School Leadership is not for Me:Perspectives of Post-Primary Female Teachers in the Republic of Ireland

The proliferation of women in post-primary teaching in the Republic of Ireland contrasts sharply with the limited numbers who inhabit the position of principal. Women who don't go forward for leadership roles, can often be... [ view full abstract ]

The proliferation of women in post-primary teaching in the Republic of Ireland contrasts sharply with the limited numbers who inhabit the position of principal. Women who don't go forward for leadership roles, can often be accused of 'opting out' thus giving the impression that lack of women in leadership is simply a matter of personal choice. The divergence between the number of women teachers and the number of women who are school principals reflects a societal trend which sees many women actively participating in the labour force but with an inverse proportion in leadership positions. To target one area or another for scrutiny to explain this phenomenon is to take a reductionist view of of what is essentially a complex issue; there is no one solution because this is not a unitary problem. In accepting that those women who who have acceded to leadership positions in a variety of organisations are not the only women with competences to execute the demands of leadership, is to recognise that there are women who can lead but choose not to do so. What, therefore, informs the career paths of these women?

This exploration, being part of a larger study on women and the principalship, presents the results from a group of female teachers who expressed antipathy towards principal application. It examines their perspectives, of the perceived obstacles and the perceived enablers that have characterised their career paths to date. The women were unanimous in their condemnation of the demands of principalship, considering it an unforgiving taskmaster, rewarding little and demanding much. The Catholic Church in the Republic of Ireland has a long history of school provision. Its patriarchal nature has, until very recently, safeguarded the male as the more entitled gender to leadership accession. The pervasiveness of a gendered culture which supports inequality, both in the workplace where it harbours masculine systems of practice, and the home which is equated with feminine systems of practice, convinces some women that leadership comes at too high a price.