WOMEN'S POWER MOTIVE AND THE IMPACT ON ADMINISTRATION IN TWO LARGE SOUTH FLORIDA SCHOOL DISTRICTS

There is no question that the percentage of women in administrative positions is disproportionate to the number of women who make education their career. That this number is declining is well documented. External factors blamed for this disparity are many; school board prejudices, community attitudes, and the organization of school systems, are but a few. This study is important because it investigates the intrinisic motivation of women. The question considered is, Are women motivated to seek administrative jobs? The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between motivation and employment of women in education. The data was collected by giving David Winter's Power Motive test to both sexes of administrators and teachers. Winter's instrument assesses power motivation from stories subjects make up to describe a series of ambiguous pictures. Stories were scored using Winter's scoring system. It was determined that there was no significant difference in the power motive of men and women, whether they were teachers or administrators. There was, however, a very significant difference between the power motive scores of teachers and administrators, with teachers having a higher power motive score.