to go give a keynote speech to someone. And I'm thinking,
"Outside, I'm viewed perfectly." This was internally, right, by one of my direct
supervisors. And I'm thinking, "Oh, God." And I dust myself off. And then I go and I sit
on the HEF, the Hispanic Education Foundation Committee. So I'm sitting with these
beautiful women. I'm sitting with business owners, attorneys, the first architect in Orange
County, all these-- I mean, Hispanic Orange-- and I told them, I said, "Ladies, I'm so
blessed to have you here," blah, blah, blah. "I had a horrible day." And they said, "What
do you need from us? We will write letters--" it's almost like you need madrinas. If I can
just put a word on it, they need madrinas. That's it. In English we call them sponsors.
They just need someone who they can see themselves as. Yesterday I was at a funeral.
And my uncle's niece-- and I was dressed appropriately. And my mom every-- my dad
doesn't know how much she paid, but every time I got on the dean's list, my mom got me
shoes. And I won't even tell you. So I was wearing one of the-- I was wearing the pair she
got me for my birthday and a dress. And one of the little girls - she's so cute - she's like,
"They told me you're an attorney." And I said, "No, sweetheart." I said, "I'm a doctor in
education." I said, "But I can help you." I said, "You let me know." "Well, what do I
need?" And during the reception, after the viewing, we had a full sitdown. And I said,
"Here's my contact information. Please reach out." So that's what we need. We need we.
And it's not a haphazardly-- we need to act out. I was at a conference at Harvard [ed?]
institute, and it was so interesting because we were talking about race and racism. And if
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 85
we are not actively ensuring that we are not perpetuating racism, then we are engaging in
racism. (Personal Correspondence, 2018)
Participant three’s account carries over from her account of gender-based discrimination.
She believes that she has been viewed differently because of her status as a Latina and as a
woman.
Yeah. And I think it's invisible because it's subtle and the small thing like, do they see
examples, are there interactions? I wouldn't and I don't think I had enough of some of
those formal programs that would've also developed by leadership skills along the way. I
think absolutely, as a Latina, sometimes it's like I waited to be invited to something
versus just kind of getting myself there where that comes from. It could be a combination
of a lot of things, could be my wanting to be well prepared before I participate, or it could
also come from slowly not seeing so many of those examples, that it just doesn't come
readily to the person I am. I have to be more intentional about that, instead of it just being
naturally who I am because I think those limited experiences, so I think you need both,
and I think I depended more on the informal connections and examples, but definitely,
would like to see more of those opportunities for Latina little ladies. (Personal
Correspondence, 2018)
Participant four also provides evidence of structural discrimination that crosses over
between gender and ethnicity, as source of intersectionality discrimination. While no clear
example is provided, there is sufficient information in her account to recognize the implication of
gender- and ethnicity-based assumptions about leadership. (Personal Correspondence, 2018)
Along the way of applying, I had community members come and talk to me, a few very
influential community members, several who said some very insensitive comments. The
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 86
one that sticks out the most was one who said, a former elected official who said, "If you
get the job, it's because you're Hispanic," which for him, it meant that I didn't deserve it.
And then he said, "But if you don't get the job, it's because you're a woman," which
means that somehow, I wasn't good enough. So my personality is direct and so I said,
"Well, let's take a pause to this racist moment that you're having and let's talk about that."
And of course, then they walk away from it. But there are obstacles where people will try
to make us feel shame or guilt for taking a risk. But again, I go back to my upbringing.
My parents never taught us to absorb other people's feelings into part of who we were. So
that's on them and not on me. He asked me why I was applying because I knew that the
job was his anyway, so I was just wasting my time. And I said, "I appreciate that, but this
is practice for me. I know the job is yours, but I'm going to try and get ready, and see
what happens." And so I didn't want to, I guess, openly compete with him and say, "Well,
actually, I think I can do the job." The rumor was that this is what was going to happen
and I think there was a lot of commentary to that. I just feel like, especially as a woman
and as a member of a minority group, there is an expectation that we do things better than
other people because people judge us harshly. And so when I do something, I tend to go
over the top on stuff and so I got the job. (Personal Correspondence, 2018)
Participant six provides a strong account of how ethnicity-based discrimination can
manifest through the leadership structures and the decision-making processes that go into
selecting leaders in education and elsewhere. This contributes to the narrative by presenting a
clear account of how Hispanic women can overcome such structures to attain leadership
positions. Support from others is a major part of such attainment. (Personal Correspondence,
2018)
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 87
Yes, for sure. Actually, my first experience of that being like an obstacle was in
kindergarten, because I went into school, and I only knew Spanish. I knew some words in
English, but Spanish was my dominant language. So I would constantly have-- and at that
time, the elementary school that I went to was predominantly white. I would say maybe
96% white. So I was a minority. And then the fact that I didn't speak very good English
was definitely something that I felt made me stand out. So they would have what would
be the equivalent now to, I think, bilingual testing coordinators. They would come in and
pull me out of class. And I remember thinking how embarrassing that was in kinder.
They would pull me out of class and then take me to a lunch table outside and do these
flash cards. And even at that age, I knew like, "What? This is so crazy." They'd just be
doing like-- I remember being like, "Cat, dog, frog," those kind of flash cards. And I was
like-- and I would just repeat what they said. But I got more language inside the
classroom than I did with those flash cards. So I ended up-- and I remember this so
vividly. I remember looking at the clock for what time they would come in every day.
And then what I ended up doing was going to the bathroom at that time every day, and I
could hear the door open because the bathroom was in the classroom. So I could hear the
door open because they would just open the door, kind of peek in, and then I would walk
out, usually is how it would go. So I'd go into the bathroom. I'd hear the classroom door
open. I'd hear it close because they assumed I was absent. And then I'd come out of the
bathroom and go back to my regular instruction [laughter]. So, oh yeah, it's kind of weird
how that happened but-- and then, at parent-teacher conferences, they didn't have
translators, and the teachers didn't speak Spanish. So I would be translating. So at that
parent-teacher conference, I remember I'd translate as best as I could, I guess. But at that
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 88
one, I remember the teacher saying that I keep going to the bathroom, and I don't want to
go to that class or whatever it was. So that was one experience. Throughout elementary
school, it was really tough because it was very obvious that I was a minority and that I
stood out, and my parents don't speak English. (Personal Correspondence, 2018)
Theme Four: Importance of Having a Mentor
The fourth theme is the importance of having a mentor. The results suggest that
mentorship may be quite common in the experiences of Hispanic women in leadership positions,
including those in education, as shown below in Table 11.
Table 11
Theme Four Results

Identified Help
from Leadership
Figures
Names a Specific
Leadership Figure
Described an
Example of the
Impact of a Mentor
Mentor Played
a Very
Important
Leadership
Role
Theme Four:
Importance of
Having a
Mentor
Participant One O O O O
Participant Two O O X O
Participant
Three O O O O
Participant Four X X X X
Participant Five O O X O
Participant Six X X X X
Note: Circles (O) mark the presence of the theme while an x (X) indicates that no theme was
present.

