Abstract

The aim of this phenomenological study was twofold. The first was to identify the reasons why female teachers are not interested in becoming administrators, namely to understand why they are not interested in this position. The second was to uncover what problems women administrators face and understand if these problems are influencing their decision not to pursue administrator positions. The participants were 26 female teachers and 17 female administrators working in different types of schools.  The research data were collected through semi-structured questions and analyzed using the content analysis method. The majority of obstacles experienced by female administrators are the same ones seen as obstacles by female teachers. Despite no legal barriers to women becoming administrators, functional reasons underrepresent women in school administration. The reasons why female teachers don't want to become school administrators were due to family responsibilities, fear of economic losses, difficulties with female colleagues, heavy workloads and responsibilities, difficulty balancing work and private lives, difficulties with administration, and parent problems. Finally, some recommendations were proposed to overcome the reported issues.

Keywords

References

• Aslanargun, E. & Bozkurt, S. (2012). Problems that principals face in school administration. Gaziantep University Journal of Social Sciences, 11(2), 349-368.
• Bakioğlu, A. & Ülker, N. (2018). Career barriers faced by Turkish women academics: Support for what? Journal of Higher Education, 8(3), 313-321. Doi: https://doi.org/10.2399/yod.18.017
• Balıkçı, A. (2016). Principalship in the context of daily life and bureaucracy. [Unpublished Master’s Thesis]. Eskişehir Osmangazi University, Eskişehir, Turkey.
• Bayır, Ö. Ö. & Dönmez, A. (2020). Being a woman school principal in Turkey. Educational Administration: Theory and Practice, 26(1), 163-202. http://doi.org/10.14527/kuey.2020.004
• Besler, S. & Oruç, İ. (2010). Women managers in printed media and Turkey. Anadolu University Journal of Social Sciences, 10(1), 17–38.
• Bulut, D. & Kızıldağ, D. (2017). Gender discrimination and the effects on women human resources managers careers. Journal of Management and Economic Research, 15(2), 81-102. http://doi.org/10.11611/yead.321237
• Crosby-Hillier, K. (2012). Women and Educational Leadership: Exploring the Experiences of Current and Aspiring Female Educational Administrators [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University of Windsor, Canada.
• Çelikten, M. (2004). Okul müdürü koltuğundaki kadınlar: Kayseri ili örneği [Women in the school principal's chair: The case of Kayseri province]. Erciyes University Journal of Social Sciences Institute, 17(1), 91-118.
• Demirtaş, H. & Özer, N. (2014). School principalship from the perspectives of school principals. Kastamonu Education Journal, 22(1), 1-24.
• Dotzler, D. A. (1983). Visibility of women in school leadership [Unpublished master’s thesis]. University of Calgary, Canada.
• Durmaz, Ş. (2016). Women and their challenges in labor market. Ahi Evran University Institute of Social Sciences Journal, 2(3), 37-60.
• Ekiz, D. (2017). Bilimsel araştırma yöntemleri [Scientific research methods]. Anı Publishing.
• Elisha, L. N. (2012). Exploring the perceptions of teachers on women principals in the Solomon Islands [Unpublished master’s thesis]. The University of Waikato, New Zeland.
• Ellemers, N. (2014). Women at work: How organizational features impact career development. Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 1(1) 46-54. https://doi.org/10.1177/2372732214549327
• England, P., Gornick, J., & Shafer, E. F. (2012). Women’s employment, education, and the gender gap in 17 countries. Monthly Labor Review, 135(4), 21-29.
• Er, O. & Adıgüzel, O. (2015). Queen bee in glass ceiling shade: Obstacles encountered by women's career advancement and effective leadership. RTEU Journal of Social Sciences, 2, 163-175.
• Eren, A. (2007). An econometric approach about voluntary turnover [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey.
• Esa, A. & Peng, L. C. (2013). Women as a leader in school. International Journal of Science and Research, 2(11), 274-277.
• Fraenkel, J. R., & Wallen, N. E. (2000). How to design and evaluate research in education. McGrawHill.
• Gino, F., Wilmuth, C. A., & Brooks, A. W. (2015). Compared to men, women view Professional advancement as equally attainable, but less desirable. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(40), 12354-12359. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1502567112
• Gökyer, N. & Çiçek, F. (2016). Competences of woman administrators as perceived by themselves and teachers working with them. Ahi Evran University Journal of Kırşehir Education Faculty, 17(3), 747-766.
