A certain type of male colleague (2 - 3 on my staff) have a 'bullying' approach
to me when I need to speak with them about an issue, concern or complaint.
Responses have on occasion been very aggressive verbally.
Men in senior positions have had noticeable difficulty in coping with me
especially when they have not completed a task designated.
Women are also occasionally named as being judgmental about women leaders,
particularly in relation to their family responsibilities, and specifically when they have
young children. One woman secondary head in her early 40s commented that she
had comments about her: 'first application for headship following maternity leave
from colleagues/governors. Especially from a small number of parents who enquired
when I was going to be a proper mother to my children!' A woman secondary head
in her early 40s commented that she had experience of sexism: 'when pregnant at an
all-boys school - but the sexism came from women who expected me to give up
work, not from my male colleagues!'
Meetings of heads
One of the difficulties that women heads may face once in headship is working with a
majority of male heads in their region. Although things have obviously improved
since the 1990s, there are a number of instances of women still being isolated in
these larger groups of predominantly male heads. A woman secondary head in her
late 40s commented that she is the 'only female head in LEA - heads' meetings
started with a full English breakfast and talk about rugby and cricket.' A woman in
the same age group that: 'my current LEA has several senior officers who treat me
differently, as I am the only female secondary head in the LEA. This is a very serious
issue which affects my working life.' As mentioned earlier there are considerable
regional variations in the proportion of women secondary heads.
It is not only secondary women heads who feel this sort of pressure in working with
groups of heads and the LEA. A women primary head in her late 40s notes that:
'when I am working with the local heads’ group, female headteachers are not
included or asked for opinions to the same extent as male counterparts. This
appears to improve with length of service as a head.' A woman primary head in her
early 50s commented that: 'partnership headteacher meetings are male dominated
and sexist attitudes apparent'.
There is a link between this type of sexist attitude and the size of the school, which
indicates a male 'pecking order' putting large secondary schools at the top, followed
by small secondary schools then, large primary followed by small primary. A woman
secondary head in her late 50s recalled: 'a male head told me my school wasn't a
real school as his was 1200 pupils to my 750 and I was only playing'. Men express
disbelief that a woman could be running a large secondary school. A woman
secondary head in her early 40s stated:
At heads’ conferences it is often assumed I am a primary head. Then when I
say secondary, they say 'what size school is it?' Does this matter? It
suggests that if it is a small school women are more likely to head it. Men
don't ask men what size their school is as the first question!
Another head indicated that she experienced: 'surprise on first meetings that I am not
"just" a primary school teacher'. One primary woman head tersely commented: 'small
school/female head - no consequence/impact'.
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