Participant one indicates from the very beginning of her account that she has had at least
one mentor throughout her ascendance through school and into a leadership position. Even at the
age of nine, she has had a non-familial mentor, demonstrating the high value that mentorships
can provide to young Hispanic women.
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 89
I've always had a mentor. So I just spoke about my high school ASP advisor. I've also
had a mentor teacher since I was young. Since I was nine years old and I would volunteer
in classrooms. That was also, in my life, that kind of helped me navigate the educational
world. And then, once I entered the career, I had my first teaching assignment, I was
paired up with two women, as a principal and as a vice principal. And one of the vice
principals, she was Latina, too. And she was relatable. She was relatable. We connected.
She would ask me about my classroom pedagogy and why I would do certain things. She
would come up to my writing journals and ask me descriptors of the process that I would
create. So we ended up having a really good relationship. She's now one of my best
friends. But it started that she was my vice principal. And then, through that connection,
she eventually left to be a principal after one or two years. But the person, the vice
principal that filled her seat, was also Latina. Maria. Again, she was relatable. I
connected with her. I aspired to be like her. I remember, she would go in, I was a teacher
still, and she would be counting money. And I would tell her, "Do you need help?" And I
would help her kind of fulfill her vice principal roles late in the evening. And we would
talk about the position. And she would tell me, "Oh, you have to go back to school. You
have to get an admin credential. This is how you can support students-- a larger number
of students." And she made the job look attainable. So I think kind of knowing the fact
that when you create a critical mentoring relationship and you have someone that you can
connect with both based on race and experience -- both of these ladies, Cev and Maria,
were both first-generation immigrants or first generation children from immigrants that
knew that by accomplishing, I'm going to say, the American dream, which is just being
able to self-sustain yourself. Right? Being able to have "a career" is what you need in
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 90
order to pretty much have the things that you need. And I saw them in this light. And they
helped me understand how to navigate school or educational pathways to have the
necessary paperwork, which is credentials, and going back to school, and understanding
the criteria needed to even be able to interview for a leadership position. Because you
have to understand the process behind attaining these positions before you even apply--
to be able to apply. So my mentors that I kind of have held on to along my, yeah, adult
life have help me navigate social capital pathways in order for me to have the tools
necessary to apply to be at the table pretty much. To be at the table and be able to be
considered for leadership roles. (Personal Correspondence, 2018)
The characteristics of her mentorships were that they developed naturally. That is, she was able
to form relationships with them, rather than simply being assigned mentors.
No. My mentors were self-selected. So they were all natural relationships where, even
though they were in supervisory roles-- so technically, both of them were my vice-
principal at a time. The relationship developed after hours. So in the evenings when they
were there late, when they would work 4:00 to 6:00 PM, and I was there 4:00 to 6:00, and
you're walking the hallways, and saying, "Oh. Well, what are you doing? What are you
working on?" And then the relationship developed organically. And that's how you start
to understand how many commonalities you have of shared experiences and connections
that you have based on the relationship that you develop. So the relationship allowed for
those commonalities to transcend and then develop an authentic relationship. Okay.
Thank you. Next question is: what motivated you to pursue leadership? Pursuing
leadership, for me, kind of came from an understanding of how education works. I didn't
understand what I wasn't given as an urban school student until I went to a prestigious
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 91
four-year university. So I went to UCLA which, at the time-- well, it still is very difficult
to get into. And the expectation of students there or who they are is very unique, right?
So I was that student. I was the student that was in extra-curricular activities, who had the
4.6 GPA. I had that. I was the qualifying UCLA student. But what I noticed being at
UCLA that my schooling experience was completely different than their experience. And
what that means to me is that I never read books. We never had summer reading book
lists as most UCLA students from other school districts did. Growing up in an urban
school district, there was students that would not value education. And the teachers knew
that and were okay with them not doing anything in class. So I was a student that
everybody would copy my homework because two-thirds of the class wouldn't complete
it. So I think teachers allowed kids to not hold them accountable for their learning
because teachers didn't believe they could succeed. And this, at the time-- I mean, this is
the 80s, early 90s. So the perception of students of color and their success rate-- I mean,
who knows what teachers had in their minds? So I noticed a discrepancy of even though
comparably we were the same, we both had the same GPA, we both were ASV
presidents. Because actually on the floor that I lived on at UCLA in the dorms, there was
eight doors, I remember, and all those eight students were ASV presidents at their high
schools. (Personal Correspondence, 2018)
As part of recognizing her strong support, participant two also includes mentions of those
who have served as mentors over here. These include family members as well as non-family
members.
I have an amazing amount of support. So I was telling you that in order to get my
doctoral, my mother-in-law moved in, and my parents took care of everything. When I
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 92
got this position, my dad retired. So what time does she get out? Let me see. So she got
out an hour ago. They picked her up with food, homemade food, limonada. They're
taxiing her everywhere. She has dance Oh, she loves Mama and Papa because they're
very young. So they're not grandparents. It's Mama Theo and Papa Joey. Oh, yes, please.
[Do not?]. And my grandmother is Big Mama. My two grandmothers are Big Mamas.
And an amazing husband as a support system. I was telling you earlier that they-- we're
very much lockstep. Even with my doctoral. I had a system where I would submit stuff to
the writing center, review it, and then he did my final. And everything I was like,
"Please." And waking him up in the middle of the night, "I'm done. Review it." And him
nodding off. I really do think it takes a village. And sometimes as women in leadership,
we forget that that village needs to be there. There's some people who are phenomenal.
Gabriela, any time I've reached out, Yes. Michelle, the same thing. There's women in my
life who have been-- as my daughter would say, they're my goals. Our recently retired
assistant superintendent of school performance and culture, the same thing. Just amazing.
Edlinda. I mean, there's women who I just sit there and bask in the amazingness of who
they are. So I told you earlier that my biggest challenges have been with female
supervisors, if you will. But I have learned so much also from those who I have
encountered in different ways. (Personal Correspondence, 2018)
Like participant one, participant three immediately mentions the importance of
mentorships in her life and in her ascent into leadership.
I think mentorships are critical. I think being very intentional about making those
invitations and providing opportunities to talk about the challenges that come along the
way with leadership and thinking that every step and just thinking about it starts at a
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 93
young age. So I think even we don't have too many programs at an early age that put
girls, especially Latina girls, in leadership experiences or provide them with the
opportunity to have experiences outside is really why they end up seeing themselves in
different roles or doing things like that. I worked with this when I worked for the Orange
County human relations council, I worked with Girls Inc, and they were a nonprofit who
were very intentional about creating programs and opportunities for young ladies so that
they could experience and undertake different leadership opportunities through the
middle school and high school. I wish I would've had more of that growing up because it
starts to build your leadership capacity. It's like we're leading all time not just in formal
studies, and if we give kids the opportunity to do that by having a voice and they're
young, it's just going to make their leadership voice that much stronger. It's about having
a voice at a young age in different ways, and sometimes, whether it's a first generation or
a Latina thing, those voices are nurtured in different ways when you have a family who's
just trying to survive and provide for their family. I did partake in a lot of different types
of enrichment are activities that develop that voice in young children to then develop that
leadership voice later on. (Personal Correspondence, 2018)
Moreover, participant three identifies the importance of mentorship for young Latinas, adding to
the narrative that Latinas who enter leadership positions tend to have strong mentorship when
young and tend to be mentors to the youth.
I think it's just so important to have those types of experiences to build that in our
children because later on, they're going to be the leader as the later the Latinas or leaders
that we may have. So it just doesn't magically happen. I think it's the little steps along the
