Gender and headship in the twenty-first century

Women were favoured as heads of all-girls' schools. Becoming a woman head of a
co-ed or boys' school was comparatively more difficult.

There were geographical differences, with women more likely to be a head in London
and other metropolitan areas and less likely to be a head in the shire counties.

Mentoring and the existence of role models were particularly important to women.

There was not much of evidence of the heads giving any special support for women
in terms of career development.

Work/life balance

There were difficulties for work/life balance for both male and female heads.

However, the lives of the women were more deeply affected. 96 per cent of the men
are married and 94 per cent have a child or children. 67 per cent of the women were
married and 53 per cent had a child or children. Thirteen per cent of women were
divorced or separated but only one or two per cent of men.

There were a number of differences between the older and younger women (nearly
all were between 40 and 60). The most important was that the younger women (40 -
50) were significantly less likely to have a child.

The women headteachers were often responsible for the majority of domestic work in
their households, this was not true for the male headteachers. The women heads
tended to be in dual career households and the male headteachers to be in
households where their wife or partner took overall responsibility for the running of
the home and the care of children.

Leadership style

In relation to perceptions of the leadership style of men and women heads the major
outcomes were:

The perceptions of both women and men headteachers were that there is a
stereotypical if outdated norm of authoritarian leadership held by governors and
parents, that endorses masculinity and therefore male leaders.

Contrary to masculine and feminine stereotypes, the self-perceptions of both men
and women headteachers were similar in relation to their management and
leadership style. Both men and women saw themselves as collaborative and people-
centred leaders, incorporating a number of both 'feminine' and 'masculine' qualities,
but tending towards the 'feminine'. However, there was a significant minority of older
women headteachers who tended towards a more 'masculine' style of leadership.

Women heads saw advantages in being women, because they could diffuse
aggression and felt free from the male stereotypes of headship.

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