Gender disparity at the leadership level of large (defined by the National Association of Independent Schools [NAIS] as > 700 students) K-12 independent schools is a critical and persistent issue in the ongoing effort to foster equity and justice in historically white and male-led independent schools in the United States. The number of women…

Purpose: This study is part of a larger study of 18 aspiring school leaders that aims to understand how gender identity and gender performance impacted their experience in the K-12 independent school leadership pipeline. One of the key findings was that meritocracy played an important role in how individuals understood what the outcomes of their…