• Hunter, L. (2019). Female rural school principals’ leadership qualities and the impact on student achievement [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Texas Tech University, USA.
• International Investors Association. (2016). Kadınların üst yönetimde temsilinin arttırılmasına yönelik uygulamalar ve öneriler [Practices and suggestions for increasing the representation of women in senior management]. Author.
• İmamoğlu Akman, G. & Akman, Y. (2016). The opinions of female teachers about the female principals in the context of the queen bee syndrome. Bartın University Journal of Faculty of Education, 5(3), 748-763.
• İnandı, Y., Özkan, S., Peker, S. & Atik, Ü. (2009). The barriers of carrier advancement of the female teachers. Mersin University Journal of the Faculty of Education, 5(1), 77-96.
• Kayıkçı, K. (2013). Unionization in the public and education sector in Turkey, and expectations of school administrators and teachers expectations from unions. Journal of Public Administration, 46(1), 99-126.
• Kazak, E. (2021). The reasons of teachers to leave the school management voluntarily and their emotions based on these reasons: A phenomenological study. Journal of Qualitative Research in Education, 26, 265-291.
• Keser. Z. & Gedikoğlu, T. (2008). Determining the extent to which high school principals exercise their authority and responsibilty. International Journal of Human Sciences, 5(2), 1-23.
• Kızıldağ, D. (2018). Women’s problematic in management. Journal of Management Research, 14(1-2), 49-69.
• Korkmaz, H. (2016). Women at the management positions and the glass ceiling syndrome. Alternative Politics, Special Issue, 95-112.
• Memduhoğlu, H. B. & Meriç, E. (2014). Basic problems that school administrators cope with in the process of administration in the context of educational administration’s function. The Journal of International Social Research, 7(33), 653-666.
• Mert, P. & Levent, F. (2020). Female teachers’ problem to be the manager: Glass ceiling syndrome in Turkey. International Journal of Eurasian Education and Culture, 5(10), 1547- 1587. http://dx.doi.org/10.35826/ijoecc.267
• Miles, M. B., & Huberman, M. A. (1994). An expanded sourcebook qualitative data analysis. Sage.
• Mutunga, J. M. (2015). Factors influencing active participation of women in secondary school education management in Migwani sub-county, Kitui County Kenya [Unpublished master’s thesis]. South Eastern Kenya University, Kenya.
• Nawaz, M. A., Afzal, N. & Shehzadi, K. (2013). Problems of formally employed women: A case study of Bahawalnagar, Pakistan. Asian Journal of Empirical Research, 3(10), 1291-1299.
• Negiz, N. & Yemen, A. (2011). Female administrators in public organizations: Female problematique in administration in terms of administrator and employee. Süleyman Demirel University Faculty of Arts and Sciences, 24, 195-214.
• Oyeniran, R. O. & Anchomese, I. B. (2018). Women’s leadership experiences: A study of Ivorian Women Primary School Principals. Journal of Educational Issues, 4(1), 148-173. https://doi.org/10.5296/jei.v4i1.13042
• Örücü, E., Kılıç, R. & Kılıç, T. (2007). Glass ceiling syndrome and the obstacles facing women’s advancement to senior management positions: Evidence from Balıkesir. Management and Economics, 14(2), 117-135.
• Özan, M. B. & Akpınar, B. (2002). The success of women administrators in school administration. Fırat University Journal of Social Science, 12(2), 219-234.
• Öztürk, U. C. & Cevher, E. (2015). The pink version of harrestment in the workplace: Mobbing to women by women. Uludağ Journal of Economy and Society, XXXIV(1), 151-174.
• Patton, M. Q. (2014). Qualitative research and evaluation methods (Trans. M. Bütün & S. B. Demir). Pegem Publishing.
• Rarieya, J. F. (2007). Women in educational leadership: A comparison of Kenyan and Pakistani women educational leaders. Quality in education: Teaching and leadership in challenging times, 2, 469-483.
• Tamboukou, M. (2000). The paradox of being a woman teacher. Gender and Education, 12(4), 463-478. http://doi.org/10.1080/09540250020004108
• Tok, T. N. & Yalçın, N. (2017). Women school principals in the eyes of school principals. Pamukkale University Journal of Social Sciences Institute, 28, 353-366. DOİ: 10.5505/pausbed.2017.36025
• Yin, R. K. (2014). Case study methods: Design and methods. Sage Pbc.
• Yücedağ, F. (2017). The views of female teachers resigned from educational administration about the problems they face during their admin: A phenomenological study [Unpublished Master’s Thesis]. Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey.

License

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.