In addition women and men sometimes believe that women have superior social
skills in this area:
Dealing with difficult people - women have better mediation skills and are
more likely to seek compromise (woman secondary head in her 40s).
The next most frequently mentioned advantage was the ease with which women
heads, particularly in the primary sector feel that they can empathise with mothers
and women staff.
Parents see you as a mother as well as a head, i.e. feel that you understand
in difficult times.
Staff are able to talk to me about personal issues. Parents and children too I
suppose.
Empathy with mothers who are struggling to cope.
(women primary heads in their 40s)
Women in both the secondary and primary sector are quite shameless about using
their femininity to the advantage of their school.
Whether it is because I am female or because of personality/determination, I
am not sure, but some men are influenced quite easily.
Usually with workmen the odd fluttering of eyelashes means they'll paint an
extra wall etc!
Unashamedly, I use it to get sponsorship for LEA projects.
I can usually gain 'extras' and more discount when negotiating with male reps.
You can charm when necessary, e.g. when trying to raise £50,000 for
specialist school sponsorship.
There is also the 'shock' factor of being a woman that can work in their favour. One
secondary head in her early 40s commented that in a new post she was a 'direct
contrast to a former “big” male. People stop and take note.' Another slightly older
woman secondary head commented that: 'when you prove you “can” the impact on
“doubters” is even greater.'
In the earlier survey of secondary women heads in the 1990s there was a refreshing
realisation that women in this role did not have to conform to the 'masculine'
stereotype of the traditional head and some of them really welcomed the freedom of
being a woman in a stereotypically male role. That more positive slant on being a
woman is not as apparent with the 2004 survey. Instead, there is more stress on the
use of charm and feminine wiles and more mention of the positive stereotypes about
women, for example that they have greater emotional intelligence and the ability to
multi-task. It is difficult to draw conclusions from these differences in the tenor of the
comments, but the vulnerability of heads in relation to increased accountability may
have meant that the freedom of action that women mentioned in connection with
being a head in the 1990s has been curtailed.
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