M. Ed. (Educational Management) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

MGS / Institute for Gender and Youth Studies

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This research focused on the experiences of female principals of co-ed high schools in the Western Cape. It investigated the path that their careers followed from the decision to become a teacher to ultimately being appointed as a principal and then having to lead the school. It further investigated the personal, organisational and social factors that were influential along the way. In addition, it probed the motivation and drive behind their career choice as well as the barriers and challenges encountered along the way. The researcher interviewed nine female principals. They were asked to tell their life story, with emphasis on their career route thus far. Key questions were asked, focusing on the motivation behind their career choice, whether they had been actively prepared for promotion and how their appointment was received. The interviews were transcribed in order to prepare them for data analysis. Any content that recorded experiences that contributed to their growth and development in teaching was coded accordingly. This produced a spectrum of codes. The codes were then placed into a diagram and grouped together, based on their meaning and implications. Identified groups included education and training, self-belief, work-life balance, mentorship, support and the stereotyping of women. The interconnectedness of the group was considered, together with their collective impact on the individual principals’ career route. The research findings indicated that the career route of the principals was determined by various factors on a personal level as well as on organisational and social levels. On a personal level, qualifications obtained and the influence of parents, family and own teachers played a role. This was critical in preparing the individual for the career path that was to follow. On an organisational level, opportunities taken, work ethic, mentorship and gender barriers were factors encountered. On a social level, the stereotyping of women and the changing family structure were factors that had to be contended with. Once appointed, it was found that the support from family, colleagues and learners contributed to their success. It emerged that the potential of these women had been identified early on in their careers and that they gained confidence when they were granted opportunities to learn and grow. To become a principal was in most cases never their intention but something that developed as they went about doing their work with commitment and diligence. Throughout, it remained a priority for them to invest in the lives of learners and the greatest joy was derived from seeing learners develop into young adults who were contributing to society.

This thesis examines South African policies addressing gender inequality in education management, and interrogates whether or not these policies made a difference to the career route of women principals of secondary schools. The under-representation of women in education management has been a long observed problem in many countries including South Africa. A number of initiatives have been put in place to address this issue but little improvement is seen in the South African situation in education management. The purpose was to understand why women are still under represented in school management and to learn from their experiences. The study used data from three sources. Firstly, policy documents and practices were analysed in terms of their symbolic, regulative and procedural functions. Secondly, the personal accounts of 28 women principals in KwaZulu-Natal who had been appointed after 1994 were collected through the use of extended interviews, and thirdly, interviews were conducted with key officials and members of School Governing Bodies that had participated in the selection of principals. The data generated were analysed at two levels in order to understand the factors constraining the participation of women in education management. At the micro level, I use the 'management route model' as an analytical framework that identifies the three phases women principals go through in their career route, namely anticipation, acquisition and performance (van Eck and Volman, 1996). The model reveals that factors influencing women's career paths into management are very complex and based firstly on the individual agency where women grapple with more internal issues such as professional qualifications and experience, aspirations, lack of ambition and family responsibilities. Secondly, these factors are at the organisational level where women suffer discrimination at the recruitment and selection processes, and lack of institutional support through mentoring and sponsorship. Thirdly, it is the social level, which involves the cultural discourses in which women operate. These discourses include sex role stereotypes that inform the social expectations about the role of men and women in society. On the macro level, I use feminist theory to interpret and understand the women's experiences and findings in general. The findings reveal that policy interventions put in place since 1994 to close the gender gap were mostly informed by liberal feminism that focused on affirming women in order to gain access into the school management without tackling the social practices that are defined by sex role socialisation and which therefore continue to work subtly and insidiously towards the discrimination of women. I conclude that although the liberal feminist interventions that have been put in place have been useful to some extent, the problems impeding women's full participation in education management cannot only be tackled at a policy level because this attempt leaves the most problematic social practices intact. However, I argue for policy and legal intervention as a starting point to combat the gender crisis in a society that has inherited so much inequality. While I acknowledge that women of all races in South Africa have all been negatively impacted upon by the historical and traditional values and expectations on the role of women and men in society, I argue that the situation has been worse for women of the Black African race, who suffered dual oppression in terms of gender and race. The study proposes the need to look beyond provision of legal and democratic reforms and more into social practices that prevent legal reforms from reaching the desired goals. Social structures and cultural practices that hamper the greater representation of women should be dealt with in order to allow women freedom to participate in discourses where their choice is not informed by gender subordination. / Theses (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006.

Research Report submitted to the School of Education, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Education. February 2016 / This study explores the experiences of two women principals in leading suburban co-educational high schools in Gauteng province, South Africa. It sought to explore and understand the experiences of two women principals and their leadership roles through the consideration of their challenges, their successes and their leadership styles as demonstrated in their school contexts. Gender and leadership is an area which remains under-researched in both the South African and the national and international educational leadership fields (Faulkner, 2015; Moorosi, 2010 & 2012). Also in South Africa there is very little knowledge of the experiences of women leading suburban co-educational high schools formerly known as Model C schools (Lumby & Heystek, 2011). This context is particularly interesting and important considering the dramatic change in demography of these schools after 1994, which impacts upon how women principals, in particular, experience and lead these diverse schools and their very diverse communities. As the schools now have heterogeneous ethnic and cultural populations, principals face many different challenges in leadership. In a very patriarchal and traditional culture, which typifies South Africa, it was considered an important aspect of the research to understand the experiences of women specific to these under-researched school contexts. The research methodology chosen as the most appropriate is a qualitative, interpretivist approach which uses a case study. The two high schools in the case study were purposefully sampled because they were led by women and they were former Model C schools in Gauteng, to the west and north, which under the apartheid regime served only white learners and communities in former affluent white suburban areas. The participants in this study were the two women principals of the two suburban schools. The research instruments chosen were a semi structured questionnaire, loosely based on Coleman’s questionnaire from her study of UK head teachers (2001), and follow-up probing interviews to gain more in depth responses to key areas of interest. The research was underpinned by a theoretical framework that contends that context plays a significant role in the two women’s experiences and how this might impact upon challenges to their leadership as women, (Christie & Lingard, 2001). Cubillo and Brown (2011) posited in their research that context is critical to women’s experiences of leadership, even more than is the case for male leaders. Evidence from the data collected and analysed in addressing the research questions shows that the two women principals were negatively affected by entrenched patriarchal attitudes within the communities they served. Contexts of former Model C schools played a pivotal role in the two women’s experiences as they employed the leadership styles they considered as the ones that best fitted the situations imposed by diverse ethnic and cultural communities. The misconception about former Model C schools, as still being sites of affluence and privilege, also contributed to their challenges, given the demographic changes that contradict this assumption. Despite these challenges, the two women remained strong with the determination to lead successfully ‘against the odds’ (Coleman, 2001). Family support, work experience, qualifications, confidence and their leadership styles also contributed to their success. This study recommended the need for further research through a longitudinal and wide ranging study of women’s experiences of leadership and specifically on the nature of leadership in these under-researched co-educational former Model C high schools. Keywords Gender and leadership, Principalship, South African High Schools, Discrimination, Patriarchy, Glass Ceilings and Walls,

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Humanities, School of Education, 2011

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2006. / Title from PDF title page screen. Advisor: Carolyn Riehl; submitted to the School of Education. Includes bibliographical references (p. 117-126).

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 108-113). Also available on the Internet.

Title from second page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 109-113).

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 108-113). Also available on the Internet.