Secondary Education Principals/Superintendents
OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the self-perceived emotional-social intelligence and the self-perceived leadership effectiveness of New Jersey educational administrators in relation to issues potentially complicated by gender. METHODOLOGY Over 500 New Jersey public school administrators were invited to participate in this study via email and 36 completed the Leadership Practices Inventory and 38 completed the Emotional Quotient Inventory (Bar-On, 1997). The sample was equally divided between men and women.
KEY FINDINGS No significant differences were found between men and women on any of the five leadership practices or on EQI. Significant correlations were found between each leadership practice and emotional intelligence (EQI). The average scores on the five leadership practices in this sample were significantly higher than those reported in the Kouzes Posner normative database. The author notes: “The results from my sample illustrate, in a limited manner, that there are no differences in emotional-social intelligence levels or leadership styles between male and female school leaders. At least in this sample, both women and men come to the table, when they can find a seat, with the same knowledge and abilities” (pp. 95-96). “While some might have initially suspected otherwise, it is evident that there were no significant differences in the results between gender sets in my sample. The outcomes were statistically clear. With the knowledge that there are no significant differences between male and female school administrators in regard to emotional-social intelligence and leadership styles, how should the nonsignificant results be interpreted? Perhaps it is time to take a critical look at what is common ground and what is not in school organizations, in the institutions that are responsible for training future school leaders, and in organizational structure as a whole” (p. 100).