Is Effective Leadership a Male Quality? An Empirical Research of the Effectiveness of
Female Leadership in Five Language Schools in Cairo, Egypt Employing the “The Full
Range of Leadership Model”
A Dissertation submitted to the University of Leicester in fulfilment of the degree of MSc in
Educational Leadership and Strategic Management
University of Leicester
School of Education
United Kingdom
June 2012
Word count: 20500 words
Table of Contents
1.
Abstract
P. 4
2.
List of Acronyms
P. 5
3.
1. Introduction
P. 6
4.
1.1 The National Context
P. 6
5.
1.2 The purpose of study and the research questions
P. 7-8
6.
1.3 The Full Range of Leadership Model – The Conceptual framework
P. 9
7.
1.4 Research Methodology
P. 9
8.
1.5 Research Timescale
P. 9
9.
2. Literature Review
P. 10
10.
2.1 Introduction
P. 10
11.
2.2 Gender-related hurdles facing female HODs in Language Schools in Egypt
P. 10-13
12.
2.3 Leadership Styles currently adopted by Egyptian female HODs versus males
P. 13-18
13.
2.4 How can management rectify leadership behaviors to enhance performance
P. 19-21
14.
2.5 Summary of the Literature Review
P. 21
15.
3. Investigation and Research Methodology
P. 22
16.
3.1 Introduction
P. 22
17.
3.2 The Full Range of Leadership Model
P. 22-24
18.
3.3. Quantitative and Qualitative Research
P. 24
19.
3.4 Triangulation of Data
P. 25
20.
3.5 Reliability, Validity and Generalization of Data
P. 25
21.
3.6 Ethical Considerations
P. 25-26
22.
3.7 Research Population
P. 26-27
23.
3.8 Piloting and Sampling
P. 27-28
24.
3.9 Questionnaire Preparation and Distribution
P. 28
25.
3.10 Interview Mechanics
P. 28
26.
4. Data Analysis
P. 29-50
27.
5. Conclusion
P. 51
Reference List
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Abstract
Global developments have brought many changes to the Arab World, one of which is the urgent need to reform the
current the education system. The rapid expansion of the global educational systems has imposed many challenges on the
local system that seems to be unable to cope with the international progression. According to the Central Body for
General Mobilization and Statistics of Egypt (CBMS), challenges are the shortage of qualified teachers and capable
leaders, inappropriate curriculum programs, high rates of students’ dropouts, inadequate school facilities and high studentteaching staff ratios. In Egypt, the Egyptian government started to improve the quality of education by improving teachertraining programs and improving leaders’ skills to help activating the new reform tendency (CBMS3). Forming half of the
society, women are now being encouraged to become educated and participate in the workforce in order to contribute to
the social and economic development of the country. In the Arab World in general, there are scarce statistics about
women’s contribution to the leadership positions (UIS 1b). In Egypt, the 2008 official statistics from the Information
Center of Administrative Affairs points out the amazing scarcity of women in leading positions (ALECSCO 2010).
Gender disparity in the Arab States varies significantly with males favored in some countries and females favored in
others (UIS - online 1c). If we are to address the challenges of the new century, the female workforce has to be viewed
differently, women has to participate in the making of life and their potentials have to be invested properly in order to
improve the quality of education.
Contributing to the enhancement of educational process in Egypt in general and leadership in particular, this thesis deems
to discover how effective are female leaders in 5 language schools in Cairo, Egypt compared to their male counterparts
employing “the Full Range of Leadership Model” by Avolio B. and Bass, B. 1995 & 2004 as the conceptual framework of
this research in an endeavor to polish their managerial skills and enhance education accordingly regardless of gender. This
model categorizes leaders into three leadership styles; transformational, transactional and laissez faire, each contains
specific leadership skills.
The local context here is 5 language schools in Cairo, Egypt - with a target population of 250 (principals, deputy
principals, HODs and teachers) to complete a survey study plus interviews with members of the school managements. The
research will explore current leadership styles adopted by both gender and check who is more capable of effective
leadership, men or women and how can school managements enhance leaders’ performance towards better education in
these schools. The researcher is currently employed as a teacher in one of the 5 Language Schools for 2010/2011 school
year.
After a thorough analysis of data collected and from interviews held and although men have proven themselves as leaders,
the statistics and interviews’ results have shown that women excelled men in exhibiting transformational and transactional
leadership styles. In the conclusion, some recommendations are proposed to the management to improve their leaders’
performance.
Keywords: Educational Leadership, Female Leadership, The Full Range of Leadership Model
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List of Acronyms
FRL: Full Range of leadership model
MOE: Ministry of Education
MOHE: Ministry of Higher Education
ALECSCO: Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization
UIS: UNESCO Institute for Statistics
CBMS: Central Body for General Mobilization and Statistics of Egypt
HOD: Head(s) of Department(s)
MDGs: Millennium Development Goals
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1. Introduction:
The new century has witnessed a gradual rise in the number of women seeking leadership in
educational positions. Despite that, men are more likely to be leaders in education and
elsewhere. Coleman 2003e:36. In Egypt and in spite of the Country’s regulations that stresses equal
opportunities for males and females, the 2008 official statistics from the Information Center of
Administrative Affairs pointed out the amazing scarcity of women in leading positions. The Statistics
positioned the Ministry of Higher Education in the 3rd position in number of female leaders with a total
of 174 female leaders only (ALECSCO 2010). Women have arrived in number only at the lower strata
of the upper crust (Connolly in Schmuck, 1996:340). The challenges facing women seeking leadership
positions in the Arab World, which is more likely to be masculine, are numerous at organizational,
social and personal levels. Not to mention the stereotypical roles that accompanies female versus male
leaders. This can be summarized in Hall’s (1999) quotation about gender in leadership:
Occasionally over the past two decades those with a specific concern about equity and
educational management, particularly where it relates to gender have been knocking on
educational management doors asking to be let in. Generally the doors have been slow in
opening and, even when gender gain entry, it may be allocated a separate table and remain
largely ignored. (Hall, 1999:155)
This piece of research investigates how effective is the performance of women in leadership positions
compared to their male counterparts in 5 language schools in Egypt and will provide managements
with some suggestions to enhance the skills required of leaders, particularly females.
1.1 The National Context:
As a start, it is inescapable to admit that education in Egypt is going through a huge crisis. The
deteriorating conditions of teachers, the stagnant deficient curriculum, ever-increasing leakage and
dropouts from education, the inappropriate education outcomes are all shared between most of the Arab
Countries. The evaluation of the current school leadership has unveiled the incredible deficiency in
carrying out assigned duties in addition to the unsuitability of leaders’ qualifications to the positions
they hold. To enhance education, the MOE has issued many reform plans to radically remedy the
performance of 100 school managements all over the country. This change encompasses all central
administrators, managers and deputies at different educational governorates - (CBMS 1).
The Director the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSCO) stressed
the fact that good school management relies on transparency, supervision, democracy and mutual
respect between teachers and students. While the industrial countries spends 91% of their total Global
expenditure in research, development & knowledge investment, they own 80% of the information
storage - bearing in mind that inhabitants of these countries don’t exceed 20% of the total world
population versus 0.4% of the total expenditure of the Arab countries spent on education – (Al Ahram
Newspaper 2011c).
The Ministry of Education, with its modest financial resources and international aids tries to enhance
teachers’ conditions by providing training and base salaries on performance and not only on seniority
and thus attract skilled teachers. Launching from this point and regardless of gender, it is important to
uncover the hidden potentials of female leaders, support and train them to reach higher level of
management skills and thus share in the progression of education. This was urged by the economical,
social & political changes in Egypt that forced women to seek independence from men and leave their
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homes as housewives and mothers to look for well-paying job opportunities. Barriers such as
discrimination, socialization problems, not to mention if women leaders lack confidence or puzzle
between conflicting roles - these affect negatively on their performance as leaders. Till date, women in
Egypt are still struggling to attain key positions and gain society’s blessing as capable leaders–
(CBMS3).
Nowadays, the number of women trained to leading positions in education in general has reached 27%
in 2008 and 44.6% in pre-University education - (CBMS 3). Our question here is: "Have women
proved themselves as leaders?" What kind of leadership style do they employ compared to male
leaders? Do female leaders need to fine tune some of their leadership qualities to lead effectively?
What can management do to improve performance of leaders in general and females in particular to
improve education and help the country’s educational reforms?
This research is conducted in 5 language schools in Cairo, Egypt. Although the research is only carried
out in these schools, which could be seen as a limitation of the study, but as the Egyptian education is
highly centralized and work under the supervision of the MOE, it is likely that the findings can be
generalized. Schools are inspected regularly from the central or sub-central bodies that accredit and
monitor everything related to the educational process and curriculums. All staff and management of
these schools are Egyptians. The researcher is employed in one of these schools, however other schools
were chosen randomly in Cairo, Egypt.
All the above urged the need to prepare effective leaders that can lead the coming phase towards better
education and meet higher standards of global and national labor market..
1.2 Purpose of Study and the Research Questions:
The purpose of this research was urged by the following:
 The Ministry of higher Education & Academic Research has launched a comprehensive
development program to upgrade the current skills of teachers and prepare qualified leaders
capable of pushing the educational process forward - (Al Ahram Newspaper 2010a).
 The international community has pledged to eliminate gender disparities at all levels of
education by 2015 as part of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Despite the critical
progress in bridging gender gaps, persistent inequalities remain in many regions and at different
levels of education. Almost all other regions are closer to gender parity at the primary level than
at any other level of education, except for the Arab States where tertiary education is closest to
a position of parity. The majority of countries fell short of achieving the first step towards the
gender goal - (UIS 1a 2010).
 The economical depression in the world in general, and in Egypt in particular has forced
everyone, regardless of gender, to go out for work and compete in the job market. To achieve
this, the demand on acquiring post graduate studies as a way of finding better job opportunities
and seeking better salaries became a necessity for everyone. All of this has pushed women to
prove their worth in the workplace and seek career development opportunities. Thus the quality
of their newly knocked career, namely headship, became an important matter to tackle.
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 The expansion and diversity of schools ranging from national to international schools that cater
foreign curriculums developed elsewhere and contain culturally and religiously different values
and offered at unaffordable tuition fees for the middle class community- this urged to accelerate
the change not only in the teaching strategies but in leadership skills required of managers.
Unfortunately, most of the imported curriculums haven’t proved their worth and became unable
to encompass the cultural and religious expectations of the country.
 Another stimulus to studying how effective female leaders- is to provide an empirical base for
refuting the claims that 'management is masculine'. This belief has often been cited as an
explanation of why women are reluctant to apply for promotion. It derives from the
indisputable fact that in most societies men numerically dominate the higher echelons of
almost every management hierarchy in the public and private sectors.
 The paucity and unreliability of researches in the field of gender in educational management in
the Middle East has urged potential researchers such as Coleman, Schmuck, Shakeshaft, Hall
and Schein to call for the importance of carrying out more researches to cope with the rising
number of women holding leadership positions. (Coleman, 2000d:14)
Now all these factors have fuelled the need to prepare a new generation of effective leaders both males
and females, and thus provide better education for our children.
The above rationale of this research has formed the research questions as follows:
1- What are the gender-related hurdles facing female versus male HODs in Language Schools in
Cairo, Egypt?
a. Leadership and its relation to gender.
b. The unspoken biases of the role of gender in leading organizations.
c. Challenges facing female versus male HODs.
