"Gender equity is an educational issue for women and men school leaders as allies, advocates and mentors. Arriaga, Stanley and Lindsey provide school organizations and individual school leaders pathways for ensuring that schools and school districts have the expertise of highly qualified women educational leaders. The authors skillfully combine their personal experiences with current women’s narratives that illuminate lingering barriers to leadership roles.
"As someone who believes deeply that we need to find our voices around what matters, this book is a necessary and supportive addition to my bookshelf. The authors combine powerful statistics, personal narratives, and concrete strategies into an accessible and useful text both men and women can use to shift the conversation around gender equity at all levels in education."
"Leading While Female is the journey and verbal testament of three women who speak to reveal the racial, classed, and gendered injustices they have witnessed as educational leaders as a means of healing, empowerment, and advocacy for a more humane present and future grounded in equity.
"Leading While Female is a much needed and timely piece that thoughtfully explores the multidimensional experiences of women in educational leadership. The authors take an inside-out approach that encourages men and women to reflect and take action toward disrupting gender inequality."
"I am truly excited about the new book which Trudy Arriaga, Delores Lindsey, and Stacie Stanley have written about women raising their voices in the fight for gender equity. I am pleased that the authors are continuing the work which was begun in the book by Franco, Ott, and Robles, titled A Culturally Proficient Society Begins in School: Leadership for Equity (Corwin, 2011). It is hard work that must be continuously brought to light if change is to occur at levels equal to the population statistics for women today.
"Leading While Female is an essential work for educational leaders at all levels. It calls for opening space for those who makeup the majority of school personnel to more effectively lead for justice and equity. This voice has too often been missing in shaping policies, practices, and procedures."
"Throughout Leading While Female, I was struck by the importance of gaining allies in the work of leadership. The alignment between racial and gender equity allies is truly significant. Just as white leaders absolutely cannot stand by quietly as our leaders of color step up time after time, men cannot be silent supporters of gender equity leadership."
"In Leading While Female, Delores Lindsey, Trudy Arriaga, and Stacie Stanley hold up a mirror for all of us as we consider the inequity that exists in educational leadership. Unlike many corporations, education is a field where the majority of women are teachers, yet only a small percentage go on to become superintendents. Helping us to ask why and to when consider how we can all make a difference is the central focus of the book. We hear from women directly about their experiences and their journey.
"Finally a book I can relate to as it speaks to the struggles, grit and perseverance women experience as we aim for equity and access in educational leadership. Leading While Female is the clarion call for access and equity in the arena of educational leadership. It reminds us that we cannot make changes in silence. It is a research-based book chock full of practices and real possibilities as we aspire towards an inclusive educational leadership landscape worthy of our children."
"This comes to leaders at an urgent and pivotal time in education. Gender inclusivity is necessary for all educators, but also for the students they serve. Nowhere else have the necessary advocacy, tools, and tangible actions been harnessed into a single book for leaders. Changing perspectives and creating actions that lead to an inclusive and diverse workforce is a challenging endeavor. However, it will create lasting experiences for students and empower the leaders and educators who serve them.
"This book challenges us to look at educational leadership inequities with our eyes wide open, data in front of us, and a determination that we can do better. This book is about raising our voices to match our passion, dedication, and competency as female Educational Leaders. The barriers we encounter are both external in the form of sexist notions and internal in the form of those cultural mantras playing in our own minds. As women, we need to share our stories, which outline the barriers we have faced because those experiences are so pervasive.
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