Analyzing the Experiences of Women Principals in Primary Schools in Limpopo Province, South Africa Through Social Justice Theory

Abstract

School leadership research has provided extensive empirical evidence which shows that women as school leaders face challenges on many fronts. The objective of this study was to provide insight regarding the challenges that female primary school principals face, in the Waterberg Education District, Limpopo Province, South Africa. These challenges were in respect of the perception of staff members towards women as school principals. This study was qualitative and interpretive in nature. The theory of social justice was used as a theoretical framework. Social justice theorists argue that social institutions have the responsibility to dispense justice, fairness, and equity. The researcher used semi-structured in-depth interviews to gain rich descriptive data on the experiences relating to the leadership roles of the principals. Findings indicate that female principals face challenges, such as insubordination by male staff members, frustrations of not progressing beyond the position of principalship and sexual harassment. This study is of great value as it extends the body of knowledge on the challenges that primary school women principals face in their leadership practices. Key words: social justice, women principals, sexual harassment, primary schools, insubordination, self-esteem, self-image

Female Leaders and Distributed Leadership: What Can Women Bring to the Table?

“…Studies on women in leadership suggest that female leaders continue to face barriers in leadership contexts in schools and higher education (Lowe et al, 2011;Hacifazlioglu, 2010;Nyoni et al, 2017;McCullough, 2020;Khumalo, 2021). Studies representing women samples through a wide range of geographical regions from Australia, North America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East, indicate that they endured challenges regardless of their belonging to a certain culture or geographic location.…”

“…In countries like Saudi and Qatar, women leaders face challenges in breaking the boundaries of traditional bureaucracies (Vogel & Alhudeithi, 2018) which are mostly navigated by men. Placement in leadership positions based on qualifications is not evident in African countries (Barmao, 2013;Reilly, 2015;Nyoni et al, 2017;Iyekolo, Okafor & Abdulaziz, 2020;Khumalo, 2021) where gender disparity continues to "hinder women from aspiring to leadership positions" (Barmao, 2013: p. 51) since leadership is still regarded as a "masculine domain" (Nyoni et al, 2017). Studies on women in Pakistan and Afghanistan assert that the proportion of educated women is very low (Malik, 2011;Reilly 2015).…”

“…Similarly, women hardly progressed through the hierarchy and were found to still be underrepresented in distributed leadership in the context of Hong Kong academies (Aiston & Yang, 2017). Cultural pressures and social stereotypes were found to impose certain expectations on women as being caretakers (Al-Jaradat, 2014; Khumalo, 2021) or belonging to the home as "house maids" in spite of their level of education (Nyoni et al, 2017: p. 46). This has caused women to experience psychological issues having to lead conflicting roles in cultures that provided women with certain expectations (Reilly, 2015;Samier, 2015;Nyoni et al, 2017;Kuzhabekova & Almukhambetova, 2021) and at times led them to avoid leadership roles (Debebe, 2011).…”

“…The literature indicates that women leaders offer insight and specific skill set to leadership positions (Tarbutton, 2019). The literature also indicates that women struggled in breaking invisible barriers described as the "glass ceiling" to reach top leadership positions (Chin, 2011;Nynoi et al, 2017;Khumalo, 2021). Our research aim is to explore the topic of women leaders and distributed leadership practice to investigate how a distributed approach to leadership may provide a different narrative with regards to women in leadership.…”

Sexual Harassment and the Role of Human Resource Administration

“…such harassment exists on our streets, in our workplaces and in virtually in every sphere where men and women interact." Khumalo (2021) in her study of female principals in South Africa concluded that sexual harassment is entrenched in schools, given the prevalence and frequency at which female principals are harassed by superiors and subordinates alike. Komaromy, Bindman, Haber and Sande (1993) in their research on the prevalence of sexual harassment in medical school indicated that "a large percentage of medical students (36 to 52) reported experiencing some form of sexual harassment during medical school" and that "such harassment creates a high level of stress."…”