2- What are the leadership styles currently adopted by female versus male leaders in language
schools in Cairo, Egypt?
a. Characteristics of effective leaders in education.
b. Masculine versus feminine leader stereotypes.
c. The Full Range of leadership model.
3- How can current leadership styles be rectified to enhance female leaders’ performance?
a. Leadership now and then.
b. Women’s contribution to effective leadership.
c. What can be done to enhance female leaders’ performance to enhance education?
In order to answer these questions and to find out how effective are females in managing schools
and what can be done to improve their managerial skills, the Full Range of Leadership Model was
adopted as the conceptual framework for this research.
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1.3 “The Full Range of Leadership Model” - The Conceptual Framework:
The Full Range of Leadership Model – (FRL) developed and revised by (Avolio and Bass 1995 &
2004), by which the performance of leaders are measured (female versus male in this research). It rates
and categorizes leaders in three leadership styles; namely Transformational, Transactional and Laissez
Faire Models. This is achieved by showing how frequent each leadership behaviour is exhibited by
leaders and how effective is each gender in exhibiting these skills. The advantage of using this model is
that leaders rate themselves first (HOD’s form) and then this rating will be compared against other
people rating leaders (Rater’s form) - plus interviews. Other raters could be of higher, same or lower
position than the rated leader. Based on both quantitative and qualitative results, the model will
hopefully suggest a plan of how can management improve leaders’ skills.
1.4 Research Methodology:
The research questions will be investigated by conducting a survey (questionnaire) to be distributed to
50 (male and female) HODs who will rate themselves and then will be rated by 200 male and female
principals, deputies and teachers - which makes a total of 250 questionnaires. To triangulate data,
interviews will be conducted with 17 principals, heads and teachers, in which survey outcomes will be
displayed and results will be compared.
.
It is hoped that the results of this work can also inform an area of research hitherto largely unexplored
in the Middle East in general and Egypt in particular.
1.5 Research Timescale:
An adjustment occurred in the date of submission is hereby indicated. This was due to the current
political turmoil in Egypt that followed January 25 Revolution where everything was at total chaos.
These were followed by the Presidential Elections, where most schools were not in session. This
affected negatively the expected submission date. Below is the revised schedule:
Research Tool Assignment Submission
Finalizing Introduction & Literature Review for Dissertation
Distribution and collection of questionnaire
Finalizing Interviews and editing notes
Analyzing data and Writing conclusions
Editing and Revising - Final Submission Date
September 28, 2010
February 1 , 2011
May 20, 2011
March 10, 2012
May 15, 2012
June 10, 2012
The following literature review will discuss and refute the points as stated in the research
questions above.
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2. The Literature Review:
2.1 Introduction:
In the above introduction, rationale of the research has been explained and the following review will
discuss and refute potential researches in the area of study. In this review, hurdles facing female HODs
in the workplace and themes of equity and career progression of women will be discussed. After that,
the different leadership styles currently adopted by females versus male HODs will be displayed in 5
Language schools in Cairo using “The Full Range of Leadership Model” by Bass & Avolio 1995 as the
conceptual framework of this research. Finally, the research will propose some recommendations on
how to improve the skills of current HODs and further to equip education with competent leaders.
This review draws from a wide range of resources in the field of gender in educational leadership such
as: Coleman M. (many references), Bass & Avolio (1995 & 2004) Multifactor Leadership
Questionnaire, Gray, H.L. (1989a) 'Gender considerations in school management: masculine and
feminine leadership styles, Hall, V. (1996a) “Dancing on the Ceiling”, Schein, V.E. (1994) 'Managerial
Sex typing: a persistent and pervasive barrier to women's opportunities', Schmuck, P.A. (1996)
'Women's Place in educational administration: past, present and future', Shakeshaft, C. (1989),
"Differences Between the Way Women and Men Manage Schools" in Women in Educational
Administration and many others - (see reference list).
2.2 What are the gender-related hurdles facing male versus female HODs in Language Schools in
Egypt?
According to many researchers such as Beare et al.,1993:142 and Bush and Coleman, 2006:29, women
in UK and elsewhere may numerically dominate the teaching profession, but they are relatively rare in
positions of authority. Globally, men have proven their worth in controlling and disciplining, while
women were seen as best educators and this matches their roles as care-providers especially in the
Middle East, where the common stereotype of "daughter-wife-mother" still persists - (Chow and Luk,
1996:25). It was taken for granted that women had been satisfied with the subordinate positions,
namely to do the greatest part of the work and yet be denied leadership (Coleman, 1996c:163). In
Egypt, statistics show that unemployment among women is three times among men (19.3% for women:
5.6% for men) - (CBMS 2). In various fields, still most of businessmen prefer men than women
especially in the private sector. Add to this, the inherited cultural beliefs that still treat women as
vulnerable person incapable of hard work – (CBMS 2).
Being half the society and based on the consensus in almost all the literature that seeking quality in
education relies heavily on effective school leadership - (Beare et al., 1993:141), it becomes a necessity
to explore the challenges & hurdles that impede leaders’ progression, especially women, and find ways
to overcome these challenges and thus improve the educational system.
The first part of this section will discuss leadership models and gender biases found in literature then a
discussion of the challenges facing female leaders in education in general and in Egypt in particular.
2.2.1 Leadership and its relation to gender
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The number of references that defined the meaning of leadership is endless. Rost (1991) found that
there had been 221 definitions of leadership between 1900 and 1990 and there are probably twice as
many by now – (Al Sabbahi 2010)
While most of the literature about leadership took the side of masculine leadership, some remain
neutral but silent. Historically, leadership in organizations has been associated with ‘masculine’
characteristics than 'feminine' such as aggressiveness, forcefulness, competitiveness and independence
- (Blackmore, 1989:101). Foster (1998) pointed out the state of disarray in studying theories of
leadership and that organizational and leadership theories neglect the significance of gender and
describes Leadership as a ‘slippery concept’ filled by traits of rationality, expertise and merit.
Similarly, Kanter (1975) pointed out that traits of leadership are found in the masculine figure who
enjoys tough minded approach to problems, abilities to abstract and plan; capacity to set aside personal
considerations in the interests of task accomplishment. Kanter justified the lack of women in higher
positions is due to women’s irrationality, subjectivity and emotionality.
Here the question remains, how can feminist theories not only deconstruct these dominant
epistemological and political perspectives but also reconstruct an alternative which opens up different
ways of seeing educational leadership? To answer this question, let us consider the 'myths' of
management in relation to gender. Firstly, there is little empirical evidence to support the connection
between certain 'traits' and good leadership, for example, between aggressiveness and various
'management' skills such as tackling challenges, setting achievable goals, planning, and organizing,
persuading, conciliating and conveying enthusiasm. Secondly, that women are unsuitable leaders and
decision-makers because they are too emotional and subjective is equally unfounded, both
theoretically and empirically. However, it is increasingly accepted that decision-making is value
ridden and theory laden, ideologically prescribed, generally based on inadequate and even incorrect
information and consequently emotive. Thirdly, that leadership is associated with a high level of selfconfidence and self-esteem, is again highly suspect. (Blackmore, 1989:101)
In this research, these myths of leadership will be tested to see how Egyptian female HODs perform in
their leadership positions; do they possess the traits of good leadership? Can they tackle challenges at
the workplace? Do they enjoy self-confidence to manage properly and overcome obstacles and above
all what action can be taken to pave the way for their progression?
2.2.2 The unspoken biases about the role of gender in leading organizations:
Gender biases in literature have been observed by many researchers in educational leadership such as
Shakeshaft 1989, Hall 1996 and Coleman 2003. Coleman stated that most theories of leadership are
fraught with biases and unspoken assumptions about the role of gender in organizations - (Coleman
2003e:44). Shakeshaft found that most of the literature that measured effectiveness of men and women
in management positions was often generalized to mean no difference in style and even when
differences were found, they were simply not reported or hinted at in conclusions - (Shakeshaft,
1989:168). As for Hall, she noticed the unfavorable way in which women are viewed as managers,
expressed as ‘at the 'black-box level’ (i.e. in people's heads but not apparent in their actions) (Hall
1996:140).
Actually women are in a double bind and their participation is not seen more than a role replacement. If
a woman displays the culturally defined traits of 'femininity' (being emotional, passive, dependent,
nurturing, submissive), she is perceived to be a 'poor' leader. If she acts according to the male role
(being aggressive, achievement-oriented, self-confident, forceful), she is condemned as being
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‘unfeminine’. Women’s apparent lack of such ‘traits’ as perceived in their behavior is seen to make
them unsuited for leadership. (Blackmore, 1989:100).
Shakeshaft (1989) believed that women have to be re-socialized to fit into the male world. To explore
how women can be re-socialized to fit in the world of men, we have to display the challenges that
could face female HODs in the workplace.
2.2.3 Challenges facing female versus male HODs in language schools in Egypt:
Much literature on gender and educational management focuses on the barriers to women's career
progression in schools and colleges. The successful experience of women in senior positions in
England is described as breaking the 'glass ceiling'. They had circumvented the barriers that
traditionally stand in the way of women seeking career advancement in organizations. Despite the
gains, the 'glass ceiling' has been noticeably difficult to crack. (Hall, 1997:311).
An important analysis by Eagly 1990 and Bell 1995 and supported by Schmuck 1996, is that the social
construction view women, because of their minority and marginal status, as 'insiders' and 'outsiders' in
school organizations. As insiders, they adopt the roles, norms, behaviors, and expectations of the role
they occupy as principals or superintendents. But, because the conditions of social gender roles demand
it, they remain 'outsiders' because they do not reflect the cultural expectations of the role of leader as
male. Those women, who have achieved positions which are held predominately by men, have realized
that they must become 'abnormal' women; they must transcend the social expectations of femaleness in
order to aspire to the socially prescribed role of leader. Women in leadership positions in education
have figured out that they must find alternative methods to survive and flourish. (Schmuck 1996:355).
In their study in 1989, Brenner et al., suggested that the governmental legal pressures forced male
decision makers to ensure equal opportunity and constantly monitoring the number of women in the
managerial positions. Unfortunately, some corporate leaders started to relieve the pressures of
enforcing equality and eliminate discrimination; all slowed down or even moved backwards women’s
progress in management - (Schein 1994:45). In addition, affirmative action programs are a mixed
blessing. Women managers who thought they had been hired because of affirmative action by the
organization rather than because of their abilities were less committed to the organization and were less
satisfied with their work. They also experienced more role conflict and role ambiguity than did the
women managers who believed that their sex status was not important to their selection. Those women
with the necessary seniority and experience, who fail to rise, avoid increased responsibility, challenges,
and risks, passive, lack ambition and energy. The failure to perform effectively as a manager will result
in reduced self-confidence and motivation. (Bass, 1981:737)
Even when women are promoted to managerial positions, they continue to face a variety of barriers to
their upward mobility. In some jobs, the obstacle may be the reluctance to send women traveling with
men or relocation of the woman, which means that either her husband must also relocate or the couple
must live apart. Carroll 1987 argued that the biggest obstacle that women leaders face is coping with
the conflict between career and family. Morrison, White, and Van Velsor (1987) found that women
executives felt less equal than did their male counterparts to the demands placed on their time and
energy in their daily lives - (Bass, 1981:709).
