Most of my teachers at the Academy have been female. In fact, in my first year here, every one of my teachers was female. It was not until recently that I reflected on how deeply my education has been shaped by women and what that reveals about gender norms within the school. Albuquerque Academy is privileged to have a female Head of School, Julianne Puente, and an female Assistant Head of School, Christine Lenhart, alongside many other women in leadership roles across campus. However, it is not only Albuquerque Academy. Bosque School and Sandia Preparatory School are also led by women. While these schools appear to model gender equity in education, they experience subtler gender bias that shapes the classroom and campus environment. Which begs the question, does having a private, progressive community necessarily create a supportive environment for female students? Although we have women in leadership and teaching roles across the Academy campus, gender expectations still shape respect, authority, and daily interactions in our community.
Historically, teaching has been a female-dominated profession, and also one of the most undervalued. In fact, according to the National Center for Education Statistics women made up 77% of public school teachers in 2021 and 54% of principals a few years prior. Despite being over-represented in education, women are consistently paid less than their male counterparts with similar qualifications. Male teachers, on average, earn $2,200 more than female teachers with female principals also receiving lower salaries than male principals according to the Institute of Education Sciences. But these disparities don’t just affect salaries, they show up in daily interactions, influencing who gets listened to, who gets interrupted, and who is in charge. According to a survey by Women Leading Ed, 86% of women leaders in education reported feeling like they had to dress, speak, behave in a certain way because of their gender.
Gender bias appears at the Academy in these subtle ways and is easy to overlook. For instance, a female teacher may be interrupted mid-sentence, or a class may automatically listen more when a male teacher raises his voice, or a student could approach a teacher differently according to their gender. These moments may seem small, but they shape the classroom environment and the way we perceive professionalism.
Ms. Doss, A 10-12 English teacher, remarked on the gender bias she has experienced previously: “Pretty much every job I’ve ever had before this one, the way I dressed and the way I looked was a point of conversation.” Rather than conforming to traditional ideas of professionalism and gender stereotypes, her fashion and makeup choices are intentional, declaring strongly that she believes that “be[ing] qualified to do a job doesn’t have anything to do with the way that you look.”
Her experience reflects how professionalism is directly related to gender perception. It exposes a pattern in which female teachers are held to much stricter standards than male teachers. While male teachers are rarely criticized for their style choices, women are expected to appear approachable and warm and follow the dress code strictly. However, these expectations go beyond just affecting female-identifying teachers as they are “also restrictive for male and gender non-conforming teachers.” Doss explained that women are often put in caretaking roles, expected to offer more emotional responses and support, while male teachers face problems when they try to lead with the same care.
This dynamic is especially noticeable in classrooms, with male teachers often having an easier time quieting students and being respected as authority figures. A male 8-9 English teacher, Mr. Nash says that students tend to respect older teachers over younger ones, and male over female. He also remarked that perception of authority is incredibly important because “if a male teacher is strict, he is just a teacher. If a woman is very strict, she’s emotional.” This is a clear example of the double-standard in leadership.
Nash added that female teachers are required to put in more effort to manage classroom behavior. While girls respond well to redirection, boys take much longer to focus, possibly because “they are much less mature, so it takes a lot more work.” He described moments when managing behavior has required him to move boys to different seats for supervision: a common practice in classrooms.
These differences are not a question of ability, but show how internalized gender norms have become, especially from a young age. Some boys have grown up without proper examples of healthy masculinity or respect for female authority, and schools are playgrounds for these ideas.
Students notice these challenges as well. When asked about what gender bias she has received at the Academy, Rosa ‘26, said that she notices gender expectations especially in extracurriculars such as Speech and Debate and Mock Trial. She also mentioned how gendered school dress codes are. Although the Academy has a more relaxed dress code, people still comment on clothes that can “illustrate gender biases.” Much like Ms. Doss, Rosa comments on how the image of success is directly tied to gendered clothing.
And it’s not just outward perception, it’s internal expectations for what a woman or a man should sound like. It’s even as subtle as noticing the way female and male students and teachers take up space. For example, when women are assertive, they are “seen as bossy, where boys are seen as leaders,” Rosa says. This is something that she believes is very prominent at the Academy, even if it is unintentional.
Nonetheless, Rosa agrees that having a female Head of School and female Assistant Head are excellent ways to find representation as a female student. She added that she finds some comfort in knowing that “a lot of these female teachers have experienced the same biases that female students experience and, through that, [she] feel[s] like they’re less likely to perpetuate them.”
At the leadership level, addressing gender bias requires intentionality and thought. Christine Lenhart, the Assistant Head of School, reflected on challenges she has faced throughout her career. One instance stands out: when she was introduced as an assistant principal at a prior institution, the parents thought the principal was joking and “they actually started to laugh.” She explained that her gender and younger age led some to question her qualifications. Despite this, she was very effective in the role, leaning into discipline with a different perspective than her male colleagues.
In another position at a prior institution, she found that she was being paid less than her male counterparts. And when she served as division head alongside two male deans, parents assumed that she was not in charge because of her gender. She described other instances where male colleagues and parents questioned her authority, suggesting that she “couldn’t understand certain perspectives.” Although, the same could be said for male authority figures who do not understand female perspectives. Nonetheless, perspectives do not have to be gendered to be understood.
Despite having these experiences, Dr. Lenhart shared that she feels “very supported at the Academy as a female leader.” She still remains very attentive on how gender operates in classrooms and on campus. Previously, she has taught Science and Math, which are both male-dominated fields. In these specific spaces, she noticed that men spoke more so she started to monitor whose voices dominate in discussion. She emphasized that gender bias is not always obvious, but it is something the Academy watches for closely, particularly when it shows up through subtle or backhanded language.
When asked about where she still sees gender bias on campus, Dr. Lenhart pointed to athletics, observing that, oftentimes, there are larger crowds and displays of enthusiasm for male athletic games than female. This shows how gender norms extend beyond academics. Internally, when making decisions about hiring or diversity, she prioritizes students’ needs, explaining that she wants “students to identify with people that work here in whatever way.” However, representation does not eliminate gender bias; it also stems from students and internalized gender expectations. Young women must learn how to navigate confidence, authority, and identity in schools, and Dr. Lenhart encourages them to “be brave and have courage and say what [they] think even when it’s hard.”
These experiences reveal that Albuquerque Academy and other private institutions have taken meaningful steps toward gender equity and representation, but that alone does not eliminate bias. Even so, gender expectations around authority and behavior still affect how students and teachers are perceived on campus. Recognizing these patterns is the first step to changing this environment. As Mr. Nash observed, “So much of the social world is built on the idea that we’re distinctly different and, therefore, must play distinctly different roles. But [he] do[esn’t] think that’s been shown to be true.” Moving beyond gender limitations and assumptions allows schools like Academy to model representation in leadership and, more than that, it creates an environment where the whole community is respected equally.
