Leadership and decision-making : a qualitative study of a female principal

• Main Author: Lessard, Anne P.
• Other Authors: Kisber, Lynn Butler (advisor)
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: McGill University 1999
• Subjects: Women > Psychology > Case studies.; School principals > Québec (Province) > Case studies.; School management and organization > Decision making > Case studies.
• Online Access: http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=29835

This qualitative case study explores how Maude, a female principal, leads her school and reaches decisions on a daily basis. The study took place in a private, Catholic all girls' school in an urban setting in the province of Quebec. Over the course of the four months spent in the research site, data was collected through observation, interviews and the collection of artefacts. === The findings of this study suggest that Maude played three distinct leadership roles to which metaphoric labels were associated. She was a peacekeeper when assuming a socio-political stance, a gatekeeper when establishing and preserving the instructional standards of the school and a gardener when tending to the health of both individuals and the institution. === Few studies have investigated how female principals lead their school and reach decisions. Much of the literature on leadership has focused on the male perspective. Only recently have researchers acknowledged the androcentric bias found in the leadership literature. This study provides an other perspective on leadership, a female perspective. As such, the emergent educational leadership framework takes into consideration the influence values, mainly attributed to women have on both leadership and decision-making. The framework proposed outlines the fluidity associated with leadership and decision-making when seen through a gendered filter. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)