The lack of confidence of female leaders, in Leithwood et al., research (1992) was identified as an
internal barrier that continues to block women’s career progress in education. They claim t that males
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are much more confident about how to perform well, because of leadership is their long-dominated
career and the lack of women’s confidence is due only to her recent takeover of such leading roles in
education- (Hall, 1996:152)
One of the most important hurdles for women in management in all countries has been thought to
be the persistent stereotype that associates management with being male' and with the motto
suggested by Tyack and Hansot 1982 “Men manage and women teach” which became an
accepted truism in education. Recent researches indicate that women are able to bring strengths
to leadership which may be particularly appropriate to effective educational leadership today.
(Bush and Coleman 2006:33).
Now, after discussing the hurdles facing female leaders, let’s examine how the current leaders perform
in their different leadership positions.
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2.3 What are the leadership styles currently adopted by female versus male HODs in these
schools?
Due to the new radical changes in the meaning of leadership, the skills required of effective leaders
changed accordingly. The theory of one man show’ leadership couldn’t stand up to the global changes.
In the coming section, we will discuss leadership styles with a focus on the Full Range of Leadership
Model which is used as the framework of this research.
2.3.1 Characteristics of effective leaders in education:
Many researchers have embarked on the definition of nowadays leaders and the competencies required
of an effective leader. There is a consensus that “the quality of leadership behavior influences the
overall effectiveness of the organization and that “without effective educational leadership, little
positive educational change will happen.” – (Al Sabbahi 2010:75)
Everard and Morris (1996:20) stress the importance of a leader’s interpersonal skills and of motivating
staff. They define motivation as “getting results through people‟. Hughes and James (1999) agree with
Southworth (1998), they propose nine characteristics of successful heads, which include agreement on
objectives and how to achieve them; agreement on how to create a sense of direction for the school;
mutual respect and trust; fair allocation of time; good communication; encouraging others to participate
in the management and leadership of the school; recognition of the head as senior partner; discussing
and resolving differences. (Al Sabbahi 2010:76)
Kouzes and Posner 1995, listed the competencies required of a leader such as: challenging the process,
inspiring a shared vision, enabling others to act, modeling the way, encouraging the heart. As for
Beare et al. 1993:147, outstanding leaders have a vision for their organization, they should have an
important role in developing culture of organization. (Bush, and Coleman, 2006:33).
Baddeley and James (1987) use the metaphors of 'owl, fox, donkey or sheep' to capture the essence of
political skills for managers. Here, leaders are not innocent sheep, inept donkies or clever foxes but
wise owls! (Hall, 1996:159)
According to the study carried in 6 countries by Brenner et al., Schein and Mueller in 1989, they found
that the most characteristic of successful leaders were leadership ability, desires responsibility, skilled
in business matters and analytical ability. Women were seen as less likely to possess characteristics
perceived internationally as requisite management characteristics. They found that when target terms of
'women managers' and 'men managers' were used, men were still seen as more likely than women to
possess the key characteristics of effective leader. (Schein, 1994:47). This research aims at finding out
whether Egyptian female HODs possess such characteristics and how their skills can be improved.
It should be offered with confidence that both masculine and feminine qualities in leadership are
essential (as will be explained in the coming point). This sex-role dichotomy namely being
"androgynous"; that is, being both masculine and feminine, both assertive and yielding, both
instrumental and expressive - depending on the appropriateness of these various behaviors as they
move from situation to situation. (Bem, 1974:155)
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2.3.2 Masculine versus feminine leader stereotypes
Although the study of women in management mainly flourished in the west, there is a paucity in the
literature concerning feminine leadership in the Middle East. Recently, this has slightly changed for
two reasons: first the advancement of women’s educational level; and, second, the recent booming
economy in the region. (Chow and Luk, 1996:25).
Gray (1993:11) identifies two paradigms, namely the nurturing paradigm and the
defensive/aggressive one, which refer to the feminine versus masculine aspects of personality
respectively. The nurturing paradigm broadly defines the feminine aspect of personality as
caring, creative, intuitive, aware of individual differences, non-competitive, tolerant, subjective
and informal. The defensive/aggressive paradigm broadly defines aspects of personality as,
highly regulated, conformist, normative, competitive, evaluative, disciplined, objective and
formal. Coleman (2003e:40) also suggested two basic models of leadership, one concentrates
on decision making process ranging from authoritarian to consultative model and the second
related to being either task-oriented or people oriented model. These two models can be related
to the diametrically opposed ideal types of feminine and masculine leadership styles. The
masculine stereotype is authoritarian and task oriented while the feminine stereotype is
collaborative and people oriented. These models have room for a range of behaviors between
the extremes that incorporates behaviors of both elements masculine and feminine styles.
These qualities listed by Gray and Coleman need not be mutually exclusive; an individual can
be both assertive and compassionate, both instrumental and expressive, both masculine and
feminine, depending upon the situational appropriateness of these various modalities. Again
this echoes Bem’s research in 1974 and Beare et al. 1993. The better adjusted we are emotionally
the easier it is for us to accept this 'fully androgynous' duality. The Bem Sex Role Inventory
developed for use in psychology by Bem (1974) identifies groups of attributes associated with
masculine and feminine behavior. Research undertaken by Bem (1974) and endorsed by
Ferrario (1994), indicated that the most effective leaders were those who had many qualities
from both lists. (Coleman, 2003e:44).
This gender perspective allows us to take a more creative view of the management role. If we define
management as dealing with areas of uncertainty, crisis, policy and negotiation and administration as
the continuance of practice, following of procedures, implementation of other people's decisions, and
maintenance of routines, we see that management requires a balance of 'feminine' and 'masculine'
skills. However, these stereotypes may work to a woman manager's advantage. If women managers are
not expected to perform well, then if they do perform well, their performance may be attributed to extra
effort and competence and may be considered more worthy of reward than that of comparable male
managers. (Coleman, 2000d:25). On the other side, many heads are ineffective at management because
they fear the feminine qualities this draws on: intuition, calculated risk- taking, aesthetic
considerations, dependence on colleagues, messiness and incompleteness. That’s why they are drawn
to administration rather than management because this is their 'male' side and they avoid the 'feminine'
qualities necessary to function completely (Gray, 1989:43).
In the coming part, we will discuss styles of leadership with a special zoom on the Full Range of
Leadership as being the conceptual framework of this research.
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2.3.3 The Full Range of Leadership Model
When all levels of managers, students, and project leaders around the world were asked to describe the
characteristics and behaviors of the most effective leaders they had worked with, they described leaders
who had the greatest influence on them as transformational: inspirational, intellectually stimulating,
challenging, visionary, development oriented, and determined to maximize performance. In many
cases, the term ''charisma'' was used. In this research, we will try to classify the styles of leadership
adopted by female versus male HODs in Cairo language schools and how far their current management
skills need support from schools managements. (Al Sabbahi 2010)
Sorenson and Machell (1996) & Sheppard (1996) agreed with Leithwood (1992 & 1994) that
“educational leadership today requires skills, knowledge and attitudes that are remarkably different
than those required only a few decades ago. The leader should be the facilitator of school improvement
and the keeper of the collective covenant, rather than the custodian of the status quo - (Sergiovanni,
1996).
Vroom and Yetton, Blake and Mouton and Fiedler 1978, who best represented situational or
contingency theories of leadership; argue that leaders must acquire the skill to recognize, diagnose and
select the appropriate style of leadership to 'fit' the situation. No specific leadership style is given
preference over others. Each 'style' is selected as a means to achieve a particular organizational end
most efficiently. By implication, although the gender issue is never confronted in these models, such
theories assume - that leadership styles and administrative contexts are gender neutral, and that such
skills are context and content-free to be applied across a variety of ‘categorizable’ organizational
situations. That is, any individual can assume an appropriate style provided she or he possesses this
baggage of leadership skills and is able to diagnose the situation correctly. However, success by a
female at a 'masculine' task (such as leadership) is more often attributed to luck than competence by
observers (this hypothesis will be tested in this research), whereas success by a male at a masculine
task is attributed largely to competence. Thus there is different recognition for similar performance, in
other words, 'what is skill for a male is luck for the female'. (Blackmore, 1989:103)
Leithwood, Jantzi and Steinbach (1999) identify six major categories of leadership models:
instructional, moral, participative, managerial, contingent or transactional and
transformational. Of these styles, it is transformational leadership that is identified as being the
one most likely to: 'offer a comprehensive approach to leadership that will help those in, and
served by, current and future schools respond productively to the significant challenges facing
them'. In relation to the contrasting transformational and transactional styles it is also possible
to say that the feminine paradigm of nurturing and individual consideration is clearly more
aligned to transformational leadership (Rosener, 1990), and the masculine paradigm of
regulation and formality is more aligned to transactional leadership and to the managerial. The
identification of transformational leadership as essentially based on relationships (Burns, 1978)
would also seem to favor the style of women. In fact it is now possible to build a whole body
of theory and evidence to establish a counter-claim about leadership; that women are actually
more suited for leadership than men (another hypothesis to be tested in the research). (Coleman
2003e:40)
One of the important aspects of today's management and leadership development programs is the use of
specific tools to evaluate the effectiveness of the various types of leadership. However, it is important
to have accurate measurement techniques. This assists with evaluation, validation and comparative
study. The tool used in this research is “The Full Range of Leadership Model (FRL)”, which was first
- 15 -
initiated by James MacGregor Burns 1978 and developed by Avolio & Bass in 1989 and revised in
1994 & 1995. The Full Range Model of Leadership assumes the existence of differences in the
effectiveness of leadership styles, based on the active/passive distinction. Broad categories of
leadership range thus from Passive /Avoidant Leadership (Laissez-Faire), through the classical model
of Transactional Leadership and up to Transformational Leadership. Further details are given in the
Research Methodology section.
Burns (1978) was one of the first scholars of transformational leadership included an ethical/moral
dimension that, prior to 1978, had not been infused into any leadership theory. Bernard Bass, a disciple
of Burns, defined transformational leadership as a process of influencing in which leaders change their
associates’ awareness of what is important, and move them to see themselves and the opportunities and
challenges of their environment in a new way. Transformational leaders are proactive, seek to optimize
individual, group and organizational development and innovation, not just achieve expected
performance, convince their associates to strive for higher levels of potential as well as higher levels of
moral and ethical standards. The transformational leadership consists of 4 components; Charisma or
idealized influence, Inspirational motivation, Intellectual stimulation, Individualized consideration.
Each behavior will be explained in details in investigation section - (Bass and Avolio, 1994:4).
The Transactional leadership is a contractual relationship between the leader and followers, where 'the
leader rewards or disciplines the followers depending on the adequacy of the followers’ performance'.
Transactional leaders use conventional reward and punishment to gain compliance from their
followers. In its more constructive form (Contingent Reward-CR), where leaders set up and define
agreements or contracts to achieve specific work objectives and specify the compensation upon
successful completion of the tasks. In its active form (Management by Exception – Active - MBEA),
it focuses on actively setting standards and closely monitoring for the occurrences of mistakes. In its
passive form (Management by Exception – Passive – MBEP), it involves waiting for mistakes to
occur before taking action. In either its passive or active form, it focuses on identifying mistakes -(Bass
and Avolio, 1994:4)
The Laissez-Faire Leadership - This leadership style has most of the time a negative effect on
leadership results. Laissez Faire or Passive/Avoidant Leaders avoid attempting to influence their
subordinates and shirk supervisory duties, leave decisions to subordinates – more details on the three
types of leadership are given in the investigation section.
