Abstract
Teaching is a profession dominated by women. Principalship, on the other hand, is an arena populated by men. This study, which reports from the Republic of Ireland, reveals the challenges and opportunities encountered by ten women, from a cross-section of school type and contexts, as they pursued a path to principalship. The nature of their personal contexts in addition to career ambitions formed in some cases earlier, in others later, in their teaching lives, acted as informants along their professional trajectories. Leadership is identified as a male prerogative, thereby providing additional hurdles for women as they cross the bridge to an arena that operates cultural climates conducive to male working practices. The women, in this study, articulated how national culture, organizational practices, and personal obligations all acted in tandem to assist or hinder in configuring their labyrinthine career aspirations.
Highlights
Postprimary teaching in the Republic of Ireland is a profession dominated by women
This study, which reports from a life story perspective, seeks to examine the career paths of female teachers who aspire to the position of postprimary principal in the Republic of Ireland
An interpretivist framework which sought to explore the central research question “What is the perspective of the aspirant principal cohort on becoming a postprimary principal in the Republic of Ireland?” was employed as the research paradigm
Summary
Postprimary teaching in the Republic of Ireland is a profession dominated by women Despite their numerical advantage, they are proportionally unrepresented at the principalship level. This study, which reports from a life story perspective, seeks to examine the career paths of female teachers who aspire to the position of postprimary principal in the Republic of Ireland It is concerned with exploring the enabling and constraining influences which inform and direct the route to senior leadership. An interpretivist framework which sought to explore the central research question “What is the perspective of the aspirant principal cohort on becoming a postprimary principal in the Republic of Ireland?” was employed as the research paradigm The women in this cohort interpreted the contextual variables informing their career decisions as playing a role in raising their awareness of the experiences they had encountered in the course of their professional and personal lives and the significance of such experiences for their career trajectories
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