Globally women are not represented in the leadership positions within schools at a rate that reflects their participation in education as a whole. While there has been progress in their movement within their teaching career, this advancement has stalled. Results from the 2018 Teaching and Learning Survey (TALIS) that was conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), indicate that of the OECD countries, on average 68% of teaching staff were women. The findings when you get further up to the school leadership level indicates that women only make up 47% (this data is similar to the 2013 results of 68% and 49%) (OECD, 2014; OECD, 2019). In Australia this picture of inequity is just as bleak (Weldon & Ingvarson, 2016). Lips (2014) confirmed that “men are disproportionately successful in reaching leadership positions in female-dominated occupations” (p.127) due, in part, to the barriers faced by women.
Gender equality is important, not only are there positive impacts experienced by students and schools that have women leading (Bergmann et al., 2022), there are also organisation benefits of improved performance (Eagly & Johannesen-Schmidt, 2001). Increasing women’s presence in decision-making positions promotes equity and ensures that leadership reflects the diversity of the population it serves (Eagly & Carli, 2007). There are two sides to this phenomenon, the women and the organisations. While women undoubtedly face discrimination and bias when striving for leadership positions, another significant factor is that many women are not aspiring to these roles in the first place (Gipson et al., 2017). Although the organisational side factors (e.g. organisational bias and discrimination against women) are undoubtedly contributing factors to women not aspiring, there are also other influences at play which results in the women not aspiring.
This study examined a number of factors that could present as an incentive or disincentive to those women aspiring to become principal; the top leadership position within the school. Participants completed an online self-administered survey which asked a number of questions that included current aspiration, factors contributing to current role satisfaction and whether specific factors acted as an incentive or a disincentive to aspiring to the principal position. Based on d’Arbon et al. (2002) career aspiration categories, participants were categorised as either ‘willing’, ‘unwilling’ or ‘unsure’ about their aspiration to the principal position. The influence of several factors was analysed in regard to the impact on aspiration to determine what, if anything, would act as an incentive to get more women aspiring to the principal position.

The study was completed using a feminist theoretical lens which seeks to understand, challenge and ultimately change the experiences of women, which have resulted from gendered social constructs (Somekh & Lewin, 2005). The study utilised quantitative data gathered from a self-administered online survey. Cohen et al. (2017) highlighted that surveys allow for the “gathering (of) factual information, data on attitudes and preferences, beliefs and predictions, opinions, behaviours and experiences – both past and present” (p. 251). Miner-Rubino and Jayaratne (2007) state that the use of the quantitative survey helps to achieve the intention of the feminist lens as it provides the opportunity to influence and influence change as “numbers and statistics talk, and they talk loudly and persuasively” (p. 302). The survey was constructed utlilising survey instruments from relevant studies identified in the literature, this ensures validity (Miner-Rubino & Jayaratne, 2007). Participants were women holding a middle level leadership role (Specified leadership positions held by high performing and experienced teachers or Assistant Principal) within a Victorian Government Secondary School. Convenience sampling was initially used with the study being advertised on social media. Snowball sampling was also utiilised with women being emailed directly who were identified as holding the required positions through publicly available information on the internet, within the email women were also asked to forward the survey on to anyone they knew that also fit the criteria. 218 participants commenced the survey and 145 completed it. The survey was analysed using SPSS. For this study the data utilised was analysed using descriptive statistics (to determine the aspirations of the participants) and inferential analysis. The inferential analysis employed tests that enabled the comparison between the aspirant categories regarding the factors that acted as an incentive or disincentive.

The findings highlight that the different aspiration groups sometimes weighted factors differently in regard to what would motivate them to aspire to the principal position. Unsure aspirants are the group that could potentially be motivated to be willing to aspire. Different aspiration groups appeared to have different reasons that acted as a potential incentive, or conversely disincentive, for applying for the principal position. For individuals who were either willing or unsure about aspiring to a principal position, joining the principal collegiate group was largely perceived as an incentive (66-68%). In contrast, those unwilling to aspire to the role viewed this as a neutral factor, with only 23% considering it an incentive. Similar patterns emerged regarding factors such as taking on new challenges and gaining access to decision-makers, which motivated willing and unsure aspirants but were less likely to appeal to those unwilling to pursue the position. These factors can be seen as aligning with progression up to school leadership. The factor that rated highly as an incentive (more so for those already willing to aspire), was the opportunity to gain new skills. Generally disincentives to the job were the effects of the job of family, stress levels, time required, demands, accountability and community attitudes, these align with what the literature suggests is a reason why people do not want to be a principal, or why people are leaving the positions (Beausaert et al., 2016; Calbert, 2020). For those that were unwilling to aspire, largely the factors that acted as an incentive were the opportunity to impact on the learning environment, motivate others and shape an educational vision, factors that might be more relevant to the teachers role.

Beausaert, S., Froehlich, D. E., Devos, C., & Riley, P. (2016). Effects of support on stress and burnout in school principals. Educational Research, 58(4), 347–365. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131881.2016.1220810 Bergmann, J., Alban Conto, C. and Brossard, M. (2022) Increasing Women’s Representation in School Leadership: A promising path towards improving learning. UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti, Florence. Calbert, Gus T., "Experiences of Middle School Principals with Accountability-Related Stress and Coping Skills" (2020). Dissertations. 3654. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations/3654 Cohen, L, Manion, L & Morrison, K. (2017). Research Methods in Education. Taylor & Francis Group d’Arbon, Duignan, P., & Duncan, D. J. (2002). Planning for future leadership of schools: an Australian study. Journal of Educational Administration, 40(5), 468–485. https://doi.org/10.1108/09578230210440302 Eagly, A. H., & Carli, L. L. (2007). Through the labyrinth: The truth about how women become leaders. Harvard Business Review Press. Eagly, A. H., & Johannesen-Schmidt, M. C. (2001). The leadership styles of women and men. Journal of Social Issues, 57(4), 781-797 Gipson, A., Pfaff, D., Mendelsohn, D., Catenacci, L. & Burke, W. (2017). Women and Leadership: Selection, Development, Leadership Style, and Performance. The Journal of Applied Behavioural Science Herring, C. (2009). Does diversity pay? Race, gender, and the business case for diversity. American Sociological Review, 74(2), 208-224. Miner-Rubino, K. & Jayaratne, T. (2007). Feminist survey research. In Feminist research practice (pp. 292-325). SAGE Publications, Inc., https://www.doi.org/10.4135/9781412984270 OECD (2014). TALIS 2013 Result: an International Perspective on Teaching and Learning, TALIS, OECD Publishing OECD (2019). TALIS 2018 Results (Volume 1): Teachers and School Leaders as Lifelong Learners, TALIS, OECD Publishing, Paris Somekh, B., Lewin, C., (2005). Research methods in the social sciences. SAGE Publications. Weldon, P., & Ingvarson, L. (2016). School Staff Workload Study. Australian Education Union. https://research.acer.edu.au/tll_misc/27