As the FRL identifies the presence or absence of certain transformational leadership dimensions, it is
important that it provides an accurate and unbiased measurement of the various transformational
leadership dimensions. As a consequence, Bass and Avolio (1989) suggested that more attention should
be given to biases that might occur in identifying transformational leadership qualities. Two potential
sources of bias are present in the FRL. First, FRL ratings may be prone to halo effect. When
respondents identify their leader’s strengths and weaknesses, they may have difficulty in differentiating
between the various transformational behaviors and make more global ratings and all four
transformational leadership scales may be highly correlated. As for transactional leadership scales, they
are less related to each other and represent distinct leadership facets. Although passive managementby-exception dimensions seems to highly converge with laissez-faire leadership, previous studies
indicate that respondents are more able to differentiate between the various leaders’ behaviors
associated with the transactional styles. Second; concerns have also been raised that FRL scores are
biased by social desirability. It is argued that followers’ ratings of their respective leaders may not only
reflect actual leader behavior, but may also be influenced by social response bias. People’s prototypical
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views of a leader correlate more with ratings on transformational leadership scales than with
transactional leadership ratings. Avolio & Bass (1995) reported that respondents perceive the
transformational leadership attributes as being more ideal and, thus, as more socially desirable. This
might result in hiding important developmental needs. (Lievens et al., 1997)
Now, let’s display how can management enhance and support the performance of leaders in general
and females in particular.
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2.4 How can current leadership styles be rectified to enhance the performance of female leaders?
Women's place in educational administration today grows out of a history of beliefs about women's
right and ability to lead in schools. According to CBMS1, the percentage of women holding leading
positions has tripled from 7.3% in 1988 to 15.3% in 1996 then to 21.5% in 2000 and finally to 24.1%
in 2008. Despite that, still the percentage of women occupying leadership positions in 2008 is few in
comparison to male leaders.
In this research, we will try to explore women’s contribution to effective leadership in the light of the
new concept of leadership and how can management improve these contributions.
2.4.1 Leadership now and then
There is a long-standing debate as to whether leaders are born or made and whether leadership is learnt
or innate. According to English (2008), leaders are not born into roles. Leadership is learned behavior,
which implies that leaders could be formed through training. On the other hand, Weber (1968:58)
points out that being charismatic or creative -“thinking out of the box‟ - a quality that cannot be
learned. Dubin and Fiedler focused on the leader’s characteristics that were often thought to be
hereditary (genetic) or native traits. This theory of a leader is called “Great Man Theory”, where skills
and competencies and activities that supposed to be learned or acquired were disregarded. This earlier
understanding of leadership focused on the leader as a solitary actor. Today, the rapid change of every
aspect of life has called for a change in the competencies of a leader. The view of a leader has changed
from a sole or unitary actor to a team or community centered view of leadership and Leadership has
changed from a hierarchical one-dimensional model into collaborative multi-dimensional model.
(Beare et al., 1993:142).
2.4.1 Women’s contribution to effective leadership
Alongside the recognition of the lack of opportunities for women, there is also recognition of
qualities women may bring to management and leadership. Empirical work in the West indicated
that women leaders tend towards a participative and transformative management style, of empowering
their colleagues, making use of teamwork, are more democratic and are more likely to use strategies
that include long-range planning and evaluative data in making decisions. (Shakeshaft, 1989:188)
Women are more concerned with instructional processes and learning, and interact more intensively
with teachers, resolve conflicts, more effective in representing the school to the wider community and
highly effective communication styles. (Goldring and Chen, 1994:175)
Blackmore, 1989; Hall 1996; Jirasinghe and Lyons, 1996 administered a variety of well tried
personality tests, including the Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ), the Belbin Team Types
Questionnaire, and leadership styles questionnaire derived from the work of Bass (1981). Female heads
tend to identify themselves as participative and consultative leaders. Male heads perceived themselves
as delegative, data rational, relaxed, tough-minded, active and competitive. (Bush and Coleman,
2006:31)
Female heads favor consensus decision making; seeking the involvement of all relevant
colleagues thereby securing their commitment and motivation.(Jirasinghe and Lyans, 1996).
The women heads both relished and feared the power of their position. For them, power is ‘to
empower'. Power was not about being censorious, belittling or destructive, or taking arbitrary
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decisions, being hierarchical or confrontational. It meant being able to make things happen by
distributing the resources, interacting in ways that left others confident in their actions, enabling others
to do things, being thoroughly organized and prepared, having a vision and shaping a culture. (Hall
1996:145).
The women heads were determined to survive and recognized the need to be 'political' in their own
terms. They recognized and used the powers they had in giving teachers references and development
opportunities in return for getting things done. They considered these types of acts as legitimate uses of
power. These strategies of re-socialization of the female should be adjusted through training to enable
her to cope better with the 'male' world. However, such strategies are criticized as encouraging women
to adopt 'masculine behaviors and values - to be competitive, aggressive; to look like men' and it is
feared that at worst, they may not build on the strengths that women can bring to management. (Hall,
1996:159)
Regarding time allocation, women conduct more unscheduled meetings, monitor less, take fewer trips
away from the building, observe teachers more often, keep abreast of the instructional program. On the
other hand, males used the time to walk the halls with the principals and the head custodians,
requesting that they follow up on particular concerns. (Shakeshaft, 1989:171)
Women leaders developed the confidence to enact their own interpretation of leadership, that are
neither exclusively masculine nor feminine Their work with others is based on becoming a role model
by providing the structures, policies and practices to support that way of working, as well as
opportunities for continual development. Their approach to working with groups such as governors and
senior colleagues derived from their expressed commitment to collaboration and power sharing as the
most effective strategy for securing the school's goals. (Hall, 1996:142 & 153)
Hyman (1980) reports that women use language less aggressive and more tentative that indicates more
consideration and concern than the language of men. Their politeness is exhibited in their listening
behavior, whereas men interrupt more often and are less able to recall what females say. Women tend
to hear the emotional and personal issues in a conversation, whereas men listen for "facts". They give
more information, encourage effort and stress interpersonal relations through communication more
than did male. (Shakeshaft, 1989:181)
Women leaders are seen as being more approachable by staff and parents and by girl pupils,
and able to 'defuse' angry males. Compared to men, women HODs felt able to share emotion in
unhappy circumstances and empathize with families where tragedies had occurred. (Coleman,
2003e:47).
In her study, Hall reported that the women heads challenged the implicit fatalism of theories
associating management and masculinity, first by achieving headship; second, through their behavior
once in post. (Hall, 1997:321) In rejecting 'management as masculine', the book “Dancing on the
Ceiling” by Hall 1996, shows women leading the management dance and making the dance floor their
own and even persuade others to dance with them. In managing conflict, women are more likely use
collaborative strategies and use conflict reduction techniques, whereas males use authoritarian
responses more often- (Shakeshaft, 1989:189). Now the question is “When women are placed in
supervisory and leadership roles, how are they accepted and followed by their subordinates? How
meritorious is their performance as appraised by their superiors (management)? Are the productivity
and satisfaction of the group affected by the sex of the leader? (Bass, 1981:727).
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2.4.3 What can be done to enhance female leaders’ performance to enhance education?
Bass 1981 listed the four beliefs which reinforce the unfavorable attitudes toward women as leaders
and why they are not found in leadership positions, that they (1) lack career orientation, (2) lack
leadership potential (3) are undependable, and (4) are emotionally less stable. In practical life, a
comparison of 1965 and 1985 showed that most managers thought that women are winning increased
acceptance in the business environment and that executives' perceptions had changed greatly. In the
1985 survey, executives were more likely to think women want positions of authority and felt more
comfortable about working for a female boss (Bass 1981:713)
At every level of an educational or other organization there appear to be barriers to the advancement of
women. Such organizational barriers may operate not only against women, but positively in favor of
men. Schmuck identifies many problems facing women in the workplace, such as; the lack of female
role models in senior management, more opportunities given for males to exhibit leadership, male
domination of selection committees leading to discrimination, in addition to the following: lack of
Career paths & career planning, career breaks and Role stereotyping. (Schmuck 1986:179).
Fagenson's (1986) survey of 260 women found that women advanced in their careers because of
personal orientations as well as organizational opportunities. Women are thought to overemphasize the
task at hand rather than its implications for future achievement, either because they have not learned to
set goals or because they believe they are unlikely to be promoted (Bass, 1981:737). Davidson and
Cooper (1992) and Ozga, (1993) found that 'a large number of women just drift into senior positions
without clearly planning their career strategy' and though that luck had influenced their careers rather
than planning' (Schmuck 1986:181).
It is sure that the role of the HOD and the school administration are integrated and dependent on one
another. (Green 2000:10). In mid nineties, Stogdill, Stoll and Fink (1996) focused on leadership as 'the
initiation of a new structure or procedure for accomplishing an organization's goals and objectives'.
Stoll and Fink (1996) summarized their research on school improvement by their advocacy of
‘invitational leadership’ as the appropriate leadership style. They describe leadership as
'communicating invitational messages to individuals and groups with whom leaders interact in order to
build and act on a shared and evolving vision of enhanced educational experiences for pupils. In order
to invite others, 'leaders must first invite themselves, physically, intellectually, socially, emotionally,
spiritually'. (Hall, 1997:316). How can Management in Language Schools in Egypt invite leaders and
help leaders invite themselves towards effective leadership and hence better education? This will be
investigated in this research.
2.5
Summary of the literature section:
The literature review showed the disarray of women’s role in leadership. Despite that, it seems that
women have found their own way through the masculine inherited leadership, using all they can to
prove their worth. The barriers facing women as leaders and all the biases in leadership theories seem
to be endless. Despite the numerous leadership models, the Full Range of Leadership Behavior is
selected to measure women leaders’ effectiveness versus males, incorporating three leadership styles,
namely the transformational, transactional and laissez faire behaviors as discussed in the coming
section.
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3. Investigation and Research methodology:
3.1 Introduction:
This investigation of this research is designed to measure how effective females versus male leaders in
exhibiting transformational leadership behaviours. As discussed in the literature, some theoretical
hypothesis will be tested:
 That women had broken the ‘glass ceiling’ and start to gain entrance to leadership positions –
(Schmuck 1996).
 That the masculine stereotype is authoritarian, task-oriented and delegative (transactional) and the
feminine stereotype is collaborative, people oriented, participatory (transformational) – (Coleman,
2003e).
 That female leaders have to be re-socialized, through training, to fit in the male world – (Hall
1996).
This research methodology was designed to answer the following research questions:
1- What are the gender-related hurdles facing female versus male HODs in Language Schools in Cairo,
Egypt?
2- What are the leadership styles currently adopted by female versus male leaders in language schools
in Cairo, Egypt?
3- How can current leadership styles be rectified to enhance female leaders’ performance?
The Full Range of Leadership Model first adopted by Burns in 1978 and then refined by Avolio & Bass
in 1989 and revised again in 1994 & 1995 will be used as the conceptual framework. This model is the
most well known tool for Transformational Leadership measurement, where the frequencies of
leadership behaviors exhibited by leaders are measured.
3.2 The Full Range of Leadership Model:
The “Full Range of Leadership model” – FRL is used as the conceptual framework in this research.
The model categorizes leaders into three leadership styles; transformational, transactional and laissez
faire. Following is a detailed discussion of each:
a- Transformational leadership is the process of influencing in which leaders change their associates’
awareness of what is important, and move them to see themselves and the opportunities and challenges
of their environment in a new way - (Burns 1978). Transformational leadership encompasses four
behaviors:
Charisma or idealized influence: Charismatic leaders display convictions, take stands and have clear
set of values and demonstrate them in every action, providing a role
model for their followers.
