Gender and headship in the twenty-first century

What can we learn from the heads' views in relation to work/life balance
issues?

The difficult job of being a headteacher is not lightly undertaken, and sacrifices are
almost inevitable. However, it does seem that women headteachers contend with
additional difficulties. In comparison with their male colleagues, they are:

less likely to be married/in partnerships;

more likely to be divorced;

less likely to have children

but when they have them, more likely to take responsibility for children;
more likely to bear responsibilities for domestic issues;

more likely to take a career break;

less likely to return to the same level after a career break.

In addition, in comparison with their female colleagues, male headteachers are much
more likely to have a partner whose career takes second place, meaning that they
are freer to offer support in a variety of ways.

The origin of these inequalities lies within the patriarchal nature of our society and
cannot be overcome at the institutional level. However, those with responsibility in
and for schools need to have awareness of the differential loads that men and
women may bear and of the need for family friendly policies for the benefit of both
women and men. For example the need for childcare facilities in or near schools,
allowing flexibility of working hours for those with the care of very young children and
making the return from a career break easier.

Learning points

To accommodate work/life balance issues more fully it would be important to:

Nurture a culture in the school that is tolerant in relation to families,
particularly children and elderly dependants;

Recognise that women are likely to be bearing most of the family and
domestic responsibilities, particularly in primary schools;

Ensure that women experience an equitable return to work after
maternity leave or other break associated with children;

Recognise and encourage paternity leave;

Work/life balance issues affect us all, but for women the tensions are likely to be
greater than for men because of their social role. When asked about their
perceptions of sexism and gender related issues at work, what were the responses of
the headteachers?

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