way. I was fortunate in high school that I went to a couple of conferences that took me
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 94
away from my home, and I participated in Sacramento, the Chicano Youth Leadership
Conference. I still remember that one and that was the first time was like I was with other
little Latino kids, and I think they still have it. It's a yearly thing, but it was about
leadership, and that kind of was the first time I got outside of my bubble and started to
see children like me in different types of roles. Like, oh wow, making children's world a
little bigger then. And there was one other thing I participated in that, so that, I think
again, are the little ways that we can start creating those leadership lenses for young
Latina girls because it will just prepare them in different ways than the formal schooling
and the classes will take it within our leadership classes, in our programs and so forth.
That's going to possibly change the way they lead. So I think that's so important, those
voices, those opportunities for our children because they may not be getting them within
their family because they don't have access to those things. I compare my children's
experience to the students that we have here in our schools, and maybe in their schools,
everybody was participating in all these enrichments, and it's like this is what they're
doing all the time. And here, our students may not be getting enough of that, especially
Latina young ladies to set then not cover their mouth when they speak in the classrooms
and not be so shy and start pulling them out of those comfort zones so that they could
start to see themselves differently. I think is critical. (Personal Correspondence, 2018)
Participant five also reflects on several different mentorships throughout her professional
career, including her ascent into leadership.
I had a new-- there was a first Latina principal in Montebello in middle school, and I got
to know her. And so she moved to the district office and wanted me to go work with her.
And so when you're going to pull a teacher out of a school, you have to get the principal's
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 95
okay. So I said, "Well, I would love to. I would love to work with you, Mary." Not too
many administrators were Latina's unless [inaudible]-- there were Latinos but not a
woman, so this was a great opportunity, and she was wonderful, still a good friend. And
so she asked him, and he came into my room, and I remember this, and still whenever I
meet him, we always talk about that. He walked into my room, and he gave me the
message, "Well, I talked to Mary, and I just said you can't leave in the middle of school
year. You're going to have to wait." And so what could I say in front of my class? So my
class is-- "Students stay here. Do your work." And I walked out of the room. And I said,
"Well, how can you stop me? Well, that's wrong Nick." "Well." I said, "Nick this is
wrong. You're stopping a career opportunity for me." And so we had a good bantering
relationship. I could talk to him like that. Then we go and it's, "Decision's made." So
when I called Mary back, and she said, "Don't worry Darline, we'll take care of it." So he
had the assistant superintendent tell him, "Darline's leaving." So she interceded for me,
and so that was great. Then I ended up going back to the school site because I was like a
teacher on special assignment. And then as I moved up the ranks, I remember my first
time that I applied for a principal position. In Montebello in those days, if you're not
familiar, it was pretty middle income and white. And so you had little pockets of where it
was all Latino, like in Winter Gardens and East Los Angeles or in Pico Rivera,
Montebello Gardens, but others were kind of mixed. And so this school opened up in
East Los Angeles, and I thought, "Perfect." Because I grew up in East LA, know the area.
So I applied, and I didn't get it, and I thought, "Hmm, if I don't get that one, I'm probably
not going to be selected." And because I was really shocked because I was bilingual. And
so they gave it to another woman who also bilingual but white, and absolutely a
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 96
wonderful lady. But I thought, "Hmm." And so I had already had as a bilingual-- so I was
bilingual director. I should probably go through my career. From the time that I was a
teacher, and the TOSA, and then I went back as a child welfare and a supervisor after the
principal appointed me to that. I didn't get the assistant principal job because they thought
it needed to be a woman because it was about discipline. So that was a barrier. And even
a Latina woman said, how could I handle discipline? Why not? I do it every day in my
classroom. What's the big deal? (Personal Correspondence, 2018)
Friends and many non-family members are identified as mentors. This account provides strong
evidence that the Latina leadership narrative is one in which mentorships play prominent roles in
leadership ascension.
I think the support comes from mentors. People like my friend Mary Mend. The woman
that I showed you. I remember when she said, "You've got to move up. You've got to do
certain things." Just a second. Even the career as a principal. And I had many people who
helped, like my former principal, other principals. All were supportive. But Mary Mend
was probably my mentor for leadership as a superintendent. She was always there. When
I had the issue when the board member said that to me, I called her right away. I said,
"Mary." Because she was a superintendent up at Stockton-- was she was superintendent
at Stockton? I think she was at that time. I said, "Mary." And she says, "Darline, mm-
mm," she said. And this is, I think, the network of superintendents that you end up having
over time and who you can trust. She said, "Call a Ray Cortines. He's the chancellor of
New York and call him. I think he had a similar situation when he was the superintendent
early, I think, in Pasadena". I said, "He doesn't know me. He's the chancellor of New
York. How am I going to get through to him?" "He'll call. Don't worry." And I learned
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this as a good lesson too. Even though I was pretty good, that when you get a call, return
it because I'd left a message. "Hi, this is Darline Robles. Mary Mend said for you to blah
blah." And he called me back right away, and I talked to Ray. And I always share this
when I got some trainees. He said, "The only thing you have as a superintendent is your
integrity, Darline." I said, "Good." I knew the right thing to do, but I only had been a
superintendent for four years. What do I know? I mean, I don't know all the political
ramifications of things. I knew it wasn't right. But then I thought, "Well, maybe I'm not
seeing the full picture. Maybe this happens more often than I think." And no it doesn't.
No it doesn't. So that's when I said, "So Mary said no. Ray said no, and aligned with
when I said no, so." So your mentors and people that you become colleagues with. The
Dr. Maria Ott and I met here in the doctoral program at SC. We've always called each
other with different things. And even if it was just-- even if you know the right answer,
and you need to share "Oh, Emma, tell me about-- yeah. I hear what you're-- try this. Try
that." So it's still the networks of support that you have, but I think the most important
one was my family. My family was always supportive when I decided to leave. The
reason the board members and my friends didn't think I was going to leave is my mother
lived right next door to me. My mother was alone. My father had died many years ago,
and then she was remarried. But to her it was-- I don't know if it was working out or not
anyway. But nobody thought I would leave my mother because we were very close. But
my mother, when she told people, they said, "Tell her not to leave. Tell her to stay." And
my mother said, "I would rather her be happy where she's going to be, and that's where
she wants to be versus next door, and she's unhappy, and there's nothing I can do to help
her." That mother love. So I told her, "I'm finally going away to college, Mom." 40 years
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later or 20 years later. But my family's always been supportive. So I think that's been that
and good colleagues. (Personal Correspondence, 2018)
In answering the research question to what degree have Hispanic women experienced cultural
and gender role incongruity when pursuing educational leadership positions, there is strong
support for substantial incongruity between cultural and gender roles and the pursuit of
educational leadership positions for Hispanic women. In particular, while strong familial support
appeared to play a major role in the leadership success of the participants, such familial support
also came with attached gender and cultural roles for some of the participants. Such roles had to
be overcome for the participants to achieve their leadership positions in education.
Summary
The first research question to be addressed is to what degree have Hispanic women
experienced cultural and gender role incongruity when pursuing educational leadership
positions? The data presented thus far suggests that Hispanic women in leadership positions in
education tend to have highly supportive families, but also recognize that their gender and
cultural norms push them towards more domestic roles. In particular, the participants all hold
that they were not expected to hold leadership roles, though they were expected to fulfill
household duties. However, the incongruity between their pursuit of leadership and cultural and
gender norms is most heavily concentrated outside of the microsystem and mesosystem. The
friends and family of the participants tended to support the participants entirely, including in
their pursuit of leadership positions. This suggests that the primary sources of incongruity exist
in the exosystem and beyond, not among the friends and family of Latina women in leadership
positions in education.