Inspirational motivation:
Leaders with inspirational motivation articulates an appealing and
inspiring vision supported by good communication skills with
precision and power in a compelling and persuasive way.
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Intellectual stimulation:
Leaders with this trait challenge assumptions, take risks and solicit
followers' ideas, stimulate and encourage creativity in their
followers.
Individualized consideration:
Leader with this trait, attend to each follower's needs, act as a mentor
or coach to the follower and listens to the follower's concerns and
needs, celebrate the individual contribution to the team.
b- Transactional leadership is a contractual relationship between the leader and followers, where 'the
leader rewards or disciplines the follower depending on the adequacy of the follower's performance'.
(Bass and Avolio, 1994:4). Transactional leadership encompasses the following types of behavior:
In its more constructive form transactional leadership is supplemented by working with
individuals and/or groups, setting up and defining agreements or
(Contingent Reward-CR)
contracts to achieve specific work objectives, discovering
individuals' capabilities, and specifying the compensation and
rewards that can be expected upon successful completion of the
tasks.
In its active form
(Management by Exception –
Active - MBEA),
it focuses on actively setting standards and closely monitoring for
the occurrences of mistakes.
In its passive form
(Management by Exception –
Passive – MBEP),
it involves waiting for mistakes to occur before taking action. In
either its passive or active form, it focuses on identifying mistakes.
c-Laissez Faire or Passive/Avoidant Leaders: avoid attempting to influence their subordinates and
shirk supervisory duties. Laissez-faire leaders bury themselves in paperwork and avoid situations that
preclude any possibility of confrontation. They leave too much responsibility with subordinates, set no
clear goals, and do not help their group to make decisions. They tend to let things drift, since their main
aim is to stay on good terms with everyone.
The questionnaire was developed in two versions, the Self–Rating (Leader’s form) distributed to total
of 50 HODs (25 males and 25 females) and Other Raters (Rater’s form) distributed to 200 principals,
deputy principals and teachers. Both questionnaires are the same but with few adaptations. Other
Raters are subordinate teachers, colleague teachers and then interviews with school principals/deputies.
As the Leader form would naturally contain bias, the Rater’s form is of greater importance and acts
here as a way of data triangulation. The Raters have to identify strengths and weaknesses of their
leaders by judging how frequent leadership skills are exhibited by target leaders. Outcomes of the
questionnaires will form the interview questions that will be discussed with respective management
members and HODs in a try to suggest improvement plans.
These leadership models are shown in Part 2 and 3 in the Rater’s Form and Leader’s forms of the
questionnaire respectively by checking 39 points covering all models of leadership above by choosing
from a Likert scale from 1-5 (I never do that – frequently if not always). The last part of the
questionnaire gives some suggestions for department heads on areas that need development. Part 4 in
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the Leader’s Form will help management how to overcome some management hurdles and challenges
that may impede leaders’ progress. The total score of Part 2/3, which is about leadership outcomes, will
answer the second question of the dissertation as what are the leadership styles currently adopted by
HODs. The outcome of part 3/4 along with interviews will help on how management can improve the
skills of the current HODs, especially females by recommending some training courses needed to
enhance performance. In order to put this conceptual framework into practice, both quantitative and
qualitative methods were combined.
3.3 Quantitative and Qualitative Research:
The quantitative element is based on the data gathered from the questionnaire, while the qualitative
element comes from the interpretation of the data gathered in the interviews. This approach will enable
the researcher to gain a deeper insight and to interpret the data more thoroughly than would have been
possible through statistical analysis alone - (Al Sabbahi- 2010).
A quantitative approach was chosen for the collection of data from 50 male and female HODs about
themselves plus 200 teachers and principals rating these heads. All were selected randomly from 5
language Schools in Cairo, Egypt. Quantitative approach is important to gather hard, reliable data on
HODs’ effectiveness in terms of models of leadership. A quantitative approach is also best suited
when the testing of a hypothesis within a theoretical framework is required as the case here for
assessing how effective female versus male HODs employing the conceptual framework of the “Full
Range of Leadership Model”. It was also perceived that the large population to be sampled and the
more distant relationship with the researcher were both factors suited to a quantitative approach (Naoum, 1998).
Part-1 of the questionnaire checks some bio data (study variables) about HODs or the Raters. Part-2 (in
the Leader’s form) lists all the possible challenges faced by HODs (see questionnaire). Part 2/3
measures how often do HODs demonstrate competencies of transformational, transactional and laissez
faire leadership, skills were written one after each other with no clear distinction and no classification
was given.
Part 3/4 of the questionnaire questions is designed as follows: Questions 1-11 to measure the four
components of transformational leadership, Questions 12-27 to measure the behaviors of the
transactional leadership, whereas questions 28 to 39 to measure the behaviors of the laissez faire style
of leadership.
The questionnaire (see appendices) was used as the principal method of data collection in order to
obtain a mixture of factual and attitudinal information from the largest sample group - (Fogelman,
2002: 96).
To triangulate data and to answer the research question - How can current leadership styles be rectified
to enhance female leaders’ performance? It was decided that attitudinal (qualitative) research would be
more appropriate than exploratory research - (Naoum, 1998). Seventeen semi-structured interviews
with both male and female HODs, principals and teachers were conducted. The semi- structured
interviews were used with the principals and it allows the researcher to probe into greater depth to
gather different opinions and perceptions- (Denscombe, 2003). It was also believed that a semistructured interview approach would facilitate the comparison with results obtained from the HODs’
questionnaire - (Naoum 1998).
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3.4 Triangulation of data:
Triangulation is the use of a multi-method of data collection to determine the accuracy of information
or phenomena. Triangulation may be used in either positivist or interpretivtive research. (Ribbins in
Briggs and Coleman, 2007:209).
In addition to the above, same questionnaires were filled out by ‘other raters’. The Raters’ form of the
questionnaires and the interviews here were employed as a way of triangulation as substantiated by
Bush (2002). The raters’ responses will help achieve higher degree of triangulation and thus improve
validity.
3.5 Reliability, Validity and Generalization of Data:
Reliability demonstrates that the operations of a study – such as the data collection procedures – can be
repeated, with the same results - (Yin 1994:144 in Briggs & Coleman 2007:29). To achieve reliability,
a test-retest approach was employed by asking 10 HODs (males and females) to fill in the
questionnaires with two weeks interval. The ensuing results were more or less similar - (Bernard
2000:49 in Briggs & Coleman 2007:92).
Internal as well as external validity were checked. Internal validity, relates to the extent that research
findings accurately represent the phenomenon under investigation. Trustworthiness is important in
qualitative as well as quantitative research. In questionnaires, questions were kept to the point and
designed to collect minimal but indicated personal data. Unnecessary questions were deleted.
Interviews’ scripts were returned for more reflection from participant and this helped also
authenticating information at hand - (Briggs & Coleman 2007:98-115). Most importantly, the
competencies of leadership models generated were checked with HODs, deputy principals and even
Principals to check accuracy, relevance and their appropriateness based on job description and
specification to ensure validity. It was taken into consideration that each competency is assessable and
is correlated with personal and organizational job performance and that it is not unfairly biased toward
any specific group, for example towards a traditionally masculine of feminine model of management.
External validity, which is a measure of generalization, was ensured to the maximum by the careful
selection of the sample that could represent the wider population- (Brock –Utne 1996:617 in Briggs &
Coleman 2007:99) and was based on statistical generalization that suits the quantitative rather than
qualitative methodologies. Validity was also achieved by the great response rate of returned
questionnaires - (Bassey 1998, Briggs & Coleman 2007:116).
In the interviews, the main potential source of invalidity was the bias which seems to be endemic,
particularly in semi structured interviews and was difficult to eliminate - (Cohen and Manion 1994 in
Briggs & Coleman 2007:98). The risk of bias was also reduced by respondents’ validation of their
notes for amendment & confirmation.
3.6 Ethical Considerations:
Dealing with sensitive topic such as gender was somehow problematic, especially if conducted by a
female researcher, that may be biased towards female HODs - (Lomax 1994). Shah 2004 pointed out
that there are some social ethical problems that when an interviewer is a member of the opposite sex to
the participants, this may make interviewing more problematic and this risk distorting the outcomes of
the research - (Briggs & Coleman 2007:110). However, objective of the research was explained to the
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HODs that would only show how different males’ leadership to females. Semi- structured interview
questions were used and were given to leaders a day before the interview. The questions were revised
many times by both males and females from all levels. This slight discomfort was seen acceptable
(Briggs& Coleman 2007:110).
It is also worth mentioning that asking teachers to rate their leaders, by stressing the positive and
negative aspects seemed to be a bit problematic at the beginning. The Arab people normally tend not to
only highly rate their bosses but also praise and compliment them, fearing sanctions or any
consequences as a result of criticizing people of power. Some leaders showed slight discomfort of such
an evaluation of themselves and others rating them because it may attract management’s attention to
their performance and lead to demotion or termination. The researcher involved in many discussions
with the concerned people that this has nothing to do with evaluation but to figure out what leadership
styles correlates with which gender. It was not explicitly stated, within the survey instrument, that the
data was to be tested against the “The Full Range of Leadership Model” as it means nothing to the
HODs and may hinder their frank responses or frustrate them.
In addition, the researcher was keen to meet in person with schools’ managements to take their
permission to carry out research within their organizations and brief them on the dissertation topic and
the objectives of the study and how it will proceed. An official letter was submitted hand by hand to
schools’ management for documentation (see appendices). Later, full and informed consent of
participants (heads, senior teacher and teachers) to record interviews was gained. Anonymity and
confidentiality were assured to all participants that results would be used only for research purposes.
Both Raters and interviewees felt relieved when they were asked NOT to mention their names or their
leaders’ names or even the school they work in.
It is also important to mention that translating accurately from one language to another was not an easy
job. It is clear that considerable linguistic skills are involved in keeping the exact meaning of the
context. Arabic and English are both very rich languages, and words have many nuances. Jones
(2001:79 in Briggs & Coleman 2007) stated that ''some terms had to be examined more closely in
relation to the different cultural and professional contexts”. The researcher made a considerable effort
in the translation of the questionnaires and the interview questions from English to Arabic and vice
versa. The translation was revised with four English teachers who finally agreed on the paraphrasing
and meaning of the entire questionnaire. As for the language of the interviews, interviewees were
mainly English teachers, as for others, the interviews were recorded and translation were revised by the
help of the four previous English teachers.
3.7 Research Population:
The population of the study for the questionnaire comprised of 250 educators in 5 language schools in
Cairo governorate categorized as follows:
HODs
Male/female
50 (25 males & 25
females)
Other raters (Colleagues, Teacher,
deputies and principals)
200 (males & females)
Interviewees
17 (9 females & 7
males)
Applying this to all 5 language schools, 50 HODs were handed (the leader’s form). Other raters were
handed (the rater’s form) to rate the 50 HODs, whether they are superior or same level or under their
- 25 -
supervision. As we mentioned before, the Rater’s Form was of greater importance since it doesn’t
include the bias as the Leader’s Form and thus enhance the reliability of data and increase objectivity
of the results.
