News Photo by Julie Goldberg Posen Consolidated Schools Superintendent Michelle Wesner, left, talks with fourth-grader Callie Krajniak on Wednesday. Wesner is the only female superintendent in Northeast Michigan.

ALPENA — The school superintendent role is a male-dominated position, and that’s true in Northeast Michigan, where only one female superintendent leads a school district.

Posen Consolidated Schools Superintendent Michelle Wesner is the only female superintendent in Alpena, Presque Isle, Montmorency and Alcona counties. She said the position has traditionally been a male-dominated field, but, overall, there are more women in education.

The American Association of Superintendent Administrators reports that, in 2016, 1,984 of 13,728 superintendents were women, which only 14.5%.

Two reasons for women not becoming superintendent roles are that they’re not in positions that lead to becoming a superintendent and they’re not gaining superintendent’s credentials in preparation programs, the AASA reports.

Meanwhile, the National Center for Educational Statistics reports that the share of public school teachers who are women increased from 75% in the 1999-2000 school year to 77% in the 2015-16 school year.

Though they are not serving in superintendent roles, women are serving in leadership roles in Northeast Michigan. Five women are elementary school principals for Alpena Public Schools, with one woman principal each at Atlanta Community Schools, Hillman Elementary School, and Onaway Elementary School.

Along with her superintendent role, Wesner does double duty as Posen K-12 principal.

Although she is the only female superintendent in Northeast Michigan, Wesner feels equal to her male peers.

“The process I went through to get here is similar to the process that they went through to get to this point,” Wesner said. “I’ve never felt lesser or that I had any kind of disadvantage.”

Wesner went into school administration because she felt she needed to make change and moving up was her best way to make that happen.

“I have more say and I can work with more people to change the way education is in schools,” she said.

Scott Reynolds, superintendent of the Alpena-Montmorency-Alcona Educational Service District, said in an email to The News that he doesn’t consider gender to be a factor that makes one person better or worse to lead an organization.

“It’s about having the proper skillset and being the right fit for an organization,” Reynolds said. “I do believe this is an important topic and that gender should never be a discriminating factor. I do also think that stereotypical gender roles still do exist and that we are missing out on the opportunity to see exemplary women serve in the superintendent’s role.”

Wesner said women sometimes feel the need to prioritize their family time and responsibilities. Those could take away from the education and training that’s needed to become a principal or superintendent.

Advice Wesner would give to women who are interested in a superintendent role is to find a mentor. She had a mentor who helped groom her through different positions and ultimately, the superintendent’s job in Posen.

“Letting the leaders in the district know that this is something you’re interested in, being a leader in your building or your district to begin with, and then letting those above you know that that’s an interest,” Wesner said. “The best thing would be to find a mentor that knows this is what you’re interested in doing that’s already in that position and have them help guide you.”

Reynolds said the Michigan Association of School Administrators is serious about the low number of women superintendents in the state and is working to encourage more women to become a superintendent.

MASA held a Women in Leadership Conference in May that was designed for women to grow in their careers and network with others in the education field.

Julie Goldberg can be reached at 989-358-5688 or jgoldberg@thealpenanews.com. Follow her on Twitter @jkgoldberg12.