Abstract:
Recent Ontario legislation by the Ministry of Education
has targeted a goal of 50 percent as the minimum objective for
representation by women in positions of responsibility by the
year 2000. As a result,those few women currently in the field
of Educational Administration have become a focus for
researchers. The intent of this research is to contribute to
the current knowledge and understanding of women principals in
the leadership role.
In-depth interviews with four experienced female
principals were conducted centering on their perceptions and
experiences on a wide range of issues that included: gender
characteristics and impact on role, perceived differences as
a result of gender characteristics, decision making, curriculum
leadership, communication, the perception of others, and the
advantages and disadvantages of being a woman in the role.
Narrative profiles were constructed for each participant and
analyzed. A description for each woman emerged by an analysis
of common patterns and themes in the participants' narratives.
Results revealed that the participants were able to
identify and to describe particular gender traits that they
perceived had impact on their role. Moreover the participants
regarded their gender characteristics as facilitating and
enhancing the performance of their role. Common patterns for
all the participants emerged from the data that conveyed a
strong feminine imagery of mother and espoused the idea of
school as home, and staff and students as family. Leadership
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styles demonstrated an emphasis on collaborative decision
making, open communication, and apparent difficulty and
ambiguity arising from the role of Curriculum leader.
The results of this study also indicate that personal
metaphors ascribed and embedded in the narratives are
significant in conceptualizing and interpreting the
administrative role.
