No abstract

This study examines the experiences of the only three female headteachers leading boys’ senior high schools (SHS) in Ghana to understand the uniqueness of their career journeys, on-the-job experiences and the leadership strategies. Qualitative phenomenological approach was used for the study. The three women were interviewed multiple times over a period of five months between November 2020 and March 2021. The data were inductively and deductively analysed to identify themes that help to tell their story. The results of this study show that early exposure to role models and socialisation into the power of positive thinking at the family, school and societal levels imprint values that inspired the participants to top leadership positions and the strategies they deployed – blending of motherliness and professionalism, networking and ethical leadership. The female headteachers are bridge builders and transformational leaders who are suitable for leadership in the twenty-first century. This study identifies several implications for female headteachership including: initial preparation for aspirants of school leadership positions, ongoing professional development, and support of female school leaders. The Ministry of Education should provide women with more headteachership or leadership opportunities in schools.

Women and men are capable of effectively discharging school leadership roles. However, in Ghana, people are socialised to expect females to lead girls’ schools and vice versa. Appointing a female or male to lead a single sex school that is opposite to their gender elicits gender stereotyping, protests and exclusion. While researchers have explored these dynamics in co-educational basic schools, they have not extended them to single sex schools. This case study investigated how the leadership practice of a male-led girls’ school in the Central Region of Ghana has challenged gendered walls. The study engaged 23 multiple stakeholders and gathered data through semi-structured interviews, observations and document analysis. Intra- and cross-case analyses of data revealed that loyalty to gender walls in single sex schools reflects the desire to respect and maintain the tradition of female headteachers in girls’ schools and male headteachers in boys’ schools. Overall, Ghana is still a traditional and patriarchal society that is characterised by gender inequity in leadership spaces. However, men and women who exhibit professional integrity and leadership competence could convert critics to supporters in a range of school settings. The Ghana Education Service should provide leadership preparation for practitioners to improve their leadership competence.