Prejudice against Female Instructional Leaders in South Africa’s Rural Secondary Schools

Abstract

The main argument advanced in this chapter is that female school principals are more often than not disadvantaged by the patriarchal hegemonic tendencies typical of many African rural educational communities. Guided by the following research questions – What are the leadership experiences of female principals in secondary schools in South Africa? How does gender prejudice affect the instructional leadership practices of South African female school managers? What mechanisms are available to mitigate the gender role prejudices affecting female secondary school instructional leaders in South Africa? – the chapter adopts a feminist perspective as the lens for analysing the phenomenon of prejudice against women school principals. The chapter is framed along themes that include prejudicial experiences of women in leadership positions: A gendered perspective, the liberal feminist views on hegemonic masculinities as gender prejudice on leadership, the radical feminist view of prejudice against female school instructional leaders, the Marxist-socialist feminist view of prejudice against female instructional leaders, the views of cultural feminists on prejudice against female instructional leaders, the experiences of South African female instructional leaders in rural secondary schools, perceptions of gender and female school leadership in South Africa’s rural communities, the influence of gender role stereotypes on female instructional leaders in rural secondary schools and interventions to mitigate hegemonic masculinities in school leadership practices. The key findings include the strategies suggested towards the deconstruction of gender role stereotypes in social institutions. The conclusion is that unless the South African Department of Education steps up efforts towards eradicating the prevalent patriarchal ideologies and biases in South Africa’s secondary school leadership, feminine gender prejudice will take some time to be fully resolved. The recommendations made include that despite the initiatives made by the South African Department of Education in addressing gender disparities (by, for example, ensuring an equitable distribution of resources in schools) it is essential that the DoE steps up efforts to deal decisively with the hegemonic masculinities typical of the country’s social institutions.