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Results for Research Question 1a
Research question 1a asked, “What personal and educational experiences have helped to
support their professional trajectory?”
Theme Five: Leadership Motivations
The fifth theme is the motivations that Latinas have to pursue leadership opportunities.
The accounts vary concerning when the participants first had leadership ambitions and
motivations. Some had them early on and others after they were already working as educators.
Table 12

Theme Five Results

Described
the
Motivation
to be a
Leader
Mention of
a Desire to
be a
Leader
Described a
Leadership
Motivation
Example/Situation
Described
Why She
Wanted to be
a Leader
Theme Five:
Leadership Motivation
Participant One O O O O
Participant Two O O X O
Participant Three O O O O
Participant Four O O X O
Participant Five X X X X
Participant Six X X X X
Note: Circles (O) mark the presence of the theme while an x (X) indicates that no theme was
present.

Participant one goes into great detail about her leadership motivations and some of the
causes behind such motivations. It is clear that her experiences reflect an early interest in
leadership, based in part on the strong mentoring that she received.
Yes, so knowing that, knowing my background, of course, it's recording, knowing my
background, that's the reason why I became a teacher. I wanted to come back to my
community. I wanted to hold my students and my community accountable and show them
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the ropes and basically be a model for them and say, "Hey, this is your expectation. This
is where you need to be. This is how you can apply to college. This is how you can apply
for financial aid". All the things that I had to learn on my own, I wanted to come back
and do this. As a teacher, I love teaching. I thought I was going to teach my entire career
and then come my fifth year of teaching is when I notice, the teacher next to me doesn't
do anything with the kids. Those kids aren't learning at all and the vice-principal and the
principal have no idea that this teacher isn't teaching and that the kids are watching a
movie all day. So those things would literally hurt my heart and I go, "Man, the little ones
over there are not getting the same thing that the kids are in my classroom". So that's
when I started to and I go, "Man, the little ones over there are not getting the same thing
that the kids are in my classroom". So that's when I started to make a connection that in
order to change a school system you have to be in a leadership position and you have to
become a vice principal or a principal. That's what intrigued me into going back and
learning about an admin credential and saying how can I be supportive in making
teachers develop their craft and making sure that bad teachers are not in classrooms cause
kids are not learning. (Personal Correspondence, 2018)
Her constant engagement with leadership stemmed from her mentoring, her family having high
expectations for her, and her own ambitions in providing a model for younger individuals,
especially Latinas in education.
[What keeps me engaged in leadership is] The ability to make connections and be able to
change systems. I truly believe that the best part of leadership is being able to create
change and creating conditions for students, for students of color to learn, because the
community that I serve is, gosh, 92% Latino and from low socioeconomic standards, and
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pretty much students of poverty that need good role models around them to be able to
understand and navigate social structures. So being in a leadership role allows me to be a
model for students that I identify with, that I was once them, that I am once a-- that I am
now finally able to give back to my community in what I received as student, because
when I was little I was mentored. I had people I looked up to. And I want to be that
person now and be able to inspire the kids that I serve and the families that I serve.
(Personal Correspondence, 2018)
Participant two expressed very different leadership ambitions than participant one. It
seems that participant two’s leadership motivations developed later, even after her entry into the
field of education.
If I could be the eternal student, I would. Academia is my world. Anyhow, so during one
of the years, we were doing some prep work with some of my colleagues, and one of my
friends comes in and she says, "I found this fabulous program. It's at SC." I don't know
that she told me SC until the end. But she's like, "It's teaching and leadership, and it
focuses on teaching in multicultural settings," which is very much reflective of the
population we have here in Santa Ana. And having been born, raised, and a product of
the school district where I currently work, I thought, "This is phenomenal." And the more
I did the research, the more I loved it. And that's kind of where I was. So as I was telling
you earlier, education has been like a series of fortunate events. When I graduated from
my undergrad, I knew I had to do that. And it was really interesting because I had the
grades, but because I didn't have privileged knowledge, I didn't know how to access it. I
went to a community college. And I was a biology major for two years until I got to O
chem. And then life came to a halting stop. I was pre-med. No, that did not happen. And I
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 102
went to the counselor and we figured, okay, I was an English lit major. And I go home,
and explaining that to a Mexican family is quite interesting because I said, "Mami, I'm
going to be majoring in English," and she said, "Why, if you already speak it?" Right? So
I had to kind of talk to them about it. It's the study of the literature and the whole bit. And
that was that. And as I was telling you earlier, I couldn't-- I was dating my now-husband,
boyfriend then. He's my college sweetheart. Once you start dating for a while, parents
start getting nervous. And my mom said, "I really don't care what you guys do, but don't
ask me to sign the paper until you give me the paper." So the transaction was, I gave her
my undergrad degree, and then we can go and get a marriage license. We got married two
years after I graduated, so we're good. And having that, we were both-- the really neat
thing between - and I call him my life partner - my life partner and I is that we have very
similar goals and very similar backgrounds with a lot of the similar support. So it's been
very cohesive. And I was going to go into law school, but getting his MBA was a lot
faster than law school, and the return on the investment was a lot faster and much greater.
So we decided that he go, and he got a full ride at SC. (Personal Correspondence, 2018)
Participant three also demonstrated what might be considered late leadership motivations.
In particular, it seems that participant three had many different ambitions early on, but few of
which were related to leadership. Nevertheless, it is clear that she developed leadership
motivation based on the experiences and guidance of other female leaders in education.
I feel very blessed where opportunity has met with preparation in some aspects in my
career where I honestly feel like jobs have just come to me. For whatever reason, every
leadership position outside of the classroom was something I was invited to partake in,
which was fantastic. I want to believe that there was preparation and people saw in me
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the readiness to go into that next level. But in terms of challenges, in pursuing those
leadership positions, I don't feel that there's been any direct formidable-- maybe it's a
little ways. Things that come to mind are feeling sometimes as a principal, that there's
just differences in terms of how female principals are perceived or treated versus male
principals in terms of leadership and how one can be perceived as so bitchy, I guess you
would say, versus a male. It's like, "This is what he wants," and so forth. I do work with a
male principal at some point as a vice principal. So that was kind of the first time I saw a
little bit of difference in terms of perceiving that as a challenge within the role of
principalship and sometimes how those subtle differences come through the job, but in
terms of transitioning, I haven't felt that there were barriers keeping me from the next
level. (Personal Correspondence, 2018)
Her professional experience seemed to lead her into leadership, despite many of the challenges
and barriers she faced.
Well, all of my professional experience has been here in Anaheim Elementary in terms of
management and leadership. I did work in Santa Ana as a teacher as well. In terms of
being Hispanic, the only time I have felt challenges is sometimes when you're charging,
leading different topics, sometimes feeling like you get discredited. Oh, of course,
because you're a Latina. Does the topic still have merit regardless? Or is it just that you're
really passionate about because it's maybe a Latino issue or something to that effect, but I
haven't felt that there were at least, again, overtly, that there were doors that were not
made available to me as a result of being Latina in Anaheim Elementary. I have support
in mentors within the school settings that I worked at, my principals for the most part and
peers. And I think they were critical and kind of planting those seeds and starting to
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shape that leadership vision for myself because sometimes, people see-- well, I'll speak
for myself. Sometimes people have seen things in myself that at times I haven't seen in
myself at the time because I can be very hard on myself, so I think that added level of
support coming from people you admire always has been something I've appreciated and
at times has helped me kind of move forward a little bit more in terms of pursuing
different roles. So I think that's critical. (Personal Correspondence, 2018)
The account of participant three also demonstrates how Hispanic women in leadership positions
may take multiple leadership paths while in education.
Oh, goodness. I have thought about other leadership roles in terms of the pathway. I
loved being a principal, and I can tell you that when I chose to leave it-- and I'm really
proud of this. It wasn't because I was done being a principal. And I think it's horrible
when you leave a job because you just don't want to do it anymore. It was truly out of this
might put me on a different path that would give me access to different types of jobs and
build my experience. Now that I've been at the district office, and you think, "Okay. Now
I've been doing this three and a half, four years. I love everything that I do, and it comes
with its very unique challenges. And at what point do you do something differently?" So
I believe one of the next steps for me will at some point in time be to transition into an
assistant superintendent of some sort. But I'm not in a hurry to do that. To me, everything
is about timing and being able to feel that you can fully do that professionally and
personally. I still have children in high school. And I look at some of these jobs, and they
are very politically charged, and I don't want to be in a position where I need to move or
travel too far out of my city right now because I want to be able to stay put, and in one
place, and be available to my children before they go off to high school-- I mean, into
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college, which is just two to three more years. So, yeah, it goes very quickly, I'm sure.
And even, I haven't pursued going back to school because, again, I feel like I have limited
time with my kids because of my living situation with them, and I see them half the time,
so I'm not willing to give up another 20% of that time away from the 50% of the time that
I'm with them to even be at school right now. (Personal Correspondence, 2018)
Participant four indicates that much of the joy of her job is the power and influence that
stems from her leadership position. While this may not reflect the perspective of all Hispanic
women leaders, this account provides evidence that some do have this perspective and, thus,
should be included as part of the narrative.
Everything. I love everything we do. I think as a superintendent, I've learned that I have
tremendous power, and authority, ability. My favorite things are still what I consider
private victories as opposed to public wins. I like knowing that I can help an individual
teacher through something, an individual employee through something. I love helping
students. And we get such complex cases. I get involved and that motivates me. I feel like
I'm-- I'm a different-- I've learned that I'm a different type of superintendent because I
know a lot of details. And most superintendents live on the surface from what I gather
and what I hear and what people tell me. Like I don't know too much detail. I like to get
into the detail because I think that's where the true work is. That motivates me personally.
The other piece that I find fulfilling is just, again, the mission to improve society and help
other leaders work with other people. Especially right now in education where it's so
complex. We're doing a lot of shifts. And we're 21st century, we keep talking about that
with kids, but we have 20th century teachers and so that whole shift. I want to say that
we're doing it in a kind way. I think that's important for me that my staff feels supported
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 106
genuinely, but also challenged. Every child known, empowered, motivated, and
challenged. I want the same thing for my teachers. (Personal Correspondence, 2018)
Theme Six: Teaching Motivation
The sixth theme is the motivation to teach. While it may be assumed that all participants
had, at one point, the motivation to teach, many leaders in education may have already known
that they wanted to lead not teach in the field. The result of this thematic analysis reveals that
most of the participants indicated at least some level of motivation to teach and that such
motivation was a driving factor in them entering the field of education, even if they would
develop leadership ambitions that led them away from teaching.
Table 13
Theme Six Results

Described the
Motivation to
be a Teacher
Mention of
a Desire to
be a
Teacher
Described a
Teaching
Motivation
Example/Situation
Described
Why She
Wanted to be a
Teacher
Theme Six:
Teaching
Motivation
Participant One O O X X
Participant Two O O O O
Participant Three O O X O
Participant Four X X X X
Participant Five O O X O
Participant Six X X X X
Note: Circles (O) mark the presence of the theme while an x (X) indicates that no theme was
present.

