OPPORTUNITY OF WOMEN LEADERSHIP IN SCHOOL ORGANIZATION

Abstract

Opportunity of women leadership in school organization is considered as one of the most crucial components in ensuring effective leadership in schools. The main purpose of this study was to explore opportunities, challenges and problems faced by women school head teachers. To fulfill the purpose of the study, I needed to make an exploration into the perceptions and practices of women school heads. Therefore, my research is subjective in nature. I followed humanistic model of social research and adopted qualitative approach of inquiry. More specifically, this research is based on ethnographic approach. In this study, five public schools were chosen – three from the rural and remaining two from the urban area from Kathmandu valley. The schools were led by women. So, criteria based purposive sampling technique was used to select the participants for the study. Five school female heads were the key informants of the study. The in-depth interview guidelines for the participants were prepared and piloted. Thence, in-depth interviews with the concerned head teachers were conducted. Five schools were also observed and diary was also maintained for reflection. Based on the obtained data thereof, thick description was made. Post-codes and categories were also made based ii on the themes that emerged while analyzing the data. Accuracy and credibility was also maintained by applying triangulation of data and member checking. Gender-based discrimination was one of the key findings of the study. The origin of discrimination was the own home of the participants. The school key stakeholders and society were found biased against women head teachers. The major problem for the women head teachers was time management. From these finding, it was concluded that though there is a limited opportunity for women in school leadership, they are performing their responsibility (with difficulty). Due to unlimited difficulties, sometimes, women leaders are frustrated and want to quit their leadership roles. There is no conducive environment for them to lead the schools. There are limited policies to promote the leadership position of the women; moreover, it is very difficult to translate it into practice due to social, cultural and biological limitations of women. In addition, Nepal has a traditional patriarchy society that is why, women are always ignored in our society and men always hold the superior positions. To promote the leadership capacity and environment for women, the principle of equity should be implemented right from the home and society level. It was concluded that the traditional patriarchal mindset is the key barrier for the women empowerment. So, the Cultural Revolution is the crucial need of today.