Volume 1, Issue 4 (4-2025)
SELMJ 2025, 1(4): 86-114 |
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Hosseini N. (2025). Women in the Discourse of Educational Leadership and Management. SELMJ. 1(4), 86-114.
URL: http://selmj.ir/article-1-71-en.html
URL: http://selmj.ir/article-1-71-en.html
Department of Educational Management, To.C., Islamic Azad University, Tonekabon, Iran
Abstract: (254 Views)
Leadership constitutes a pivotal concept in theories concerning the functioning of organizations such as schools and educational bureaucracies. However, in recent decades, many constructs within educational management have faced critical scrutiny across multiple levels due to gender blindness, gendered habitus, and the hierarchical consequences of gendered division of labor. These critiques chiefly challenge positivist epistemological claims and research approaches that universalize male experience as normative.
During the 1970s and early 1980s, such critiques informed liberal interventionist policies aimed at promoting equal opportunity. These policies, grounded in social role theory, sought to facilitate the acceptance of “leadership roles for women” in schools, with the aim of achieving a more equitable gender balance. Yet the persistent underrepresentation of women in such positions during this period suggests that the issue extends beyond mere statistical representation—it reflects deeper structural and discursive barriers.
This article, adopting a theoretical research approach, reconstructs a feminist conceptualization of educational leadership to critically examine women’s successes and challenges in navigating multi-dimensional, multi-sited power dynamics within educational leadership and management. Through a critical lens on women’s discourse in this domain, the study offers a framework for stakeholders to better understand and support women leaders. Findings underscore the urgent need for targeted policy interventions and institutional reforms to advance gender equity in leadership roles.
Keywords: educational leadership and management, women’s educational leadership, gendered habitus, feminism
Type of Study: case report |
Subject:
Special
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