Participant one demonstrated a clear penchant for teaching early on in life. Her
motivation to teach was developed well before her motivation to become a leader, even in the
field of education.
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Since I was little I knew I wanted to be a teacher, since I was eight years old. That's when
I started volunteering. I was a student but then after school I was kind of like a mini
teacher. I would do the laminating, the cutting, the bulletin boards for the teachers. So I
would go to school and then I had that teacher perspective in the afternoons and I loved
it. I knew that I would never give up because that's what I wanted to do as an adult. I fell
in love with my passion at such an early age that everyone knew I wanted to be a teacher.
It's what I talked about. It's what I did. It's kind of like, everybody knew who my parents
were, everybody knew that I wanted to be a teacher. So everyone around me knew about
it because I kept sharing it with adults, with adults, with kids. It's just kind of what we
did. I always wanted to teach and I had to figure out how to be able to teach. I felt like
my entire life, since I was nine years old is, what do I have to do to become a teacher.
What do I have to do to become a teacher which, part of it, was getting good grades. So I
always worked hard in school because I knew that was a requirement in order to be able
to apply to college. (Personal Correspondence, 2018)
Participant two appears to have developed a motivation to teach out of an altruistic desire
to help others through teaching.
But it's been, again, a series of fortunate events. And one of my biggest-- and I don't
know-- no, it's on my bio. It's not on my signature. One of my things is making privileged
knowledge common knowledge. That's my mission. How do I make that? When I taught,
I used to have pictures of my daughter up the wall. And people used to always say, "Why
do you have her there?" And then my whole thing is, I need to remember that every child
that I come in contact with is someone's love, someone's pride and joy, and if I don't have
that in front of me, we sometimes forget that. So I taught for many years. During my last
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year, kind of where you are, a wonderful position offered at the district. We had master
teachers being pulled out of the classroom to develop and support common core adoption.
And I was part of this. We were called the teaching superstars, and I was a certificated
learning and achievement specialist. And what they did is they took all the trainer of
trainers of all their programs, and they pulled them out to help develop this curriculum,
provide the professional development, and really provide the overall support and
leadership of where we were going curriculum-wise as a district. And this position that I
have - and it all ties together - was the dream of the following superintendent because he
wanted to connect with the community. And when I look-- I'm not good at seeking
opportunities, right? So one of my girlfriends sends it to me, and she's like, "This is so
you." And I was still considered a classroom teacher, although it was kind of a
curriculum specialist quasi, and I said, "I don't know. These are not the-- these are not the
steps you follow." And she's like, "No. No. You need to apply." So another one of my
mentors - she's now the assistant supe up north - Michelle Rodriguez, who is also an SC
alum, phenomenal, one of my guiding lights, said-- I said, "What do you think?" She's
like, "I completely thought about you when I saw that. Apply." And then I asked around--
she's like, "And you have a letter of rec from me. Don't worry." "Okay." So the
application is due Monday at 4:00 PM. It's Sunday night. And I asked around during the
week, and someone said, "There is a glass ceiling. Don't do it. Don't even think about it.
It's not going to happen. You're just going to put your name out there, and it's not going
to be respected." The whole preconceived notion, right? So I said, "Okay, sounds good."
(Personal Correspondence, 2018)
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 109
Similarly, the account reveals early on that she had stronger motivations to teach than to enter
leadership positions.
I don't know that there's been a motivation per se until I got this position, and I'll expand
on that. But I think it's been-- as I have stated many a times, I didn't know I had it. And
until I was kind of pushed into this, I didn't know. I remember I went to Rick, the former
supe, and I said, "What do you want me to do with this position?" I was new, and he's
like, "You'll figure it out." He's like, "You got it." So once I started noticing the power -
and not that I'm craving the power, but the impact the power has on our community - that
has been feeding. So now people say, "What do you want to do?" I mean, they're going to
be your supe. Or I'm going to go into a local higher education institution or do some
consulting, but I'm good because I see the impact it has. When I get to have an aspiring or
someone-- a Latina, Hispanic, however they want to define themselves, young lady come
talk to me and say, "I want to know what you're doing because I want to do that," then
I'm thinking, "Okay, now they have something. I don't want them to be me. But I want
them to know that there's leadership." And it sounds hilarious and super unprofessional,
but it's like Spider-Man. "With great power comes great responsibility," and to me, my
responsibility now is to pass it forward. And that's why when they reached out to me, I
was like, "Yes, it's about paying it forward." So it's that. It's the long-lasting impact we
can have in our general community. (Personal Correspondence, 2018)
Participant three also demonstrated an early motivation and desire to teach. The familial
support received by the participant also helped drive and entrench this motivation.
I think time and time again, I see myself in the little kids. I see my parents in the families.
I think of how my parents may have been treated or not treated when they walked into the
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 110
office. I see the purpose of this work as being the X-factor to changing the trajectory of
children's future lives because it has been for my life. And I can imagine not participating
or trying to move that forward for others. So that's absolutely what I get excited about
and committed to. What keeps me going, it's just seeing the value. I mean, seeing the
need, and wanting to see more of children that look like me and represent my family be
successful, at least have access to success. And, I think, school is, or having the
opportunity to learn and is going to be their first step in being able to competitive, and
being able to have a better life because that's why my parents came. So that really drives
a big reason as to why I feel my family's here and then to what my role is for others.
(Personal Correspondence, 2018)
Participant four has had many different motivations in life. One of these motivations has
been to teach, although later this would develop into the motivation to become a leader in the
field of education.
I have to admit, I'm a person who gets bored very easily. I have never in my life been in
the same assignment, school, position more than four and a half years. I'm starting my
fourth year as a superintendent in this district and I'm already like, "What more can I do?"
I want to, at some point-- I'm really excited right now by what's happening in high
school. I went into education to change children's lives. And educationally, educationally,
I believe that the secret is in elementary school. If we make sure that students come out of
elementary proficient, then we're good. I get very upset about stuff when I feel that a
school system-- I have a lot of patience for a lot of stuff. I don't have patience for an
institution that does not support the needs of students. I have no patience for institutions
that make excuses for low expectations. So I have lately been motivated and wondering,
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 111
"Should I try a high school system?" I like hard, I like complex. And maybe, I'm
thinking, maybe I can try a different district, a bigger district. I would love to be in one
city. My district is in 3 cities, so I work with 3 mayors, 3 city counsels, 3 police chiefs,
and lots of different service groups. People have no idea how busy that is. But I would
love, again, because I believe that education can change and transform a community. I
would love to be in a one city district. And just work my tail off, and really change a
community, elevate the community, and celebrate the success of a community. Not just
academic success, but I have a lot of ideas on how we can do bigger and more and better
for kids, so. (Personal Correspondence, 2018)
Participant five also contributes to the narrative that Hispanic women can have many
different sources of motivation and have very different reasons for entering education. Many
love teaching and others have specific experiences that have driven them to teach and make
differences in the lives of others through teaching.
And what I always tell young Latinos is that, "You're always in a fishbowl no matter
what, and they're going to always watch you. And you just do your good work, and you'll
be fine. Just do good work, but you're always being watched. You are in a fishbowl." No
one else is-- any minoritized group is going to be in a fishbowl because you're usually
going to be the one of few or the only one, depends on where you are. In some districts
it's different, but that's just at that time, and still, in some districts, you're the only one.
And so I was at Montebello Middle School when the earthquake happened, and I just did
what I did, rolled up my sleeves got it done and everything. So I didn't realize till about
two weeks after the earthquake how people were watching me and the compliments that I
got. And how one school-- a white man. I met this great guy. His school was not even as
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 112
damaged as mine, but it fell apart. Everybody was furious how it was handled. This was
before cell phones or anything like that. And how everything was handled. I happened to
do it well. I mean, it was a model. In fact, the superintendent was going to speak at the
superintendents' conference. And he met with me, and he goes, "Tell me what you did."
And so I would. He wrote it down and gave a great presentation and got all sorts of
applause which was fine, and that's okay, so. But I didn't do it for that reason. I did it
because that's what you have to do: protect your kids, protect your staff, protect your
faculty. You're just making it work, and I had a great administrative team working with
me, great people. So it was a good team. (Personal Correspondence, 2018)
Participant five’s leadership motivations and teaching motivations overlapped significantly, in
that they both stemmed from wanting to help others.
So that was already my second year, second, third year? Third year, maybe? Third that I
was on as principal? Then the following year-- in fact, it was that same year, I think. The
spring, our homemaking teacher did-- there's always this lunch and event, and it had
board members, and everybody was just coming. It's a huge event, so. It was a typical
kind of a junior high, and so he comes to me, and he goes like, " Hey, Darline. I--"
Darrell Hickok, a great board member, and he said, "I hear you're coming down to the
district office." I said, "What? Oh," I said, "I know nothing. I know nothing. I know
nothing." So then the superintendent calls me in, and he said to me, "I've been thinking. I
think I want to bring you in. Sal's leaving, and he's going to take a leave of absence, and I
think he is going to retire. And I'd like you to come in and take his position as interim
assistant superintendent." I said, "Hmm." He says, "You just have to-- the area that he
works on is all the student safety, all the other student-- and you did such a great job, and
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 113
the board saw that. And they think it'd be really great to help other principals." And
whatever. So I said, "Hmm, well, let me think about this because I love my school. I love
my school." And so I thought about it, and I went to him and said, "I'll do it on two
conditions." I said, "One is that you make my assistant principal, Mr. [Orella?], the acting
principal because if after a year I don't like it, I want to go back. I want my school back.
I'm fine to do it for a year, but if I don't like it, and I may not like it, I want to go back and
Louie won't feel bad if I want to go back. If you put somebody else in there, they're going
to be all upset, and I don't want to go to another school. Not right now." He says, "Okay.
That's--" and I said, "And the second is I want to be able to tell you how I feel about
things that are important to me and my work any time. I'll close the door, but you need to
hear and let me share, well, any issue. And when I close the door you give me a direct--
and I'm going to always do it, John. I'm going to follow you unless you tell me to do
something illegal." I said. And he goes, "That's okay. You can always come in and--" I
said, "Okay. That's all I want is an open door to come in and share any issues I'm having
or problems to get things done and that-- yeah. No problem. So I would win with those
two conditions." Then I found out that he had had some difficulty with that same board
member moving me up. Still, that political barrier because she did not like me. Did not
like me at all. Okay. No biggie. Okay. Before I was [too?]. It was no biggie. But John
was a superintendent that pretty much buffered the board from the principals, which was
good. So I didn't have to interact with them other than social events. We'd make
presentations at the board meetings. So I didn't have to interact with him, but she was still
hung up on 10 years ago on the biting the lead stuff, so. (Personal Correspondence, 2018)
Theme Seven: Promoting Female Leadership
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The seventh theme is the promotion of future female leadership, particularly through
mentorship and leadership development programs. The results indicate a very strong willingness
of Hispanic women in education leadership to participant in the development of future female
leaders, including future Hispanic female leaders.
Table 14

