Are You the First Lady? A Demand for Resilient Leadership Practices for Women Leading Selected South African Rural Primary Schools

Abstract

This paper examines the leadership practices of three women school principals in leading schools in rural contexts. Some rural contexts are confronted with challenging circumstances and multiple deprivations which are unique to them. Women school principals experience unfair gendered expectations which demand them to provide exceptional leadership skills and prove to be resilient amid these contextual factors. The aim was to explore how women in rural school leadership cope with the demand of gendered performance and must prove to be resilient, amid the contextual challenges that rural schools face. Embedded within the social role theory, which argues that society has expectations for individuals to comply with actions that are proportionate to their social roles. These roles may be formed based on race, age, religion, or gender, but for the purposes of this paper, we focused on gender. Couched within the qualitative interpretive paradigm and using phenomenology as the mode of inquiry, and through individual face-to-face interviews, this paper focused on the lived experiences of three rural primary school female principals. Data were analysed thematically. Findings revealed the resilient leadership strategies used by female school principals in rural areas, with an emphasis on the intricate problems brought on by gendered expectations. The paper recommends a comprehensive strategy for dismantling ingrained gender prejudices in educational leadership including implementing gender-sensitization programs, specialized leadership training, promotion of inclusive leadership styles, community engagement, and advocacy for policy changes.