Leadership and the Hijab: Israeli Muslim women in managerial roles

Author(s):

Khalid Arar(presenting / submitting)Tamar Shapira(presenting)

Conference:

ECER 2012

Network:

26. Educational Leadership

Format:

Paper

Session Information

26 SES 05 A, Educational Leadership

Parallel Paper Session

Time:

2012-09-19

11:00-12:30

Room:

FFL - Aula 8

Chair:

Simon Clarke

Contribution

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND OBJECTIVES

Research investigating Muslim women's outward expressions of their religious affiliation in various contexts, discusses overt symbols such as the Hijab (Abu-Lughod, 2002; Bhimji, 2009; Droogsma, 2007; Gole, 2003) exploring meanings, motivations and implications of this symbolic act. Western societies often view the veil as a concrete symbol of ethnic and religious otherness. Yet only few attempt to understand what the scarf symbolizes for these women and how their dress influences their daily life (Bhimji, 2009; Bilge, 2010).

Feminist literature relating to Middle Eastern society has described the attempts of women to cope with the modern world while retaining respect for their traditions (Lucas-Helie, 1993; Sadeghi, 2008). This social, cultural and political context has its own specific life-styles, family relations, perceptions of power and justice and career development paths that distinguish it from the context of Western society and make it necessary for women to develop appropriate coping strategies. Empowerment must be conceptualized differently for Middle Eastern women, since 'empowerment' in the West is mostly associated with the support of government agencies (Zuhur, 2003), while in the Middle East empowerment is a private process, often even covert (Abu-Saad, Horowitz & Abu-Saad, 2007) and the concept of 'empowerment' and the concepts 'autonomy', 'free choice' and 'self-realization', terms rooted in Western culture where individuation and independent personal development are perceived as decisive components of human development (Popper-Givon & Al Krenawi, 2010).

The present paper reflects part of a wider study investigating professional, social and family aspects of the life stories of Arab high school and welfare agency managers in Israel in order to identify characteristics of Arab women leaders in Israel and their contribution to the advance of their communities, including the fact that they open new horizons for other women in the future (Arar, Shapira & Azaiza, 2010). This section of the study focuses on Muslim women principals' adoption of traditional dress and head coverings, the significance of this phenomenon and its contribution for women principals in their different life spheres. We sought to trace the evolution of their new identity by posing the following three questions:

1. How did they arrive at the decision to wear traditional dress?

2. What reactions occurred as a result of this decision in the domestic sphere (spouses), in the organizational sphere (school) and in the Muslim community?

3. How did Jewish colleagues react to the alteration in their appearance?

Method

The study involved interviews with nine Muslim women high school principals and welfare office managers who had decided to wear traditional dress following their appointment as managers. The research tool: in-depth interviews enabled us to expose a rich multi-dimensional world from detailed descriptions of the managers' life stories (Chase, 2005), their relations with their staff, with their communities and local leaders and with their families. Data were analyzed according to the 'Listener's Guide' (Gilligan et al., 2004). Interviews were read several times to hear the different voices of the interviewees in relation to their different life circles, tracing the evolvement of their identity within the spheres of the school and their community.

Expected Outcomes

Findings were categorized according to the following issues: a. the decision to alter their clothing; b. reactions of their families and community pressure; c. reactions of the school and community; and d. reactions of Jewish colleagues. Transition to traditional dress was connected in different ways with their appointment to principalship and each found a slightly different solution to religious precepts concerning appearance In practice, women view their appearance as directly related to their status in Arab-Muslim society. Traditional dress provides protection and a sense of affiliation, enabling them to effectively fulfill their role and introduce far-reaching changes, with the support of their staff, the community and their families. Thus traditional dress is not merely an external symbol for these women, but reflects inner concerns and acts as a facilitating feminist strategy within their communities to engender a quiet and gradual revolution through their pedagogic and social work.

References

Abu-Saad, K., Horowitz, T., & Abu-Saad, I. (2007) Weaving tradition and modernity: Bedouin women in higher education. Negev Centre: Ben Gurion University. Bhimji, F. (2009). Identities and agency in religious spheres: a study of British Muslim women's experience. Gender, Place & Culture: A Journal of Feminist Geography, 16 (4), 365 – 380. Bilge, S. (2010). Beyond Subordination vs. Resistance: An Intersectional Approach to the Agency of Veiled Muslim Women. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 31(1), 9-28. Chase, S. E. (2005). Narrative inquiry: Multiple lenses, approaches, voices. In: N. K. Denzin and Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.) The Sage handbook of qualitative research (pp. 651-679). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Droogsma, R. A. (2007). Redefining Hijab: American Muslim Women's Standpoints on Veiling. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 35(3), 294 – 319. Gilligan, C. Spencer, R. Weinberg, M. K. & Bertsch, T. (2004). On the listening guide: A voice-centered relational method. In P. M. Camic, J.E. Rhodes & L. Yardley (Eds.). Qualitative research in psychology: Expanding perspective in methodology and design (pp. 157-171). Washington DC: American Psychological Association. Gole, N. (2003). The voluntary adoption of Islamic stigma symbols. Social Research, 70(5), 809-828. Helie-Lucas, M. A. (1993). Women’s struggles and strategies in the rise of fundamentalism in the Muslim world: From entryism to internationalism. In H. Afshar (Ed.). Women in the Middle East (pp. 180-220). London: MacMillan. Sadeghi, S. (2008). Gender, culture and learning: Iranian immigrant women in Canadian Higher education. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 27 (2), 217-234. Shapira, T. Arar, K. and Azaiza F. (2010). "Arab Women Principals' Empowerment and Leadership in Israel". Journal of Educational Administration. Special issue: Globalization: Expanding horizons in women's leadership, 48(6), 704-715. Zuhur, S. (2003). Women and empowerment in the Arab world. Arab Studies Quarterly, 25(4), 17-38.

Author Information

Khalid Arar (presenting / submitting)

The Center for Academic Studies

Jaljulia

Tamar Shapira (presenting)

Haifa University and Gordon College of Education

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