Domestic Relationships of the Superintendency

School Administrator, Feb, 1997 by Krista Ramsey

A Research Study Examines the Impact of the Superintendent's Husband on Her Career

For 20 years, Sue Fulmer's career path followed the twists and turns of her husband's employment.

Six years ago, it was Sue Fulmer's turn to lead.

Her success as a teacher and mid-level administrator led to a desire to become a superintendent. When a position opened 40 miles from their home in the upstate New York community of Bolton Landing, her husband urged her to jump at it.

"It was time for me to be fair about it," Bob Fulmer says. "I wanted her to have the job satisfaction. I'm an education consultant. I can work anywhere."

The couple moved to Putnam Station, N.Y., and Sue has spent the last six years as superintendent of the Putnam Central School District.

Bob Fulmer, still Sue's strong supporter, has learned to adjust along the way.

"It's had a major impact on my life," he says. "Sue's in the office at 7. If she has evening meetings, sometimes she doesn't come home for the evening meal at all. It's not unusual for her to put in 16-hour days."

At home, Bob takes care of cooking and grocery shopping and is in charge of "one entertainment thing" a year for Sue's school board and faculty. At social events, Bob has no trouble taking a secondary role when everybody wants a word with the superintendent.

If his wife ever wants to move on to another district? "I'd be absolutely flexible," Bob says. "We'd make the decision together."

Sue Fulmer says her husband's encouragement has played a key role in her success. It has allowed her to freely respond to time demands, focus on career matters, and rely on her partner's understanding and interest in her job.

"If you don't have the support of your spouse, you can't be very successful in this job--not if your marriage comes first," she says.

Greater Scrutiny

A new piece of research suggests that the Fulmers may exemplify an unexplored issue in educational administration. A husband's support may have a powerful effect on females entering the superintendency and, to a lesser degree, succeeding in it.

While the opposite may be equally true--male superintendents rely as strongly on the support of their wives--some observers say a spouse's attitude has greater effect on females.

Women may have to fight harder, wait longer, and undergo more scrutiny to become a superintendent. Because they remain a minority in the profession (less than 10 percent), they often have smaller professional networks. Thus, the support of family, friends, and colleagues has added importance.

In addition, because many women continue to hold greater responsibility for family and domestic matters, the demands of the superintendency may cause more family adjustments for female superintendents and their spouses than for male administrators.

"Women absolutely have to have a healthy primary relationship, that trust and love, to take on a challenge like the superintendency," says Charlotte Sawyer, an 11-year veteran in her second superintendency in New-fane School District near Niagara, N.Y "The men need it, too, but I think many times they operate out of macho and don't realize how miserable they are without it."

Such issues were of special interest to Phyllis Hensley when she served as superintendent of Laurel Common School District on Long Island, N.Y As a doctoral student, she took the topic on as a research project, conducting case studies of 21 female superintendents in northeastern New York State.

Her thesis, titled "Husband of the Superintendent: His Impact on Decisions Regarding Her Job Acceptance, Performance and Retention," is the topic of considerable professional interest.

The study showed all of the married respondents (7 of the 21 were divorced or single) entered the job with strong support of their spouses and said it was necessary for undertaking the role.

"I think (my husband) had the greatest impact," said one superintendent, in a phrase echoed by many. "He was the driving force from day one.

Even so, most respondents said the move to the top spot was not easy. It came at the price of family time, privacy, and role changes within their marriages. The majority of the women said they would not relocate for another superintendency.

Uncomfortable Connection

Supporters of the work of Hensley, now an assistant professor at University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif., say it offers a look into the private concerns that affect the female superintendent, the tradeoffs she and her family make, and the outside factors that may affect her ability to be successful.

A failure to consider such things, says Gerry House, superintendent of Memphis City Schools, can lead women out of the profession. "They decide they shouldn't have aspired to the CEO level, that there's a mismatch between being a top executive and having a family," she says.

But some critics are uncomfortable with the emphasis on spouses and domestic concerns.

"I'd question the basic matter this study asks--what is the effect of the husband on the female taking and performing in the superintendency," says Marilyn Thilerico, an associate professor at Syracuse University who has studied females who leave the superintenclency. "Would we ask the same question of male superintendents? That's how we get into the invisible bias that permeates society."