Of these, 184 were returned, making a response rate of 74% (48% completed for females head and 52%
completed for male heads). 26% were removed because of failure to comply with demographic
information for male and female HODs or incomplete data or names were somewhere written in the
form. The following charts show the number of questionnaires completed for both gender:
No. of Questionnaires completed for Female Heads of
department
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Completed by
female Heads of
Departments
Completed by
Teachers
Completed by
Colleagues
Completed by
Employers
No. of Questionnaires completed for male Heads of
department
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Completed by
Male Heads of
Departments
Completed by
Teachers
Completed by
Colleagues
Completed by
Employers
3.8 Piloting and Sampling:
A small-scale pilot study was carried out to ensure that the questions are unambiguous and formulated
to obtain the responses required to answer the research questions. Minor modifications were made
where necessary. Ten male and female HODs were involved in the pilot study. They were asked to
complete the questionnaire twice, with an interval of two weeks.
- 26 -
A non-probability sample was employed – the sample was taken from HODs of the school where the
researcher is employed both males and females and this would represent the whole population at large.
The non-probability was used as the research couldn’t access all sample in many places, the quota
sampling technique was employed (10 people half males, half females). The sample was also stratified
by gender & by being a HOD in language schools in Cairo. Stratified sampling is used when the
availability of a particular variable should be ensured as it would be in the population. The population
was based on gender (male or female) and was based on correlating gender to types of leadership as
was previously discussed in the literature where transformational leadership correlate with feminine
paradigm and transactional with the masculine - (Bass & Avolio 1995). .
3.9 Questionnaire preparation and distribution:
Questionnaires were handed to teachers in sealable envelopes with a cover sheet explaining research
purposes and promising anonymity. Confidentiality was ‘visible’ to all participants. Return address and
date, collection point were indicated to all participants. The questionnaire responses were anonymous
but a summary of results was offered to some interested participants.
The questionnaire was in paper format coded either Rater’s form or Leader’s form. A period of just
over two weeks was allowed for returns. The requested return date was extended by two weeks ending
by May 20, 2011.
3.10 Interviews mechanics
After the questionnaires were collected, some ensuing concerns imposed themselves and were good
material to formulate the interview questions and probing into details to discuss with managements (see
appendices).
Seventeen interviews were conducted, 7 male and 9 females - (see Appendices). Interviewees were
briefed on the purpose and focus of research. The Interviews lasted for 30-45 minutes to answer 6
questions, employing situational questions to encourage interviewees to speak up. Anonymity was
granted by referring to the interviewee (Interviewee 1 (F) (F for females) & 2 (M) (M for males…etc)
in both analysis and the interview summary. Also, Rater 1 (F) means a Rater 1 (female). Raters are
those who mainly wrote a comment in their questionnaire.
In gist, the full range of leadership model was adopted as the conceptual framework to assess which
leadership skill correlates with which gender. Quantitative and qualitative approaches were employed
to investigate the female versus male leadership qualities. Following is the presentation and analysis of
findings.
- 27 -
4. Data Analysis:
In this section, both quantitative and qualitative data collected from research tools (questionnaires and
interviews) along with charts that clarify findings will be presented. Then a thorough interpretation of
data will be discussed in details after each section. Finally a conclusion will follow with some
management recommendations on how to improve performance of HODs.
This section will commence with providing answers for the first research question - “What are the
gender-related hurdles facing female versus male HODs in Language Schools in Cairo, Egypt?
By reference to the literature review, it was claimed that women are denied job opportunities by
businessmen due to their physical incapability of hard work and productivity (CBMS 3). While some
interviewees thought women are capable of hard work as Interviewee 13-(M) commented “woman by
nature is exposed to hard things like pregnancy, giving birth and raising children… so she is capable of
doing all the hard work”. On the other hand, Six interviewees believe that women are over-burden with
home responsibilities and that successful leadership needs physical toughness and serious follow-up
which women are incapable of.
Monitoring the equal employment opportunities is important as seen by Brenner et al. 1989, Schein
1994 and Bass 1981 to enforce equality and eliminate discrimination. As per statistics of CBMS3,
women suffer from undeclared discrimination in job interviews. Results showed that more than half of
both gender believe that there is equal employment opportunity between males and females (Chart 9)
and that equal opportunity affirmative actions are taken seriously by employers (Chart 16).
Chart 9-f: No equal opportunities
between males and females in
Not
leading positions
Chart 9-m: No equal opportunities
between males and females in
leading positions
Not
applicable
Strongly
agree
Agree
16% 0% 12%
32%
20%
0%
Disagree
Strongly
disagree
12%
16%
Strongly
disagree
52%
Chart 16-f: Equal opportunity
affirmative actions are not taken
seriously by employers
Chart 16-m: Equal opportunity
affirmative actions are not taken
seriously by employers Not
applicable
Strongly
agree
Agree
0%
24%
0%
20%
Not
applicable
Strongly
agree
Agree
Disagree
Disagree
60%
28%
Disagree
40%
12% 0%
0%
applicable
Strongly
agree
Agree
56%
Strongly
disagree
- 28 -
Strongly
disagree
Surprisingly, the results showed that 24% of male heads suffered from discrimination towards headship
while 4% of females saw this as true (Chart5).
Chart 5-f: I suffered from
discrimination in my interview to
headship
Chart 5-m: I suffered from
discrimination in my interview to
headship
Not
24%
0%
20%
24%
32%
16%
applicable
Strongly
agree
Agree
24%
56%
0%
4%
Not
applicable
Strongly
agree
Agree
Disagree
Disagree
Strongly
disagree
Strongly
disagree
While all females see that organizational barriers don’t operate against women nor in favor of men,
48% of males agree that they work in favor of men as seen in (Chart 20).
Chart 20-m: Organizational barriers
may operate not only against
women, but in favor of man
0% 8%
20%
32%
40%
Chart 20-f: Organizational barriers
may operate not only against
women, but in favor of man
0%
Not
applicable
Strongly
agree
Agree
0%
0%
16%
84%
Not
applicable
Strongly
agree
Agree
Disagree
Disagree
Strongly
disagree
Strongly
disagree
Even when women are promoted to higher managerial positions, they still face obstacles to the job,
such as traveling, job rotation which requires husband’s relocation. Carroll 1987, Morrison, Van Velsor
1987 and Bass 1981 argued that the biggest obstacle for married leaders is coping with the conflict
between career and family due to the demands placed on their time and energy in their daily lives. The
questionnaire results show that the majority of both males and females either don’t agree on the
conflict between headship duties and personal life or these conflicts don’t apply to them (Chart 1).
- 29 -
Chart 1-m: Conflict between
headship duties and personal life
Chart 1-f: Conflict between
headship duties and personal life
Not
applicable
Strongly
agree
Agree
16%
44%
32%
20%
24%
0%
8%
Disagree
8% 0%
Disagree
Strongly
disagree
48%
Strongly
disagree
Not
applicable
Strongly
agree
Agree
In Chart 8, taking career breaks is more common among female heads than males. Naturally, 32% of
males approve that career breaks cause demotion and is considered as job-reentry. On the other hand,
72% of females view this as true.
Chart 8-f:Career breaks are like job
re-entry and causes demotion
Chart 8-m:Career breaks are like
job re-entry and causes demotion
Not
applicable
Strongly
agree
Agree
12%
32%
24%
4%
28%
0%
24%
48%
4%
24%
Not
applicable
Strongly
agree
Agree
Disagree
Disagree
Strongly
disagree
Strongly
disagree
In the literature, Kanter 1975 and Blackmore 1989 argued that leadership is associated with some
myths; that leadership requires masculine rather than feminine characteristics, women are too
emotional and subjective, they lack the self-confidence and self esteem, they lack the capacity to set
aside personal considerations and that their rarity in higher positions is excused by their irrationality,
subjectivity and emotionality. Foster 1998 adopted a moderate approach is that leadership is filled with
traits of rationality, expertise and merit.
Results showed that all female leaders refuse to consider irrationality, subjectivity or emotionality is
behind their rarity in the leadership positions as in (Chart 11). Contrarily, 64% of males agreed with
Kanter and Blackmore.
- 30 -
12%
Chart 11-m: Lack of women in
higher positions is due to
irrationality, subjectivity and
emotionality
16%
20%
44%
Chart 11-f: Lack of women in higher
positions is due to irrationality,
subjectivity and emotionality
0% 0% 0%
8%
Not
applicable
Strongly
agree
Agree
48%
52%
Not
applicable
Strongly
agree
Agree
Disagree
Disagree
Strongly
disagree
Strongly
disagree
Despite that two interviewees commented that women are very emotional, take sides and also lack
academic knowledge to lead her staff with confidence. Interviewee-11 (M) commented ‘I feel that
female heads are often very emotional when faced with problems and this affects work negatively,
..they take sides and this consequently exposes them to severe criticism from staff and administration.’
Interviewee-14 (M) added “If emotion is mixed up with business will lead to catastrophes …and this is
what women do … add to this, if you find your department head academically less than you, what
would you do? …this is so embarrassing…. she will attempt to cover her shallowness by being bossy.”
Four interviewees believe that men are more capable of fair leadership because they never feel jealous
of each other and they put their feelings aside. Men are more focused, women are emotional and fear
competition but they are capable leaders Interviewee-14 (M) stated “Emotions lead to unfair
management but I believe that women are more capable of negotiations…and how to put views closer
..she discusses things in a decent way and that’s why she perform well… some females even take the
sides of men (and envious of women)…. “queen kills virgins” she removes her same gender out of the
way …she doesn’t like competition”. Interviewee-12 (M) believe that leaders’ upbringing has the
greater share in deciding who is capable of fair leadership “It also has to do with how these leaders
were raised up… all has its roots in the childhood”. Seven interviewees believe that both males and
females would be capable of fair leadership and this is not related to gender but character.
Kouzes and Posner 1995 and Beare et al. 1993:147, noted that both 'masculine' and 'feminine'
stereotype qualities are important in leadership. Baddeley and James (1987) used the metaphors of
'owl, fox, donkey or sheep' to capture the essence of political skills for managers. Leaders are not
innocent sheep, inept donkies or clever foxes but wise owls! (Hall, 1996:159)
A lot of interviewees believed that leadership has nothing to do with gender. It is related to expertise
and merit. Eight interviewees believe that effective leadership is connected to personal characteristics
and not gender namely being firm, strict, just, direct and looking at the minor details and taking care of
all fine touches.
The lack of confidence of female leaders, in Leithwood et al., research (1992) was identified as an
internal barrier that continues to block women’s career progress in education. (Hall, 1996:152). The
majority of female heads refused to admit that they lack self-confidence or self-esteem needed for
successful management behaviors while 56% of male heads think that women lack these two important
skills needed for successful management (Chart 13).
- 31 -
Chart 13-m: women lack selfconfidence and self-esteem
needed for successful
management
16% 0%
12%
Chart 13-f: women lack selfconfidence and self-esteem needed
for successful management
Not
applicable
Strongly
agree
Agree
0%
Not
applicable
Strongly
agree
Agree
0% 8%
28%
Disagree
28%
44%
Disagree
Strongly
disagree
64%
Strongly
disagree
A whole question in the interview was dedicated for whether male teachers are resentful to work for
female bosses or not. Chart 10 shows that 60% of male heads see that most male teachers are resentful
to work for female leaders, while 36% of female heads believes this as true.
Chart 10-m: Most male teachers
are resentful to work for female
leaders
Chart 10-f: Most male teachers are
resentful to work for female leaders
Not
applicable
Strongly
agree
Agree
12% 0% 12%
4%
16%
0%
28%
44%
Disagree
Disagree
48%
36%
Strongly
disagree
Not
applicable
Strongly
agree
Agree
Strongly
disagree
Eight interviewees believe that male teachers are resentful to work for female heads because of
traditions, culture and religion. Men are not used to take orders from their wives or even mothers. In
the Arab world, women face another hurdle especially working with male subordinates, especially if
those men are brought up in the country side or in religiously strict families, men here dominate and the
same concept applies to the work place.