Theme Seven Results

Identified
Importance
of Future
Female
Leadership
Indicated
Active
Mentorship
with Women
Promoted
Female
Leadership in
General
Recognizes Need
for Female-
Female
Mentorships
Theme Seven:
Promoting
Female
Leadership
Participant One O X O O
Participant Two O X O X
Participant Three O O O O
Participant Four O X O O
Participant Five O X O O
Participant Six O X O O
Note: Circles (O) mark the presence of the theme while an x (X) indicates that no theme was
present.

Participant one demonstrates a commitment to helping other young women earn
leadership positions, likely because of the very strong mentorships she has benefitted from in the
past.
I really believe that we need to create mentoring, a mentoring program for Latinas. I
know CABE does it, but it's-- I almost feel like it has to be done. CABE and ACSA have
mentoring programs. But our jobs are so demanding that the whole reaching out part or
even navigating the website to pay your dues in order to be able to sign up for a
mentoring program, it's more steps that are needed. And maybe having mentoring
relationships at the local level where women are supporting each other through this,
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 115
through balancing work and life, and being able to successfully meet the demands of a
very difficult job would be a place to start. So I definitely think that mentoring can make
a difference for women in understanding the pathways for different positions, but also
creating an intimate space where you can share experiences and your voice, and being
heard and knowing that's nothing's going to happen when you share with whoever your
mentor is of how you didn't perform as well as you could've. Or you made a bad decision,
and maybe let's talk about this decision and how I could've completed it differently. So
having that safe space to be able to talk I think could be life changing for women. I
believe that being able to start mentoring programs in elementary schools is critical. I
think students are at that age where they crave that one on one relationship, that they need
someone to kind of hold them accountable. And it's such a vulnerable age where before
they leave to middle school, where middle school is going to either make or break them.
So taking care of them at the elementary level, in that 4th, 5th, and 6th grade age, that is
so crucial when they're from 10 to 12 years old can really help support their success when
they're older. (Personal Correspondence, 2018)
Participant two also reflects a strong motivation to promote female leadership because of
previous experiences with mentors and the strong support received by the participant.
I think we need to have more of us. Guide, mentor, support. And not just in the process
but in the access through everything. And I've developed-- not developed, but I
developed the networks I have now, friends who I can connect with, but it's almost like
this privileged access. You need to get to a certain point to be able to have access to those
resources. So I think as women in leadership, we have to pay it forward. We have to seek
those opportunities to mentor young ladies. And then from there, they might not want to
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 116
follow a field in the leadership capacity that we have, but how do we allow them to
explore and connect to other women who have that expertise? (Personal Correspondence,
2018)
Participant three demonstrated a similar penchant to promote the leadership opportunities
for young Latinas.
I have thought about other leadership roles in terms of the pathway. I loved being a
principal, and I can tell you that when I chose to leave it-- and I'm really proud of this. It
wasn't because I was done being a principal. And I think it's horrible when you leave a
job because you just don't want to do it anymore. It was truly out of this might put me on
a different path that would give me access to different types of jobs and build my
experience. Now that I've been at the district office, and you think, "Okay. Now I've been
doing this three and a half, four years. I love everything that I do, and it comes with its
very unique challenges. And at what point do you do something differently?" So I believe
one of the next steps for me will at some point in time be to transition into an assistant
superintendent of some sort. But I'm not in a hurry to do that. To me, everything is about
timing and being able to feel that you can fully do that professionally and personally. I
still have children in high school. And I look at some of these jobs, and they are very
politically charged, and I don't want to be in a position where I need to move or travel too
far out of my city right now because I want to be able to stay put, and in one place, and
be available to my children before they go off to high school-- I mean, into college,
which is just two to three more years. So, yeah, it goes very quickly, I'm sure. And even,
I haven't pursued going back to school because, again, I feel like I have limited time with
my kids because of my living situation with them, and I see them half the time, so I'm not
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 117
willing to give up another 20% of that time away from the 50% of the time that I'm with
them to even be at school right now. (Personal Correspondence, 2018)
Participant four recognizes the importance of promoting leadership, not only her own
leadership, but the leadership of others. This, coupled with the disadvantages of women and
ethnic minorities, demonstrates to the participant the importance of helping promote young
Latinas to be leaders now.
But I think that's true power. And sometimes when I hear people talk about the women's
movement, especially as it is done now in society, I feel it's a simplistic notion to say,
"Oh, hire more women and that improves--" I just had this conversation with a friend
who is a very pro on, "I want to hire women, and hire women, and hire women." And I
recently hired two directors and they're not women. And it's like, I heard it in her voice,
she's like, "Hmm, so you went with men." And I just said, "Look, I hired the best people.
I had a choice in one, a woman and a man. The man hands down better." Were you not
recording? So I was principal of one of the schools here, Centralia, for three years. And
actually, last year, I was at their end-of-year carnival, so it's at night time. By now, this is
like four years ago that some of these kiddos, my sixth graders left, so now they're in high
school. And I saw one of the girls that I had as a student as a sixth grader, and she saw
me and she's like, "Oh Ms. Martinez, how are you?" Super energetic, this little girl is this
tiny little thing who's like a bundle of energy, "Ms. Martinez how are you?" And I'm like,
"Oh, I'm good," and everything. She's like, "Wow, I can't believe you're still the principal
here." And I'm like, “You know what mija? I'm not the principal anymore." She's like,
"What? You're not the principal anymore? Who's the principal?" And the principal
happened to be behind her and I said, "Oh you see that lady wearing whatever? She's the
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 118
principal now." She's like, "Oh, okay." She's like, "Wait a minute, if you're not the
principal, why are you here?" And I said, "Well, you know what? I'm the superintendent
now." I have to tell you, it was one of the best reactions of my life. I have to show you
and I'm sorry I'm going to hit you and smack you with it. But she's standing next to me
and she just goes, "Wow." And she smacks my hand and arm with love, and she just says,
"Get out." She's like, "You are the superintendent?" And I'm like, "Yes, I am." And she's
like, "No way. You're the superintendent?" And I'm like, "Yes, I am." She's like, "Stop,
stay here, don't move, I got to tell so and so." So she takes off running, she comes back
with two other teenage girls, and they're all standing around me and they're like, "She's
the superintendent. No way, no way. You're the superintendent?" These three little
Mexican-American girls who I don't think it would've mattered my gender, but my
ethnicity mattered, and the fact that I spoke Spanish mattered, and the fact that I knew
them for who they were mattered. They were just so thrilled, I gave them all my business
card, I'm like, "Y'all better invite me to your high school graduation." That matters. And
for me, as I've gone, and because I changed jobs and locations so much. Even when I was
a principal and I was assigned to a school in my former district, predominantly Hispanic,
I think I was the only Spanish-speaking person. And I remember, it was 100% busing
school, and the kids would gather and talk about me. Finally, one day, one of the kids, he
or she, I don't remember the gender, but I remember the question, was getting off the bus
and just asks, he's like, "Is it true?" And I said, "Is it what true?" "What they say about
you?" And I’m like, "Well, what do they say about me?" "Is it true that you speak
Spanish?" It was like a whispered secret. And I thought, "Of course, I speak Spanish."
Then I started to speak Spanish. The kid took off running and telling everybody, "I told
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 119
you it was true, she speaks Spanish, she speaks Spanish." And then the next day more
kids came, and the next day more kids came, and the next day more kids came. To me,
that's more impact, kids need to have people who look like them in positions of
leadership. (Personal Correspondence, 2018)
Participant five takes a similar position as participant four, but with a concentration more
on the disadvantages that Latinos in general face.
So the new board comes in, and they're Latinos and activists and just really want to take
the charge, and which is fine, great. But they started to act as if they were kings, and like
they could have it. As one said to me, "Well, the whites did it. We can do it." And I said,
"Did what?" "Well--" I said, "That doesn't make it right. If they did something wrong,
you doing it doesn't make it right. You do the right thing for kids and the district." So that
went into deaf ears. So at one point-- it had been four years that I was there, and they had
just renewed my contract. And I was hiring a new principal. And the principal list-- like
most districts, you'd have the committee, and you have the applicants. And then they send
you the finalists, and I would interview the finalists. And so there were 10 applicants for
this one job, and they sent me 3 great individuals. And so I went to the board, and I said,
"This is my recommendation." So then a board member came to me afterwards, and said,
"Oh, no, no, no, no, Darline. We're not going to take your recommendation." "Uh, why?"
And he said, "Well, we promised the city councilman from the City of Commerce that we
were going to hire-- that his son would get the next job. (Personal Correspondence, 2018)
Finally, participant six demonstrates a strong motivation to promote the leadership of
young women, including various ethnic minorities.
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 120
I think we're moving in a good direction, in that, when I did my doctoral program, there
was a lot more Chicano, Chicana pride kind of embedded in clubs, and they did a lot of
reaching out and continue to have the conversations of-- even when I went to UCLA for
the-- there was a program, the PLI program, Principal Leadership Institute. They did a lot
