Barriers to Women’s Promotion in Primary School Management Positions

Abstract

The teaching profession is dominated by female educators. However, the irony is that most top school management positions are currently occupied by male educators. Unfortunately, most researches dealing with the issues of under-representation of women in management position tend to focus on gender differences. Less or no attention has so far been paid to the fact that most school management positions, and thus most schools staff selection committees are dominated by men. The objective of the present research is to find out whether the perception on women under-representation, is in any way affected by the fact that respondents in this research are occupying school management positions or not. The research question guiding this study is: to what extent does holding a management position affect the educators' perception on the causes of under-representation of women in school management positions? The research methods employed to emerge with data relevant for this study were primarily literature review and interviewing technique with 20 primary educators systematically and purposefully selected from five public primary schools in the Lulekani Circuit, Mopani District, Limpopo Province in South Africa. The findings indicated that occupying school management positions influences the respondents' perceptions on some factors but gender seems to be the main cause of these observed differences in others. The complex and contradictory nature of these findings justify the need for further studies around the gender equity at secondary schools.