Teachers’ Experiences of Working under the Leadership of Women Principals at Secondary Schools in Remote Pakistan: A Qualitative Inquiry

Abstract

Various studies on women's leadership in schools have been conducted in Pakistan; however, literature has been scarce on how teachers experience working under the leadership of women principals in schools. This qualitative study; therefore, has attempted to explore how teachers in schools experience working under women principals at the secondary schools in the remote region(s) in Pakistan. Twenty teachers (an equal number of men and women) participated in the study. We collected data through semi-structured interviews and analyzed those using qualitative approaches of analysis. All the interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim for analysis purposes. The analysis process included coding and the generation of themes based on the codes. Findings have shown that certain characteristics of women principals including motherly attitudes, supportive nature, making sense of gender issues, and being able to communicate with mothers, make the women's principals distinctive and acceptable to all the stakeholders. These findings have pertinent implications for policymaking and school leadership.