Women managers as change agents : overcoming gender discrimination in transformation

M.Ed.One of the central themes that permeate studies on gender discrimination is the move towards eroding all forms of discrimination against women especially with regard to promotional posts in secondary schools (Ledwith & Colgan, 1996: 27). Hitherto, women remain a minority gender in terms of management positions in education generally and in secondary school management in particular. This has necessitated the implementation of policy documents to enforce the principle of gender equity, particularly in management positions. Measures have been taken, through the implementation of policy documents to enforce the principle of gender equity. However, certain subtle discriminatory practices remain a wedge between the present state of affairs and what has to be. This could be due to, inter alia, prejudice, tradition or even religious injunctions perpetuating women submissiveness. The increased awareness of gender politics combined with challenges about gender equity in organisations such as schools remains a thorny issue in education circles. Today, women are becoming increasingly aware of the important role they can play in transforming schools into viable learning institutions. This research has argued that although women may be discriminated against, they do possess requisite skills to transform their schools into highly performing institutions. In an attempt to interrogate the issue of gender discrimination, a qualitative research approach was employed to elicit the perceptions of educators with regard to women managers. Furthermore, this research explored the impact that women managers have. The research was conducted at a school in the Sedibeng West district (D8) of the Gauteng Province. Due to a small number of women managers in this district, namely, two including myself, one female principal was used as a sample in this research. Interviews with the principal as well as male and female educators in the school were conducted. The relevant research literature was used as a basis for data collection. The recommendations provided in this research are based on the categories which were identified from the interviews as well as observations. These categories are; sabotage, stereotype, positive strategies, barriers and weaknesses