Gender and headship in the twenty-first century

2. Gender-related work/life balance issues

The job of headteacher is a responsible, stressful and time-consuming one. For all
headteachers, men and women, there are work/life balance issues. When asked
why they think they were successful, hard work was cited by over 80 per cent of
them, with support from others coming in second at around 50 per cent. Meetings
take place in the evening and as a result the days spent at school can be very long.
Weekends and holidays will be spent preparing for the next week or term. However,
these demands are likely to impact on women more than men. Although complete
generalisation is unwise, it is usually women who bear responsibility for the home
and for the well-being of any children. Despite differences and changes between the
generations there are still issues which impact more on women than men. A good
way of contextualising the issues is to look at the figures relating to
marriage/partnership and children for the headteachers in 2004 (Table 9) and in the
1990s (Table 10).

Table 9: Marital/partner status of headteachers in 2004 %

Compared to men, more of the women, particularly in the secondary sector are single
or divorced and they are less likely to have a child or children (see Table 11). In
comparison with the 1990s, the figures for men have scarcely altered, but there is an
increase in the proportion of women secondary heads who are married and a
commensurate decrease in those that are single since the 1990s.

Table 10: Marital/partner status of secondary headteachers in 1990s

Although the picture for women is somewhat changed from previous surveys, there is
still a considerable difference in life experience for the women and the men
There has been an increase in the proportion of women secondary heads who are
married/partnered, but this has to be seen in the context of the total number of
women secondary heads which has grown from 670 in1996 to 980 in 2004. It could
be that a change in culture has meant that married women with children are less
likely to be discriminated against as potential headteachers. After all, there are
retention and recruitment difficulties throughout the teaching force including amongst
headteachers and therefore an incentive for those appointing to be more tolerant of
family circumstances. Cultural changes may also be taking place with regard to
work-life balance and it may also be a better climate to admit to being partnered
without being married. As might be expected, the proportion of women secondary
heads having children has also increased from the 1990s.

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