Gender and headship in the twenty-first century

On appointment where two women on the staff thought they were better able
to do my job.

The idea that women may be regarded as superior in some respects to men was not
at all common in the 1990s, but has now fed through to a few men in the secondary
as well as the primary sector. Men secondary heads who were in their 40s
commented on the perception that men had to prove themselves on: ‘emotional
intelligence issues’, and ‘demonstrating that a man can be sensitive’.

Reasons for career success

The headteachers were most inclined to put down their success to their own hard
work. At least 80 per cent put this first, with support from others also seen as
important, especially by women primary heads. Otherwise the heads put their
success down to personal skills and the fact that they had proved themselves in the
workplace and in having a vision for their school. Some women heads in early years
related their success to the fact that they were operating in a female environment: 'I
think as my first headship was infant I was only really competing with other women'
(primary head in early 50s)

Being a head is not always a desirable job, and several heads of all types (although
primary women heads less so) stressed that they did not see that being a head could
be counted as a success any more. For example, one woman secondary head in her
40s felt that: 'It is not a competitive field - the job is no longer attractive'. A woman
secondary head in her 50s put her success down to: 'a willingness to take on a
challenging school as an acting headteacher - very high risk'.

Do men or women feel that they have an advantage as a headteacher?

Despite or perhaps because of being the 'outsider' half of the women secondary
heads and nearly half the men primary heads state that they think they have an
advantage because of their sex. Only 22 per cent of the men secondary heads and
29 per cent of the women primary heads feel this (see Table 17).

Table 17: Gender experienced as an advantage as a headteacher

Of the women, particularly those from the secondary sector, who felt that they had an
advantage as a female headteacher, the main reason cited was the ability to defuse
situations with male students, teachers and parents where they felt that a man might
feel challenged and have a harder time. Two typical comments from women
secondary heads in their late 40s are:

Aggressive fathers soon mellow!

I can diffuse aggressive situations

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