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Pennsylvania superintendents: By the numbers

Superintendents-map.png

This map details how many male vs. female superintendents there were in Pennsylvania counties in 2017-18. (Ed Mahon/PA Post)

(Undated) — Women are a lot less likely than men to lead school districts in Pennsylvania.  

But those women who do hold the superintendent job tend to earn a little more than their male counterparts.

That’s according to a PA Post analysis of salary records for the leaders of 490 Pennsylvania school districts. The figures include acting and substitute superintendents in 2017-18. But even if you take those positions out of the mix, the results are similar or identical.

Here’s a look at the numbers.

Of those 490 superintendents:

  • 352 were men. That’s 72 percent.
  • 138 were women. That’s 28 percent.

The median salary was:

  • $137,000 for the male superintendents.
  • $139,525 for the female superintendents.

More: Search Pennsylvania superintendent salaries for the 2017-18 school year

When it comes to experience:

  • The median male superintendent had 24.5 years of experience in education.
  • The median female superintendent had 25 years of experience in education.

And when it comes to education levels, women were more likely to have a doctoral degree:

  • About 65 percent of the female superintendents had a doctoral degree.
  • About 48 percent of male superintendents had a doctoral degree.

The size of the school districts was similar for both men and women.

  • The median male superintendent led a district with 2,044 students.
  • The median female superintendent led a district with 2,034 students.

And women tended to earn more even when you adjust for the different population sizes of districts.

  • The median male superintendent earned $65.91 for every student in his district.
  • The median female superintendent earned $68.55 for every student in her district.

Which counties have the highest percentage of female superintendents?

In 11 counties, there were either more female than male superintendents or an equal amount.  Most of them are smaller counties. You can see more information in the interactive map below.

Male vs. female superintendents: County by county

In the interactive map below, you can see how many male vs. female superintendents there were in Pennsylvania counties in 2017-18. 

Red = No female superintendents

Gray = Some female superintendents, but less than half the superintendents in a county were women.

Black = Half the superintendents or more in a county were women.

Source: Pennsylvania Department of Education data; PA Post analysis.

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