Three interviewees approve that some social classes of teachers (rural or strictly religious) are brought
up on typical mother and father stereotypes and as for religion, men should have authority over women.
Sometimes it is even worse when the supervisor is a female of younger age. One female interviewee
had confrontations with her male subordinate just because he doesn’t accept orders from a ‘woman’,
Interviewee-2 (F) commented “I know the culture of these people… he had a clash with me (because) I
am a woman and for him how a woman can improve his way of teaching”.
Four males refused to be led by a woman - it is the men’s hereditary concepts about women.
Interviewee 13-(M) added “men feel awkward (to) work under the supervision of a woman…it hurts
their ego”. While interviewee-15 (M) added “especially if the leader is female and younger in age… so
- 32 -
it is totally refused … I will not even listen to her orders… taking orders from a lady is accepted 80%
by civilized men…”. Interviewee-10 (M) explained “it’s psychologically difficult for me to be led by a
woman…….and things can be even worse, when a man is oppressed by a woman at work, this may
affect negatively on his relation to his wife at home… I may accept punishment, directions and
comments from men but not from a woman ….it is very humiliating….. sometimes, I even hate to
argue or fight for my rights just because I don’t want the argument to reach an extent where I lose my
temper”.
Three Males attributed the reasons of reluctance to the assumption that women change their minds a lot
and are emotional. Interviewee-11 (M) added “I think male teachers resent to work for female
supervisors because if female leaders are ambivalent when making decisions, changing their minds
quickly based on likes and dislikes and not being fair.”
The results show that the majority of both males and female heads don’t face suspicion from parents
regarding their abilities – (Chart 4).
Chart 4-m: I face a lot of suspicion
from parents about my abilities
20%
0% 8%
36%
Chart 4-f: I face a lot of suspicion
from parents about my abilities
Not
applicable
Strongly
agree
Agree
Not
applicable
Strongly
agree
Agree
16%
32%
Disagree
40%
Disagree
0%
36%
Strongly
disagree
12%
Strongly
disagree
According to the literature, Eagly 1990, Bell 1995 and schmuck 1996 all agreed that the social
construction view women, because of their minority and marginal status as 'insiders' and 'outsiders' in
school organizations - (Schmuck 1996:355). Shakeshaft, 1989 and Coleman, 1994a:187 believed that
women have to be re-socialized to fit into the male world. Such methods are criticized as encouraging
women to adopt 'masculine behaviors and values that may not build on the strengths that women can
bring to management - (Hall, 1996:159). Both the majority of male and female heads approve that
women has to adopt a masculine way of leadership to be successful in the position of leadership as seen
in Chart 15 (80% for males and 70% for females). Despite that, eight interviewees believe that female
leaders don’t have to adopt a masculine way of leadership in order to succeed in her position. They
believe that being a female is a great advantage in achieving her goals, however firmness and strong
personality are needed.
- 33 -
Chart 15-f: women has to adopt a
masculine way of leadership to be
successful
Not
Chart 15-m: women has to adopt a
masculine way of leadership to be
successful
Not
applicable
Strongly
agree
Agree
0%
20%
0%
48%
0%
28%
24%
Disagree
Disagree
Strongly
disagree
32%
0%
applicable
Strongly
agree
Agree
48%
Strongly
disagree
Four interviewees think that women have to obtain some masculine characteristics to perform
effectively in authority.. Interviewee-2 (F) commented ‘it has to do with culture… because here in
Egypt…there is association between the power and being masculine’. Charismatic women excel men in
leading positions. Interviewee-13 (M) commented ‘I observed that ..most successful female leaders are
male-like leaders… they were really models to be followed in their strong personality and firmness.’
Three interviewees commented that adopting masculine way of leadership will not take females
anywhere as interviewee-12 (M) believed ‘if a woman adopts a masculine way of leadership, she won’t
achieve what she is aiming at … I have some examples of women acting like men … although she is
very good at management …. but I don’t think her success refers to her masculine leadership’.
Interviewee-16 (M) confirmed “successful women should stay as women because their feminine skills
are very precious in getting the job done…. “
Despite Tyack & Hansol 1982, Bush & Coleman 2006 suggested the motto “men manage and women
teach”, which became a truism in education, by reference to the research statistics (Chart 14), all
women refused this statement, while 52% of men approved it as right.
Chart 14-m:"Men manage and
women teach" becomes an
accepted truism in education
16%
32%
0%
12%
40%
Chart 14-f:"Men manage and
women teach" becomes an
accepted truism in education
Not
applicable
Strongly
agree
Agree
0%
0%
0%
32%
68%
Not
applicable
Strongly
agree
Agree
Disagree
Disagree
Strongly
disagree
Strongly
disagree
- 34 -
While male leaders think that male stereotype of leadership is one of the most important hurdles for
women, approximately all females disagree to the idea (Chart 17).
Chart 17-m: the male sterotypes
of leadership is one of the most
important hurdles for women
12%
0% 12%
60%
16%
Chart 17-f: the male sterotypes of
leadership is one of the most
important hurdles for women
0%
Not
applicable
Strongly
agree
Agree
0%
20%
20%
60%
Not
applicable
Strongly
agree
Agree
Disagree
Disagree
Strongly
disagree
Strongly
disagree
The interpretation for the first question can be laid as follows: Leadership positions require special
physical strength to perform duties such as monitoring, commuting between buildings, attending
meetings, paying class visits and applying the walk-through style of management. For Egyptian female
HODs, it seems that duties and home responsibilities are more likely to be thrown on their shoulders, in
addition to her work duties. But because these HOD’s are patient and perseverant, they sometimes
overload themselves with tasks and exert extraordinary effort to actualize themselves and meet the job
requirements and thus be up to the organizational and social expectations.
In Egypt, Equal employment opportunities and applying affirmative actions were not considered
obstacles for females or male HODs. Surprisingly, male HODs complained of job discrimination in
headship interviews in favor of females. Again, this can be an evidence of the increasing preferences of
school owners of female heads that offer a participatory rather than supervisory type of management
which in return fulfill the organizational requirements and society at large. This view was also
supported by female HODs’ acknowledgement that there are no organizational barriers in language
schools in Egypt that favor males over females.
As for the conflict between career and family, it seems that Egyptian HODs, males and females, either
don’t encounter these conflicts or are used to them. As concluded from the interviews, normally HODs
reach their positions of leadership not before 40-45 years old where home and children responsibilities
started to alleviate. However, it seems that taking career breaks really affect women’s career of
leadership and causes demotion and is considered a job-reentry.
Accusations of women’s irrationality, subjectivity and emotionality were severely denounced by
female HODs & teachers while confirmed by males. Men advocated that with confidence that women
are very emotional and take sides. Women’s irrationality and swaying between decisions based on likes
and dislikes and changing their mind more often – affect negatively the work quality. In addition,
taking sides exposes them consequently to severe criticism from staff and administration. Mixing
emotions with business may lead to catastrophes. In this point, results were in favor of men’s
decisiveness and practicality as being focused and not envious of each other. Irrationality and
subjectivity lead to unfair leadership, such as being driven to bosses and parents’ preferences to the
detriment of teachers’ best interest. The ability of fair leadership has its roots in childhood and reflects
the type of leaders’ upbringing. In most ordinary families in Egypt, still the father and mother
- 35 -
stereotypes prevail, where the man is the financial supporter and accordingly the decision maker, while
the mother is the caretaker still the weaker part in this circuit. As for majority of women, who are
brought up as being submissive and because of all experiences she passes through throughout her life,
namely maternity, giving birth and raising children, she is seen as more capable of fair leadership.
Here, irrationality is re-named to mean a positive quality such as consideration, sympathy and
appreciation of others’ personal obligations. Women don’t see this is a reason behind their rarity in
leadership.
Accordingly both males and females are capable of fair leadership as long as they enjoy personal
characteristics or possess roots of fairness, straight-forwardness in addition to pursuing continuous
professional development. Successful leadership is gender-free quality that is associated with expertise,
merit, being firm, strict, direct and caring. However, being ‘androgynous’ was detested by some
respondents. Now, the problem for women is that they must transcend the social expectations of
femaleness in order to aspire to the socially prescribed role of a leader and to find other ways to survive
and flourish. In Egypt, some believe that women don’t have to adopt masculine way of leadership to
succeed in their positions, especially after all confirmed that they don’t face suspicion from parents and
students about their abilities as leaders. Being a female is a great advantage that facilitates their ways
towards headship than adopting the androgynous style. On the other hand, a lot of respondents
confirmed the need for the female HODs to adopt such masculine style to meet the job requirements.
They supported their claim by saying that in Egypt, there is an association between power and being
masculine. These women have all requisites of successful leadership, namely the strong personality,
wisdom and patience.
Women have the perseverance and endurance to listen to problems as they always do. Females use
their tactful ways to deal with both genders, especially reluctant male subordinates. Resentfulness of
male teachers to work for female HODs was a concern in the research. Most of males express frankly
the difficulty to work for women bosses especially if they are younger. This has its reasons of the
upbringing and hereditary concepts acquired in childhood as mentioned before and the persistent
stereotypes of the role of male and female which unconsciously applied at work. Men find working for
female bosses awkward and that taking directions from them is humiliating. Others avoided
confrontations with their female bosses and feared losing tempers. Only highly educated, civilized and
broad-minded males accept to endure that. Some complained that this negatively impacts on their
relationships with their wives. Although it is very difficult to radically change tradition and religious
beliefs, training will slightly improve and change mind sets. Men are used to practicing authority
especially over the vulnerable groups, namely women and children. Changing mind sets will take
amble time and only minor changed may be achieved.
Women were also challenged by lack of confidence, which sometimes due to her lack of academic
knowledge that pushes her unconsciously to cover her shallowness by being bossy. It was claimed that
men are more confident of their performance due to their long experience. Women refused to admit this
as true. Women were also accused of lack of career orientation and career planning. However, results
show that women all the time keen to update their information and pursue higher professional
developments and degrees for the sake of knowledge as agreed by all, males and females.
As for the second research question - What are the leadership styles currently adopted by female versus
male leaders in language schools in Cairo, Egypt? The following results will be presented.
- 36 -
In the literature, when Al Sabbahi 2010, Keerak 1991 in Leithwood et al. 1999 and Everrard & Morris
1996 discussed duties required of effective leaders, they were mainly talking about transformational
leadership. (Al Sabbahi 2010:76). Vroom, Yetton, Blake, Mouton and Fiedler 1978 in Blackmore 1989
all agreed that leaders must acquire the skill to recognize, diagnose and select the appropriate style of
leadership to ‘fit the situation’. They also claim that what is skill for a male is luck for female (a
hypothesis to be tested).
Two females believed that effective leadership depends on the situation where a certain style of
leadership is used. Sometimes, a leader has to shift between styles of leadership be flexible.
Interviewee 6-(F) commented: ‘I would like to… balance my way of leadership … I mean be tough
when it takes and be delicate and decent when it takes.. I may express my firmness in my silence ….’
In the interviews, many interviewees believed that an effective leader need to encompass both
masculine and feminine qualities and that leadership is situational depending on the situation that rises.
Charts from 44 to 47 (see appendices) show that females are fairly enough effective in meeting the staff
job-related needs, representing staff in front of higher authority, effective in meeting organizational
requirements and generate effective performance wherever placed.
