Being an education leader is one of the most rewarding jobs in the world. The ability to change the trajectory of hundreds, thousands or even millions of children during a career is a singular privilege.
It’s an opportunity for impact in which women remain dramatically unrepresented.
While nearly eight in 10 teachers are women, only three in 10 district leaders are women, a statistic that has remained stubbornly stagnant for years. This persistent gender gap comes at a steep cost, not only for women but for the entire education system. Women in education leadership are a powerful yet underutilized resource, and the failure to address these issues represents a significant loss of leadership talent.
As the founder and CEO of Women Leading Ed, the largest bipartisan national network of women in state and district leadership, I witness daily the transformative impact women leaders have on their schools and communities. Look no further than the recently released “Bold Vision for Education Reform.” This bipartisan, comprehensive policy agenda transcends political divides, offering actionable solutions to elevate student achievement, address the mental health crisis, prepare for the impact of AI, and strengthen workforce readiness through innovative federal and state collaboration.
Held to different standards
The bipartisan policy vision highlights the unique ability of women leaders to build consensus and deliver progress, even in the face of complex challenges. That’s exactly the kind of positive impact that is getting harder as America’s schools find themselves in crisis.
The last few years have brought a host of new challenges that are complicating the already difficult issues that leaders have always faced: pandemic recovery, declining enrollment, chronic absenteeism, teacher shortages, and increasing political divides.
Districts and states that are effectively responding have realized that these new problems require new kinds of leaders who bring different perspectives, strengths and styles to the role. The 500-plus women leaders in our network bring this kind of leadership to the table daily. And yet for women who do ascend to these roles, the work often comes with an outsized toll.
Women Leading Ed’s 2025 National Insight Survey of state and district leaders across the country reveals a stark reality: nearly 60% of women leaders are considering leaving their roles due to stress and burnout, with 88% of those thinking about it daily, weekly, or monthly.
Equally alarming, 93% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that burnout is a significant problem for women in education leadership. And 88% acknowledged that women leaders are expected to prioritize work over their well-being—an expectation that compounds the strain of leadership.
At the same time, enduring barriers prevent talented women from rising to the highest positions in the first place. Nearly nine in 10 women leaders report feeling external pressure related to their gender, with younger leaders experiencing these pressures at even higher rates. They’re held to different standards, second-guessed in their decisions, and steered away from the finance and operations roles and experiences often required to advance to the superintendency.
Four essential areas
Through a collective commitment to supporting current and aspiring women in leadership and by strengthening the systems that underpin the leadership pipeline, we can address the barriers holding women back, unlock their full potential and ensure our education system benefits from the transformative leadership they bring. Progress across four strategic areas is essential to our success:
First, systems must create and promote intentional support systems for women in leadership. Sponsorship, where leaders actively push for career advancement opportunities for emerging leaders, can help open doors that remain closed for too many women.
On-the-job coaching, especially for superintendents, is critical to retaining talented women leaders navigating the challenges of leadership. Long-term strategies like “coaching trees” and robust succession planning can also ensure women have clearer paths to leadership.
High-quality networking opportunities are essential to building connections and support among women leaders who often lack access to informal networks dominated by men.
Second, rebalancing hiring and recruitment practices is critical. Districts and states must ensure rich candidate pools for leadership roles as research in the Harvard Business Review found that a finalist pool with just two women increased the likelihood of women getting hired 79-fold.
Training should also be provided for search committees and hiring teams to ensure hiring and interview processes are consistent. In both private and public, women seeking top jobs are too often asked questions that men are not, frequently hurting their chances of being hired. Publicly setting and reporting on the composition of leadership hires is an important layer of accountability to ensure progress is being made.
Third, providing family-friendly policies and well-being support can help retain women leaders and ensure all leaders thrive. Flexible work options, such as remote or hybrid arrangements, have been shown to reduce burnout and improve job satisfaction.
Districts and states should offer robust parental leave policies, childcare support and eldercare benefits to address the caregiving burdens that disproportionately fall on women. Comprehensive wellness supports are also key levers for stress management and ensuring long-term success for women in leadership roles.
Finally, systems must ensure equal pay for equal work and transparency around compensation. Women in education leadership continue to face pay disparities that discourage aspiring leaders and devalue their contributions.
This year, Equal Pay Day falls on March 25, showing that the average woman would need to work nearly three months more to earn what their male peers earned in 2024. Conducting regular pay audits to identify and rectify gaps and commit to publishing salary ranges in job postings to empower women with the tools they need to negotiate fair compensation. Transparency and accountability in compensation practices are vital to closing the gender pay gap in education.