The rate of superintendent turnover stayed high in the 500 largest school districts in the last year with leadership changes occurring at 1 in 5 districts. The gender gap in district leadership also remained largely unchanged while new data show significant disparities with respect to race.
These are the major findings of the 2024 update of the Superintendent Research Project—the only publicly available database and analysis of who is leading the nation’s largest school districts. The Superintendent Research Project is led by ILO Group, a women-founded national education strategy and policy firm. ILO Group founder and CEO, Dr. Julia Rafal-Baer noted this year’s data highlight important new developments and uncover persistent disparities in education leadership.
“Amidst continued high turnover at the top, the barriers preventing the advancement of talented women, especially women of color, remain deeply entrenched in our education systems,” Dr. Julia Rafal-Baer stated.
“Women are frequently diverted from crucial leadership opportunities through biased career pathways, damaging stereotypes about their leadership capabilities, and inequitable pay,” she noted. ”This year’s findings also expose significant racial disparities that continue to dictate who attains top leadership roles. Highlighting these issues is just the first step; we must take decisive action to dismantle these barriers. We need comprehensive policy changes to transform equality from a mere ideal into a tangible and integral part of our educational systems. The time for change is now—we must commit to ensuring our leadership reflects the full diversity and capability of our educators, ultimately benefiting our students and our communities.”
Between July 1, 2023 and July 1, 2024, a total of 100 districts experienced leadership changes among the top 500 largest districts in the country—or 20%. That is a nominal decrease from the 107 or 21.4% of districts that experienced leadership changes in the same time period the year prior. This turnover rate continues to exceed the 14 to 16 percent often cited in previous years.
Despite overall turnover holding at a high rate, the gap between the number of women who serve in those roles and the number of men remained the same. Women hold 30.4% of superintendencies, despite occupying nearly 8 in 10 teaching positions and more than half of principalships–an identical proportion to last year. When positions do open, similar to previously reported trends, the ILO Group researchers again found that men replace men 7 out of 10 times, and men replace women 6 out of 10 times.
From 2023 to 2024, 100 (20%) districts experienced leadership changes; 3 of those districts experienced 2 or more leadership changes within that one year span. A total of 103 transitions occurred, with 35 (34%) women leaders being selected as the incoming superintendent, compared to 68 (66%) male leaders being chosen.
This is a similar trend to the previous year, during which 107 (21.4%) districts experienced transitions and women superintendents were selected 37% of the time. The total number of women in the superintendent position in the top 500 largest districts was identical in 2023 and 2024 at 152 women in top positions. That zero growth-rate mirrors the steady state of women in top leadership positions in the private sector, including Fortune 500 CEOs.
The 2024 update also includes new reporting on race and ethnicity among school district leaders. Based on publicly available data, 200 (40%) of the top 500 superintendencies are held by leaders of color, 72 of them are women of color or 14% of all district superintendents.
There are also significant differences in educational attainment with respect to race and gender. Women are 15% more likely to hold a doctoral degree than their white male counterparts despite holding a smaller percent of superintendent positions. Fully 113 women of the 152 women superintendents in the top 500 hold doctorate degrees, or 74.3% of women overall. While white men have the lowest percentage of doctoral degrees at 64.1% (141) and continue to have the highest share of superintendencies.
Different regions of the country have markedly different percentages of women in top education positions:
- The Northeast (37 districts):
- Women hold 20 (54%) of all district superintendencies.
- Women of color hold 15 (41%) of all district superintendencies.
- The Midwest (65 districts):
- Women hold 20 (31%) of all district superintendencies.
- Women of color hold 13 (20%) of all district superintendencies.
- The West (149 districts):
- Women hold 44 (30%) of all district superintendencies.
- Women of color hold 15 (10%) of all district superintendencies.
- The Southeast (152 districts):
- Women hold 33 (22%) of all district superintendencies.
- Women of color hold 16 (11%) of all district superintendencies.
- The Southwest (97 districts):
- Women hold 36 (37%) of all district superintendencies.
- Women of color hold 13 (13%) of all district superintendencies.
Using the Superintendent Research Project as a basis for advocacy, Women Leading Ed released its playbook of policies and practices to close the gender gap in education leadership, including:
- Create and promote intentional support systems to prepare women for leadership roles
- Re-balance the hiring process through requirements and the promotion of best practices
- Provide family and wellbeing supports
- Set public goals for female leadership and increase transparency
- Ensure financial fairness
To view the full data set of the nation’s 500 largest school districts, including past releases of the Superintendent Research Project, click [here].