{"id":11938,"date":"2022-06-28T22:15:23","date_gmt":"2022-06-28T21:15:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/advice\/?p=11938"},"modified":"2023-12-04T21:53:44","modified_gmt":"2023-12-04T21:53:44","slug":"redressing-the-balance-women-in-leadership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/advice\/redressing-the-balance-women-in-leadership","title":{"rendered":"Redressing the Balance: Women in Leadership"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Women are far from a minority in international school settings. In fact, according to a report<\/a> published by the Council of International Schools, at 61%, a firm majority of teachers are women. It\u2019s surprising then (or at least it should<\/em> be surprising) to see how hard things skew back towards men when looking at positions of power: 75% of head teachers are men, as are 60% of board members.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To understand what\u2019s behind this phenomenon, and how we as a community can move beyond it, I had a chat with two women leaders who have bucked the trend. Here, they tell us about their experiences, the challenges they\u2019ve faced, and the strategies that have brought them success despite the clear biases still at play in the profession. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s holding women back?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The status quo has a habit of preserving itself. The examples we\u2019re shown throughout our lives shape (and then reinforce) our perceptions of what a leader is. Unfortunately, these perceptions don\u2019t always hinge on the important things like character, integrity or competency – but superficial traits. When someone comes along who doesn\u2019t match those superficial traits, it can drastically change the way they\u2019re seen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the statistics above illustrate, there\u2019s certainly a lack of balance between men and women leaders in international schools. Anita McCallum, Elementary Principal at Raffles American School in Malaysia, told us that throughout her career \u201cthe senior leadership team has generally been dominated by men\u201d, Dr Liz Gale, Deputy Director of Schools for Shanghai Community International School (SCIS) and the Head of School for the SCIS-Pudong Campus, agreed, stating a \u201cboys club still exists\u201d and that type of atmosphere can often lead to \u201cmicroaggressions\u201d  targeted at women who don\u2019t fit in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This sense of being \u201coutnumbered\u201d (as Anita puts it) can have a drastic impact on how women in these teams are judged. Anita relates that, like other women holding leadership positions, she\u2019s been \u201clabelled \u2018bossy\u2019 in the past\u201d on occasions where she\u2019s been assertive or simply doing her job. It\u2019s a term we almost never see aimed at men, and which describes what is essentially just a vital part of leadership – the ability to be decisive and resolute. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Liz tells us part of her drive comes from having a female role model close to home in the form of her mum, a successful career woman. Seen in this light, the lack of women at the top in international schools is doubly harmful. There\u2019s less acceptance within leadership teams that women can embody the virtues of leadership (even if only on a subconscious level) and less reason for those outside of leadership to feel they belong there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strategies for success<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Both Liz and Anita stressed how helpful they\u2019d found it to talk to other leaders, outside the context of the \u201cthe boys club\u201d. In Anita\u2019s case the EARCOS Leadership Conference provided a great space to talk to have conversations that are \u201cmore comfortable in a different setting\u201d. For Liz, the ISS Women in Leadership conferences played a similar role, offering contact with people who could offer inspiration and advice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While organisations as a whole might not always do as well as possible in helping women progress, the biases that we see on a structural level very often aren\u2019t there at all on an individual level. And that can make mentorship really valuable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Liz stresses that finding a mentor and setting a regular time to meet is one of the best things women can do to bolster their chances of progression. She stresses that this mentor doesn\u2019t need to be a woman: \u201cA leader\u2019s job is to create more leaders, regardless of gender\u201d. Anita agrees: \u201cfind allies and reach out to them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Motherhood and leadership<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n


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Anita and Liz are both mothers. Anita took one year away from work when she had each of her girls, and is sure that was an excellent decision. It wasn\u2019t easy when she started again. \u2018There was a feeling that I\u2019d always be letting one of them down: the family or the school\u2019. Since this feeling will never really go away unless you address it, her solution is to find peace in knowing it\u2019s not possible to do everything brilliantly and keep everyone happy all the time. The secret is to organise her time well, and to shift priorities when her focus shifts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They say there is never a good time to have a baby, but Liz faced a real challenge when she found out she was pregnant just after signing the contract for her previous position as Lower School Principal. Her baby was born in July, and three weeks later she was stepping into her first Principalship. She reflects on this time now: \u2018I was doing all that I could to ensure a successful start to the school year, while also balancing the demands of being a mother to a newborn. There were many sleepless nights and tears during those early days.\u2019 In hindsight, she likely would have done things differently, if not only for herself and her child, but also to serve as a role-model for other women in a similar situation.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is crucial: we can\u2019t make change if we don\u2019t support one another.<\/strong> We women need to have these babies, but we are also equipped, partly because of this, to be excellent leaders. It\u2019s time for schools to put in place the structures that allow for mothers who lead so that we can be successful because we can be ourselves. It\u2019s 2022, and no woman should have to fit into a man\u2019s world by changing their inherent nature.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some schools understand this. Teacher Horizons has just visited a school<\/a> in Cairo that has a purpose-built daycare centre for children aged six weeks to three years. If contracts only allow a short maternity leave, there should be designated rooms for mothers to express milk and \u2018pumping-time\u2019 given during the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Parents should also be able to bring their babies in to visit the school, not just for their own convenience, but also because it builds bonds. A charity called \u2018Roots of Empathy<\/a>\u2019 gives children the chance to get to know pregnant women and babies over the course of a year, with weekly visits to the classroom. Inspired by this, I regularly brought my son in for \u2018show and tell\u2019. My class of Grade 6s were exemplary babysitters, and it certainly brought us closer as a group.
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How can Teacher Horizons help women leaders move up the career ladder?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Teacher Horizons is committed to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. This means that we want to do everything we can to support women in progressing through their careers. Here are a few things we are committed to in order to achieve this: <\/p>\n\n\n\n