Why a Diverse Leadership Pipeline Matters: The Empirical Evidence

ABSTRACT

This overview of the research revealed that diversity in the pipeline leading to the principalship is lacking and critical. The article first provided a synopsis of educator demographics, illustrating clear disparity in principal representation by race/ethnicity and sex/gender. Subsequent review of relevant empirical research demonstrated clear benefits of having a diverse principal workforce, especially for students and teachers of color. Further examination showed that educators of color and females/women, particularly those of color, face biases, and barriers in advancing to the principalship. These biases and barriers have negative implications for individuals in the principal pipeline and educational quality overall.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. All uncited principal and teacher counts come from survey-weighted descriptive analyses of the restricted-use National Center for Education Statistics’ Schools and Staffing Survey and National Teacher and Principal Survey data unless indicated otherwise.