Gender and headship in the twenty-first century

Table 19 Primary headteachers % choosing the gender related words that they
felt applied to them

There are some interesting differences between the men and women, but overall
their choices are very similar. Men primary heads were less likely than women
primary heads to say that they are disciplined and intuitive and much more likely to
say that they are informal. These differences cut across the 'gender paradigms'.
Secondary women were less likely to say that they were competitive and objective
than their male counterparts, making them slightly more 'feminine' in their choices.

Although staff in the schools were not asked about their view of the head, the heads
were asked something about their leadership and management practices in the
school.

What opportunities are there for staff to talk to you?

If the heads are open and consultative as they claim, they should be readily available
to the staff, and most of the heads, particularly the men claimed to be available most
of the time. In the case of the men heads, over 90 per cent of both secondary and
primary men said that they were available at any time (see Table 20).

Table 20: What opportunities are there for staff to talk to you?

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