Context: In Kazakhstan, there is an evident gender leadership gap in general and in school leadership in particular (OECD, 2019). Women are qualified in educational terms but are constrained to access leadership positions. The government has introduced a range of policies and strategies as a response to the gender leadership gap in the public sector (Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, 2019). However, poor implementation of the current gender strategies has failed to create working solutions, and Kazakhstan has seen a decline in its ranking in the Global Gender Gap Index over the last decade. This suggests that the goals of gender equality policies were not met in Kazakhstan. The identification of factors constraining women from accessing school leadership is pivotal to the realization of gender equality targets set by the government of Kazakhstan. It is noticeable that in the Central and Western regions of Kazakhstan, the number of female teachers significantly exceeds the number of men, but women are underrepresented in school leadership.
There are various advantages of a gender-balanced distribution of leadership positions in schools. Women could bring other perspectives and alternatives as their skills, knowledge, and experience are currently under-utilized resources. Involving women in leadership accelerates both development and creativity in decision-making processes and intellectual stimulation (Mayer & Oosthuizen, 2020; Uusi-Kakkuri, 2017). So these benefits of promoting women to leadership positions will help improve the economy. Another positive side of advancing women in leadership is that they could be role models for the younger generation. Potential female candidates for leadership positions will inspire other women to lead. Moreover, increasing qualified female professionals could open doors to top management for other women as they will serve as mentors for the younger generation of girls.
Purpose: The purpose of this study is twofold: (1) to explore how female principals experience leadership trajectory and (2) to understand the reasons for the gender leadership gap existing in mainstream schools in Kazakhstan.
Research Question: The above aims will be achieved by exploring the following question: How do female principals experience leadership trajectory in mainstream schools in Kazakhstan in Central and Western regions of Kazakhstan?
Theoretical Framework: Exploring female school principals' experiences and understanding the gender leadership gap in Kazakhstan necessitates engaging in a broader discussion of the theoretical framework. This study is guided by two theoretical perspectives: poststructuralism and postcolonial theory. Using poststructural and postcolonial theory together will enable more nuanced interpretations of social issues in their political, economic, and cultural contexts that have created and sustained the gender leadership gap in school contexts. Additionally, there is an essential affinity between the two theories as they are both concerned with unequal power relations and aim to produce contextually relevant knowledge (Gikandi, 2004). Foucault’s understanding of these specific power relations creates a useful lens through which women are constructed by discourse in the social context. Therefore, this lens allows looking closer at how power is enacted in the local context.