Female School Principals in Canada and South Africa: An Overview

• Main Author: Leentjie van Jaarsveld
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bulgarian Comparative Education Society (BCES) 2020-09-01
• Series: BCES Conference Books
• Subjects: female; principals; leadership
• Online Access: https://bces-conference-books.org/onewebmedia/2020.063-069.Leentjie.van.Jaarsveld.pdf

Worldwide, the issue of women in school principal positions is being discussed. Discussions on this matter include, among other things, the underrepresentation and promotion opportunities of female principals, stereotyping, culture and education and competencies of women. Several studies have shown that women do not have to stand back for their male counterparts. This paper deals with the perspectives of female school principals in Canada and South Africa. The study was employed in the interpretivist paradigm, and as it aimed to explore different aspects of the leadership of female school principals, a qualitative approach was used as a vehicle to come to understand the central phenomenon shared by the 12 participating female school principals in the two countries. They were interviewed by means of semi-structured interviews through which aspects with regard to their position as school principals were revealed. The case studies showed that female principals can be regarded as effective principals.