What perceived imbalances in power might be contributing to the puzzlement?
White females continue to predominate in school staff positions despite recent employment and empowerment of professionals from non-Eurocentric cultures. Parents and students may feel disenfranchised in this situation. Recruiting professionals from diverse cultural backgrounds for faculty and staff positions can help to reduce their sense of powerlessness. In many schools, neither students nor parents from non-majority cultures have much power to influence decisions about students’ education. Davidson (1996) found that high school students felt powerless when they experienced depersonalized relationships with adult authorities and bureaucratic practices based on adult control. When parents have little power to influence educational practices, they may distrust the system and convey that sentiment to students. Involving students in decisions that affect them (Davidson, 1996) and fostering parental empowerment in school-level decisions (Harrison, 1993) can promote student success. Anothe
