Women in leadership: some thoughts and reflections
Tanya White
Teaching & Learning Expert
As summer draws near to an end, I want to take some time to look back and reflect upon this year and the reading I have been doing around women in leadership. My reading started as I was keen to understand what I was seeing in schools and the wider world. And, as a woman in leadership, I am very interested in my role in developing others.
2022 has been an interesting time for women in sport. The women’s Euros saw the largest attendance at a Wembley football match for either the men’s or the women’s game. Every game was live on free-to-air TV bringing women’s football into homes across the country. It saw England winning their first major football trophy since 1966. The 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games saw more medals available for women than for men including 20:20 Cricket for just the women’s teams. And yet, these women’s teams are often referred to as ‘girls’ – both by themselves and by men commenting on the matches. Only recently, Eoin Morgan (England men’s cricketer) talked about the “girls’ game” that had preceded the men’s cricket match he was commenting on. This women’s game in the Hundred produced a higher score than achieved by their male compatriots. The South African international cricketer Deandra Dottin made shots with more power than several of the men. So why is it that we are hearing these skilful, powerful women being referred to as ‘girls’? Is it becoming a word that women can use amongst themselves to speak of each other and that’s ok? Or, is this a symptom of a wider issue - yet another example of everyday sexism?
The teaching workforce is 75.5% female with 69.4% of leadership roles filled by women (leadership roles include headteachers, deputy and assistant heads). In 2019/20, female teachers were 14% less likely than male teachers to be promoted to a senior leadership position (DfE, 2022). And, from the same government statistics, in primary schools, male teachers progress faster to both middle leadership and to headship than females. Why is this? Is this symptomatic of how our twenty-first century British society views women in leadership? Or is something to do with how women view themselves?
In her book ‘The Authority Gap’, Mary Ann Sieghart sets out her case for why women are underestimated and overlooked in today’s world. Through reference to research and interviews with women (and indeed men), she argues that the authority gap between men and women is real; women are brought up to be less confident than men and to take up less conversational space; and incorrectly we (both women and men) judge men to be worthier of respect and authority. However, it is not all doom and gloom for women. Sieghart goes on to address what we can do to narrow the authority gap and how this will make the world a better place for all people:
As individuals this starts with recognising that we all have unconscious bias. This awareness should lead us being able to correct it. We can listen as attentively to women as we do to men. We can notice if we are challenging women more than men and ask ourselves why.
As teachers, she suggests that, we can: use techniques that ensure both girls and boys are asked to make contributions; include female scientists in the science curriculum (something that at Transform we have been working on for the past few years); ensure that all children are represented in displays and teaching materials; call out sexism and misogyny; and resist stereotypes.
As leaders, we need to: affirm what female colleagues say at meetings; give women equal talking time; call out men for interrupting; and be careful what adjectives we use to describe female colleagues.
All these, and many other ways of moving forward, are aimed at making women in leadership no longer incongruous. Men and women working together in leadership complement each other. Different perspectives come up with more interesting ideas and ways of working. If mixed gender leadership became the norm, the authority gap would diminish significantly and quickly. Sieghart finishes by quoting Mary McAleese (former Irish President): “…when women flourish and their talents and creativity flourish, then the world flourishes and men flourish. We all flourish”.
Diana Osagie, in her chapter ‘Conquering’ in the ‘Diverse Educators: A Manifesto,’ argues that the barriers to women’s advancement in education leadership are not all external. There are internal barriers that we, women, carry with us that hold us back from leadership career choices. She groups these limiting beliefs into 3 areas: yourself; the world; and life. The beliefs whisper in the back of our mind and limit the choices we make about our lives especially when looking at opportunities for promotion or leadership. Her commitment to the ‘Manifesto’ involves direct actions that we can do to combat these limiting beliefs: “Intentionally choose to relinquish the role of being your own internal enemy, refuse to be confined by your perceptions, make room for a change in your own understanding of what is true or false.”
Kate Coleman brings a Christian perspective to the issue of women in leadership. Her book ‘7 Deadly Sins of Women in Leadership’ aims to free women from the things holding us back, to encourage self-awareness and to let go of destructive attitudes. And, although Coleman starts from a Christian standpoint, her ‘lessons’ can be applied to all women in leadership with or without faith. She describes starting from our limiting attitudes and shows ways of moving free of them to living lives in leadership that is compassionate, sensitive and authoritative. Coleman identifies three major challenges that face all women in leadership: education, empowerment and encouragement. As teachers, we are in a position to address these challenges:
we must educate all children that women in leadership is the norm;
we must also educate female leaders with the necessary knowledge and skills for leadership;
we must empower girls with leadership skills, equipping them with the language and confidence to go to become leaders of the future;
likewise, we must empower women whom we work with to become leaders;
and we must encourage our female colleagues in their leadership roles – building them up as together we are stronger.
From my reading, of which I have referred to a small part here, it is clear that the picture of female leadership is changing. But, there is still much work to be done if women and men are to be given equal respect and authority when they lead.
To return to the start of my thoughts, I believe that the language that we use is vitally important. When we refer to women as girls in the context that we wouldn’t refer to men as boys, we infantilise them; we diminish their authority. And, we need to call it out.
I am also aware, as I mention language, that I have referred to women and men (female and male) without reference to gender v sex. Sieghart draws on the experience of people who have lived as both men and women. Her findings are that it is being seen as a woman or a man that makes the difference (even for those assigned differently at birth).
Schools have a part to play in bringing about this change. The children we educate will be the leaders of the future. The more we can do to challenge stereotypes in school; the more opportunities there will be for our girls to be the leaders that we know they have the potential to be; the more opportunities they will have to build a world in which all people, regardless of their sex or gender, can flourish.
But what about me? I will make every attempt to be aware of my unconscious biases and correct it. My commitment to the women with whom I work is that I will do my uttermost to build you up. My big request from you is to be called out if I am not.
References:
Kate Coleman (2021) 7 Deadly Sins of Women in Leadership. Zondervan: Michigan
Mary Ann Sieghart (2021) The Authority Gap. Doubleday: London
Hannah Wilson and Bennie Kara (Eds) (2022) Diverse Educators: A Manifesto. University of Buckingham Press: London