Breaking Barriers and Empowering Women Leaders to Drive School Improvement

Introduction

There has been underrepresentation of qualified women in leadership positions which has created gender gap and it exists not only in education but in many areas of the workplace. Since, society has determined that only males make good leaders; therefore, it continues to confine access for women in seeking leadership roles as they do not fit the norm. However, there are much evidence that increasingly suggests a direct connection between female school leaders and positive learning outcomes (D’sa et al., 2023). Apparently, women have the potential to possess the position of leaders in academic sector; however, their roles as leaders are still far from achieving gender equality with men in leading positions. There are many studies that state that the organization that has female leader is most likely associated with better performance as females make different policy decisions which are quite progressive for the organization. In this respect, Kovaleva et al. (2023) says that women improve the quality of governance as their leadership potentially brings progress in the management areas.

Women’s potential is seen mostly in the educational institutions as women dominate the profession of teaching in many countries. On the other hand, the work environment is typically complex in education sector; hence it develops the issue of gender equality. It is also being noted that the career progression of women leaders is slower as compared to male leaders in education sector; therefore, this condition has severe implications on women’s career advancement, and it minimizes career growth opportunities (Geffner, 2023). Thus, the present study is made as an attempt to describe how female leadership promotes education improvement and how the overall culture of the education institution improves gender equality in the society. Despite of various challenges and obstacles, the study developed by Coleman (2009) states that women leadership in schools not only improves the quality of education but also it creates a positive impact on the learning process of the students especially with those that have learning difficulties.

It is also identified that having female leaders in schools helps in creating an environment that supports and underpins academic aspects as they emphasize more on students and their learning needs. This is a significant contribution from female leaders in improving the quality of education in schools; henceforth considering this aspect the present study will discuss the importance of promoting female leadership in education sector. Nonetheless, the notion about school leaders typically refers to principals even though they are not directly involved in the learning process in the classrooms (Main et al., 2022). The roles of school leaders are vital in planning, organizing and making effective decisions to manage all the activities of the school; henceforth the quality of the principal’s leadership is contemplated as an essential criterion for overall school improvement. There are many countries where women are allowed to become school leaders because the determined standard of the principal is emphasized more as per their competencies and strengths. Thus, this provides females the same opportunities to become leaders in educational institutions (Longman & Madsen, 2014).

Women leadership is not only about giving senior positions or opportunities to women, but it is more about considering women capable of handling both work and family life equally. There has been underrepresentation of women in leadership which is why it is holding women back from becoming good leaders. Apart from gender issues, there are several reasons to care about women leadership gap so as to move beyond traditional stereotypes (Kairys, 2018). The study will shed light on some of the reasons for which females are to be promoted especially for school leadership positions as it tends to have a positive influence on educational outcomes. Apart from this, the study will also discuss the impact of female leadership on education improvement and how it builds the social standards in the countries. The implications of women leadership on education development will be supported with the evidence collected from secondary sources on different countries.