of conversations around color blindness, around social justice. So those conversations are
empowering for Latino and women. To hear all these issues and to even talk about them,
I think that's what needs to continue to happen. I'm not sure if it happens at every campus,
but those conversations empowered me, and they made me feel like I can do this. I can be
a principal of a school. It doesn't have to be a male. I can become a superintendent. The
good thing is that we start to see more females in leadership roles, and that empowers me
too. So seeing that there's superintendents in our catalog of superintendents of Orange
County, we have a lot of women, and that feels good. So I think we're clearly moving in
the right direction, but that needs to start at maybe a younger age because I can't
remember having those conversations before college. (Personal Correspondence, 2018)
The participant recognizes that developing mentorships and having focused conversations with
them about the future and leadership can serve major leadership purposes for such young leaders,
both male and female. The narrative of Hispanic women in leadership positions in education,
then, is not necessarily bound to developing the leadership of young Latinas, but also various
other youth. Nevertheless, it is clear from the other responses that the disadvantages faced by
certain populations serve as major motivating forces behind efforts to improve youth leadership.
I think the most powerful thing is having the conversations with them. I think educating
the parents to let them know that like, "Dream big," because everything is a possibility.
I'm a strong believer that everything is a possibility. But some people, they don't expect
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 121
that of their children, to become something bigger than-- we always want what's best for
our kids, but I don't think they dream big enough. So, if anything, I would say the
conversation of encouraging girls, Latinas, Hispanics, blacks, everybody to dream big,
like, "What do you--?" like the conversations when we speak to kindergarten students,
like, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" "I want to be the president." Not
downplaying that at all, like, "Oh, okay. You want to be the president? So how can we
make that happen?" And starting to have those conversations instead of saying like, "Oh,
a president? Okay, well, what about a firefighter or policeman?" Because I feel like that's
always the careers we encourage, which are great careers, but we do have the next
president somewhere here, and I strongly believe that if we started to have those
conversations with students and parents, so that no one hinders their dreams, to continue
to dream big. (Personal Correspondence, 2018)
Summary
The second question to be answered is what personal and educational experiences have
helped to support their professional trajectory? There is strong evidence that the participants
were guided by leadership and educational motivations, as well as substantial social support,
primarily from their parents. While the participants tended to experience at least some
discrimination on the basis of sex, race, or both, they were able to overcome such discrimination
and ascent to positions of leadership through their own motivation and with such strong support.
Parental and other mesosystem support provided the strongest early grounds for the participants
to pursue leadership positions in education. Mentors strongly promoted the participants once
they reached adulthood, were receiving an education, or were in teaching positions. Therefore,
there is a discernible shift in the types of personal and educational experiences that support the
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 122
professional trajectory of Hispanic women who would go on to achieve leadership positions in
education. While the familial support received by such women is not entirely replaced by
mentorship and educational experiences, there is clearly a trend towards mentorships playing a
larger role in the professional development and trajectories of such women once they reach
adulthood and begin teaching.
Chapter Summary
The first theme explored was the support provided by the parents of the Hispanic women
in leadership positions in education. All of the interviewees indicated that they had at least
moderate parental support, generally in the form of encouragement. Five of the six interviewees
indicated that they had very strong familial support growing up, including the encouragement of
the pursuit of any of their dreams. The narrative of Hispanic women in leadership appears to be
related to the strong support of at least one parent. Prior research provides strong evidence that
Latino families are family-oriented and delivery very strong support (Galanti, 2003). Latino
cultures are highly patriarchal, but also focus heavily on the family. Many families emphasize
traditional roles for women, such as the roles of wives and mothers (Ginorio & Huston, 2002).
Galanti (2003) found Mexican female students had grandmothers who spent most or all of their
lives in Mexico and believed that their husbands were the bosses, while it was the duty of their
lives to obey them (Galanti, 2003). There are, therefore, strong Mexican traditions that
discourage women from leadership positions. Therefore, even though Latino families tend to be
very supportive, they also tend to reinforce patriarchal norms. This was not reflected in the
accounts of the participants interviews in the current project. Instead, the family support was
very strong, while the patriarchal views were virtually non-existent.
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 123
The second theme explored was the experiences of gender discrimination of the
interviewees. Latinas have long faced several forms of oppression, including race-based, sex-
based, and culture-based discrimination which promotes passivity, submissiveness, and silence
(Mancillas, 2010). There were varying levels of gender discrimination experienced by the
interviewees. Some of the interviewees had major experiences with gender discrimination,
including both indirect and direct gender discrimination. Meanwhile, others did not indicate that
they experienced any gender discrimination. The major factor in determining whether any
interviewee experienced gender discrimination was the presence of women leaders in the school
systems in which they advanced to leadership positions. When such women leaders were present,
gender discrimination appeared to be much less common. However, the interviewees who had
gender discrimination experiences tended to have been among the first women leaders in their
educational systems. Gender discrimination appear to be an at least somewhat common theme in
the narrative of Hispanic women in leadership positions in the field of education.
The third theme explored was the experience of ethnic discrimination of the interviewees.
Ethnic discrimination was less impactful on the experiences of the interviewees than gender
discrimination. While there were many mentions of ethnicity in the interviews, there were
relatively few major hurdles faced by the participants. The major ethnic discriminatory issues
faced by some of the interviewees involved lower expectations of Latinas. Nevertheless, some of
the interviewees indicated that they had no major experiences involving their rise to leadership
positions within education.
The fourth theme explored was leadership motivation. All of the interviewees indicated
strong motivation to achieve or maintain leadership positions. However, the interviewees became
interested in leadership at different times. Some of the participants had early interests in
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 124
leadership, while others developed an interest in leadership only after they had educational
positions. Therefore, the narrative of Hispanic women in leadership in education is not defined
by an early interest in leadership. Rather, this characteristic of the narrative varies significantly
between individuals.
The fifth theme explored teaching motivation. All of the participants had major interests
in teaching early on. This may be expected for teachers in generally, but may also be a particular
feature of the narrative of Hispanic women in leadership in education. In addition, there may be a
connection between an early interest in education and the rise to leadership positions in
education. The narrative of Hispanic women in leadership in education appears to be quite
closely connected to the development of an early interest in becoming an educator.
The sixth theme explored the future of female leadership. All participants indicated a
strong desire to contribute to the development of future Hispanic female leadership. Perhaps this
is because of the strong impact of mentors on the interviewees. The interviewees appeared eager
to help women in similar positions. The narrative of Hispanic women leaders in education
appears to involve a strong eagerness to help other Hispanic women enter leadership positions in
education.
Several subthemes and cross-themes emerged during the analysis of the participants’
transcripts. A sub-theme to theme one is that entire families, not just parents, tend to provide
strong support to Hispanic women in leadership positions in education. Another sub-theme is
that very common forms of support are motivation from the lack of opportunities that their
parents had and high expectations. Gender norms and assumptions about individuals based on
gender were major sub-themes of the theme of gender-based discrimination faced by such
leaders. Intersectionality was present throughout the themes. Gender and ethnicity discrimination
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 125
were often related or compounded the difficulties faced by Hispanic women in leadership
positions.
Of the systems of Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems, the exosystem and mesosystem
are the source of the clearest explanations about the pursuit of leadership by Hispanic women in
the field of education. The mesosystem encompasses all interrelationships among the various
settings and environments of the individual's microsystem (Berk, 2000). It is in this system that
the familial support becomes so important, as such support strongly encourages women who face
major obstacles to pursue their dreams, including leadership positions in education. The
exosystem includes all external forces on the individual's life (Berk, 2000). The exosystem
serves as the primary source of the obstacles and challenges faced by Hispanic women in
education. The support received from the mesosystem must be sufficient to encourage Hispanic
women to overcome such obstacles. Among all of the Hispanic women leaders in education
interviewed there was strong familial support without the mesosystem providing many other
major challenges.
The themes explored here were based on the interview responses of the six participants.
The major limitation of the current project is the small sample size. Even though many of the
responses were quite similar, allowing for the strong support of the themes outlined here, the
small sample size limits the generalization of the constructed narrative. Nevertheless, the results
shed light on the typical narrative of the Hispanic woman in leadership positions in education.
The level of congruity in their accounts was found to be moderate.

HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 126
CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSION
The narrative of Hispanic women in leadership positions within education is not
homogenous, but does contain similarities that are recognized in the narrative. Hispanic women
in leadership positions within education tend to have very strong support throughout childhood.
Such women tend to be influenced by various social and gender norms, including social and
gender norms that have strong Hispanic influence. The result is that Hispanic women in
leadership positions within education tend to be pushed towards more domestic roles and engage
in activities that have strong Hispanic cultural influences. However, the social and gender norms
exerted on young Hispanic women who will go onto leadership positions within education
appear not to be as strong as the strong familial and social support, which includes support for
such women to pursue their own dreams and interests, even if contrary to such social and cultural
norms. Social and gender norms, then, may have substantial impacts on such young women, but
not to the extent that they preclude them from pursuing leadership positions. Hispanic women in
leadership positions within education also indicate that they tend to have ambition early on in
life, suggesting possible cross-cultural influences that pushed such women towards positions of
power and eventually leadership positions. The familial cultural influences, then, may have been
tempered by other cultural influences, such that the young women viewed pursing leadership
positions as possible early on in life.
Young Hispanic women who would go on to leadership positions in education also
showed a strong interest in teaching as they approached adulthood and entered early adulthood.
Yet, such women did not have homogenous experiences in desiring to pursue leadership
positions. Many women in such positions tend to not envision themselves as viewing leadership
positions, although they do view such opportunities as not only possible but plausible. Other
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 127
women in such positions were attracted to leadership prospects early on. Many wanted to be
principals or superintendents as they entered college. Family support at this point plays a major
role in the pursuit of education and entrance into the field of education. Without such support, it
is much less likely that young Hispanic women will seek such education and go on to positions
of leadership within education. The sociocultural influences including gender norms are even
less prominent in the lives of these young Hispanic women at this point.
As these women enter into the field of education, most often as teachers, they begin the
process of advancing in the field and eventually into leadership positions. The Hispanic women
who become leaders in education tend to begin seeking advanced degrees while they teach.
Many seek advanced education without specific ambitions to advance into leadership positions,
but others do. When the opportunities become available, such future leaders begin applying for
leadership positions, which often begin as administrators or vice principals. As such women
continue advancing through leadership positions, they begin focusing more exclusively on their
development as leaders. It is at the point in which such teachers begin to consider leadership
positions in education that mentors play a major role. Specifically, mentors in leadership
positions in education tend to be significant factors in persuading Hispanic teachers to pursue
leadership positions or seek further progression in leadership in the field of education. Often,
such mentors are also Hispanic women, but not always. In some cases, men serve as mentors and
in other cases non-Hispanic women serve as mentors.
Many Hispanic women in teaching face major obstacles to ascending into leadership
positions. In particular, they face both gender and cultural norms that make it more difficult for
women to ascend into certain leadership positions. Hispanic women in leadership positions
within education have overcome such obstacles by demonstrating their own suitability for the
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 128
position. For Hispanic women in leadership positions within education, there is a tendency for
their ascendency to occur in predominantly Hispanic schools. That is, it is more common for
Hispanic women to fill leadership roles in schools that are predominantly Hispanic. This may
result from a combination of Hispanic women being more likely to seek leadership roles in such
schools or from the decision-makers in such schools seeking Hispanic candidates for leadership
positions, especially from existing leaders and teachers in the school. There are also several
advantages that Hispanic women have in attaining certain leadership positions in education.
Many school districts, for example, are seeking more women in positions of leadership.
Therefore, Hispanic women in leadership positions within education may have had additional
help in attaining such leadership positions.
The following is a concise summary of the typical narrative of Hispanic women in
leadership positions within education:
 Strong familial and social support early on in life
 Some early pressures away from pursing careers and leadership positions because of
Hispanic social and gender norms
 Strong familial and social support for the pursuit of whatever the woman want to do in
life during the teenage years
 An intense interest in education emerging in one of the following:
o Youth
o Adolescence
o Young Adulthood
 A significant interest in leadership in one of the following:
o Youth
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 129
o Adolescence
o Young Adulthood
o Undergraduate
o Graduate
o As a Teacher
 Strong mentorship while receiving education
Strong mentorship while teaching
The narrative of Hispanic women in educational leadership tends to reflect strong and
flexible parental support, differing levels of gender and ethnic discrimination, strong mentorship
early in life, an early desire to educate, a desire to become a leader at varying points of life, and a
dedication to setting up women to excel in leadership positions in education, including through
mentorship. Leadership is not an inherent characteristic but is much more accurately conveyed as
a set of skills that can be developed over time, especially through training and education
(Archard, 2013). However, Latinas face unique challenges in their leadership development. In
particular, research suggests Latinas are significantly more likely to pursue leadership positions
after they have received strong leadership education and training (Robinson, Shakeshaft, Grogan,
& Newcomb, 2017). The narrative of Hispanic women developed in the current project strongly
supports the notion that such women require strong leadership training and education before the
active pursuit of leadership within the field. Women in the field of education are perceived as
being more appropriately suited to be teachers than leaders (Stufft & Coyne, 2009). An obstacle
faced by young Hispanic women in the field of education is that they are rarely prepared for
leadership positions because of a lack of prior experience and training. Similarly, Hispanic
HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 130
women often do not have access to the requisite education and training in leadership to advance
(Rhode, 2017).

HISPANIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 131
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APPENDIX A: INTERVIEW SCRIPT
What is your ethnicity?

And what is your current title?

What expectation did your parents have of you growing up?

What obstacles did you face while pursuing a leadership role?

What support did you have to pursue a leadership position?

What motivated you to pursue leadership?

What keeps you engaged in leadership?

To what degree have Hispanic women experienced cultural and gender role incongruity when
pursuing educational leadership positions?

What personal and educational experiences have helped to support your professional trajectory?

What changes do you feel need to happen to have more females like you lead?

Asset Metadata

Creator Robles, Emma Marie (author)

Core Title A narrative inquiry: Hispanic women in leadership

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Education (Leadership)

Publication Date 04/16/2019

Defense Date 03/07/2019

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag education,family support,gender expectations,gender roles,Hispanic,Latina,leadership,mentorship,OAI-PMH Harvest,obstacles,Women

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Advisor Hasan, Angela (committee chair), Pensavalle, Margo (committee chair), Peters, Aleta (committee member)

Creator Email emmagran@usc.edu,emrobles70@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-138868

Unique identifier UC11675634

Identifier etd-RoblesEmma-7197.pdf (filename),usctheses-c89-138868 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-RoblesEmma-7197.pdf

Dmrecord 138868

Document Type Dissertation

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Robles, Emma Marie

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA

Abstract (if available)

Abstract Previous research suggests that Latinas face a host of obstacles that may impair their ability to enter leadership positions and motivate them to pursue non-leadership positions. Culturally, Latinas tend to be expected to fulfill domestic duties, eschewing opportunities to advance in their careers into leadership positions. There is also evidence that women, in general, face a number of obstacles in the ascendance to leadership positions. Fewer training opportunities and lower expectations lead to women being promoted to leadership positions less often and to be unprepared for leadership duties and obligations. These obstacles and relationships impacting Latina and women in pursuing leadership positions have been found to hold in the field of education as well. Yet, many Latina women overcome these obstacles and achieve leadership positions in the field of education. The current study features an exploration of the narrative of Latinas in leadership positions in the field of education. The intention behind the work is to explicate and contextualize the narrative of the Latina leader in education. It is revealed, here, that Latina leadership in education tend to have had strong familial and social support, relied on strong mentors, and been heavily motivated by teaching and improving school systems.