Reflections on school leadership

Research by The Future Leaders Trust suggests there are over 1700 female heads ‘missing’ from headship. That’s the number of additional female heads there would be if the proportion of women in the top position matched the proportion of women in teaching as a whole. This isn’t a new issue; the percentage of female heads has changed very little since the earliest school workforce census, published in 2010. Some of this underrepresentation can be explained by the attitudes of governing bodies and their views of the “right man ” for the job. But part of the explanation lies with women themselves and the need to overcome their lack of confidence and fears about balancing a family and a very demanding job. Here are some of the top tips I've gathered from working with female leaders who have succeeded in breaking through the barriers to headship: Believe in yourself You’ve got to be in it to win it! (or “lean in” as Sheryl Sandberg would have it). Research reveals that if a ...

First published in TES on 11 March 2015. Schools are in the business of children, so it is disappointing that research by the Future Leaders Trust suggests schools are no different from any other organisation in how they treat the parents they employ. Consistent with other sectors, our ongoing survey of almost 300 school leaders has so far revealed a significant "motherhood penalty", the term used to describe the range of ways in which mothers lose out in the workplace. There was also evidence of a "fatherhood bonus", where men with children accrue a range of benefits, though we also found that dads in school leadership have it tough too. The career damage caused by motherhood showed up in a variety of ways, from sniping colleagues, to diminished pay and promotion opportunities. One woman spoke of her pay being docked for two days off with a child with chickenpox, despite having an otherwise unblemished attendance record. On reaching headship, mothers are 50 ...