As discussed in the literature earlier, there is little empirical evidence to support the connection
between certain traits and good leadership, a great body of literature suggested that female principals
are more often involved in both participatory and supervisory activities than male principals (Goldring and Chen, 1994:175). Coleman 2003 as Gray 1989 believed that women leaders developed
the confidence to enact their own interpretation of management and leadership, based on characteristics
that are neither exclusively masculine nor feminine (Hall, 1996:153). This is contrary to Brenner et al.
and Schein and Mueller in 1989’s study, they found that women were seen as less likely to possess
characteristics perceived internationally as requisite management characteristics - (Schein, 1994:47).
To refute these claims about whether women are less effective than men in meeting effective leadership
competencies, the interviews were much in favor of women as bearing qualities of good leadership.
Eight interviewees find women so professional in leadership, so respectable, help and assist, good at
decision taking, considerate and appreciate emergencies, merciful, sympathize with others and
appreciate people’s work. They excel because they have the intelligence, strong personality and
patience as Interviewee-13 (M) responded “she could treat male subordinates in a brotherly manner and
not to be bossy or arrogant.”
As suggested by Coleman 2003, women leaders are seen as being more approachable by other women,
staff and parents and by girl pupils and are more able to ‘defuse’ angry males. Women HODs felt able
to share emotions in unhappy circumstances and emphasize with families’ tragedies in a way that men
find more difficult. Charts 23, 26, 27, 59 and 72 (see appendices) show that women go beyond selfinterest for the best interest of the group. Women are much better than men in listening to follower’s
concerns and needs through open communication policy and in treating other as individuals rather than
members of a group. They don’t avoid getting involved in conflicts happening within the department,
interfering and resolving conflicts happening in their departments and need less training in customer
relationship management.
- 37 -
As discussed in literature and as an evidence of being political, five interviewees agree that a woman
leader has to be wise and tactful in dealing with resentful male subordinates and stopped giving orders
instead recommends and guides especially with senior male teachers. They also believe that
management can change these attitudes (of being resentful) by changing how leadership is viewed and
how it should work effectively through interaction between the HOD and his teachers. They also
believe that women are capable of adjusting their way of leadership. They are capable of smooth and
lenient way of leadership. Interviewee-7 (F) stated “I guess that female leaders treat men with more
caution and care than it really requires just because she is aware of the complexes they might have.”
Interviewee-8 (F) “it takes more effort from me with male teachers but I think things go smoother
afterwards …I knew this by experience … you can reach your target by not being bossy.”
Nine interviewees believe that women are more capable because they see the wider picture plus listen
to details. They have the patience and endurance as Interviewee-3 (F) commented “the woman listens
to see where the defect lies and to avoid repetition in the future..”. Interviewee-6 (F) “women …go
deep inside.. beyond the problem, search for reasons and uproot causes …they are also good at
listening… all in all I believe that the women are more capable of fair educational leadership”.
Interviewee-15 (M) commented “women have the patience …men postpone solving problems and ..till
they cool down and they sometimes take wrong decisions…. because they lack patience …”.
Interviewee-16 (M) confirmed “she has the intelligence and is guided always by her instinct .. a man
gives an order and wants to be obeyed on the spot… but the woman uses all her feminine skills to reach
her goal … she is lenient and delicate..”.
Eight interviewees approve that women are more efficient than men because they practice leadership in
their daily lives. Interviewee-3 (F) said “the man will be quicker than the woman in accomplishing the
task at hand and more practical… on the other side, she may take longer but she will tackle every little
detail … the result will be much better with her …… in her job, she is so meticulous and here she
builds her success on her care.. and care is the most important thing that everybody is looking for.”
Also women want to prove their worth in the job market... Interviewee-6 (F) added “we gain our
experience naturally because of being mothers and caretakers but men don’t have this life experience
….I mean … interaction with the kids.” Charts 39, 40 & 55 (see appendices) show that females exceed
men in heightening staff’s desire to try till they succeed, stating objectives of good performance and in
preventing fires within the department before they happen.
Charts 60, 61, 63, 69, 78 and 79 (see appendices) show that men need training in strategic planning,
setting goals and prioritizing objectives, communication skills, motivating people, creative problem
solving & effective decision making and teamwork building.
The women heads fear the use of power, for them, the power is to empower'- (Hall 1996:145). Charts
25, 28, 30, 31, 32, 38, 41 and 77 (see appendices) confirmed that women excelled men in spending
more time coaching and advising, helping others develop their strength, nurturing and developing
people who thinks independently, view unexpected situations as opportunities to learn, encourage
followers to figure out better ways to execute their tasks, get others do more than they are expected to
do and discover individual capabilities. While 28% males need training in coaching and empowerment,
only 2% of females need that.
Even in areas of uncertainty as stated by Gray 1989 (in the literature section) that requires a balance of
feminine and masculine skills, Charts 62, 64, 65 & 66 (see appendices) show that women are more
- 38 -
effective than men in effective management, time management, crisis management and in managing
conflict.
To assess leaders in leadership skills, The Full Range of Leadership Model (FRL) was used here to
measure the effectiveness of males versus females in three leadership styles; namely the
Transformational, the Transactional and the Passive / Avoidant Leadership (Laissez-Faire).
As explained earlier in the literature, Coleman 2003 argued that it is now possible to build a whole
body of theory and evidence to establish a counter-claim about leadership that women are actually
more suited for leadership than men (a hypothesis tested in the research).
In the transformational leadership with its four components, women seemed to excel. Following are the
statistics of transformational leadership skills (see Charts 21-31 in the appendices) corresponding to
questions 1 – 11 in the 2nd/3rd part of the questionnaire. Only ratings of ‘fairly enough’ and ‘frequently
if not always’ were considered:
Fairly enough &
frequently not always
Question Leadership skills
Males
Females
No.
%
%
1
instill pride in others by displaying a sense of power and 62%
64%
confidence
2
act with integrity with staff
63%
72%
3
go beyond self-interest for the good of the group
53%
61%
4
is a model for others in respecting beliefs and principles
64%
68%
5
spend time coaching and advising staff
55%
68%
6
listen to the follower’s concerns and needs through open 58%
69%
communication policy
7
treat others as individuals rather than members of a group
51%
70%
8
help others develop their strengths
75%
68%
9
stimulate and encourage creativity of followers
63%
67%
10
nurture and develop people who think independently
52%
57%
11
unexpected situations are seen as opportunities to learn
47%
52%
In the interviews, thirteen interviewees believe that females are more capable of performing
transformational leadership than men. Interviewee-13 commented “they have the characteristics of
doing the job perfectly… they change and inspires at home and at work.. they take decisions slowly but
wisely… but the man is so practical and sometimes nervous and impulsive”. Interviewee-16 added “yes
women are more capable because they have the will and ability to learn and update their skills ….. so,
they progress and even exceed men… her strength lies in her weaknesses.” Reasons may be that men
are busy supporting their families financially as Interviewee-7 and 10 commented respectively “I
believe that men are over-burdened with responsibilities most of the time because they want to keep
and maintain their positions to support their families”, and “because of his (man) responsibilities ..has
other objectives to achieve,…. the normal place for the man is to work… so the woman in order to
compete with him…she has to exert all the effort possible”.
- 39 -
Six interviewees think that both males and females are capable of transformational leadership because
it all depends on the leader’s personality and character, they don’t believe in gender differences. Both
are capable of inspiring others and changing surroundings.
Three interviewees believe that female have some natural traits of transformational leadership. Women
have proven themselves as leaders and they upgrade themselves for the sake of knowledge. Men are
more resistant to change as Interviewee 14 stated “she develops and changes.. but some men are more
capable… women likes stability…and it depends on the character to accept changes and challenges
…and some hate challenges …it depends on the personality and the social background… so not
everything is acquired ….it is partially inherited”.
As for the Transactional leadership, results show that women also excel in transactional leadership.
Following are the statistics of transactional leadership skills (see Charts 32- 47 in the appendices)
corresponding to questions 12 – 27 in the 2nd/3rd part of the questionnaire. Only ratings of ‘fairly
enough’ and ‘frequently if not always’ were considered as follows:
Fairly enough &
frequently
not
always
Question Leadership skills
Males
Females
No.
%
%
12
encourages followers to figure out better ways to execute their tasks 63%
77%
13
develops a challenging vision and associate it with a realistic 50%
59%
strategy for achievement.
14
expresses confidence, decisiveness and optimism about the vision 54%
59%
and communicates it well with the staff
15
talks optimistically about the future goals
50%
53%
16
motivates followers to work for goals that go beyond self-interest.
58%
67%
17
wishes his/her staff strive for superior performance by exerting more 70%
75%
efforts
18
gets others do more than they are expected to do
54%
64%
19
heightens staff’s desire to try till they succeed
59%
68%
20
states objectives of good performance
52%
65%
21
discovers individual capabilities
57%
63%
22
expresses satisfaction when staff get the correct output
61%
66%
23
relates rewards and compensation to achievement
53%
57%
24
effective in meeting the staff job-related needs
63%
67%
25
effective in representing them in front of the higher authority
63%
72%
26
effective in meeting organizational requirements
70%
78%
27
Generally, generates an effective performance wherever placed
61%
67%
- 40 -
Results for the Laissez-Faire Leadership were not much different. The following schedule shows the
results of the laissez faire (see Charts 48 - 59 in the appendices) corresponding to questions 28 - 39 in
the 2nd /3rd part of the questionnaire. Only ratings of ‘frequently if not always and fairly enough’ were
only considered.
Frequently
always/
enough
Question Leadership skills
Males
No.
%
28
describes inefficient performance
52%
29
focuses on sanctions for not respecting the set standards
34%
30
keeps track of mistakes
32%
31
concentrates on errors and exceptions from the rule
35%
32
waits for problems to happen before taking the corrective action
24%
33
believes in “if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it’
23%
34
corrects mistakes at the last minute
26%
35
fights fires when they happen in my department never prevent them 35%
before they begin
36
leaves decision making to staff’s judgment
35%
37
The main aim is to stay in good terms with everyone
51%
38
leaves a lot of work to subordinates
40%
39
avoids get involved in conflicts happening within the department
38%
if not
Fairly
Females
%
54%
17%
11%
19%
10%
10%
7%
15%
26%
19%
18%
15%
To interpret results for the second question of the research – what are the leadership styles currently
adopted by female versus male leaders in language schools in Cairo, Egypt? It seems that although
many researchers dwelled on giving definitions of meaning of effective leadership, most of them were
describing the transformational style but each in his way. It is also worth mentioning that most agreed
on the situational leadership as the best style. Here leaders must acquire the skills to recognize,
diagnose and select the appropriate style of leadership to fit the situation. No specific style is given
preferences. This was asserted in the interviews where shifting to the appropriate style that serve the
situation at hand - was legitimate especially for female HODs.
Results were in favor of women in exhibiting effective leadership performance and meeting
organizational goals and being up to the expectations required. Women exhibited both participatory
and supervisory activities than males. It seems that Egyptian female HODs are outstanding in
interaction with teachers, communication skills, staff motivation, empowerment, ability to work with
others and caring about students and teachers. They were more able to encompass both masculine and
feminine qualities and apply the appropriate style in time of need. Women are considerate, appreciate
emergencies, merciful, sympathize with others and above all they have the patience to listen for details
to uproot causes of the problem.
Females also developed their own clever ways of dealing with resentful teachers or stubborn
personalities just to lead smoothly and ensure fair leadership. All agreed that women leaders are seen as
more approachable by staff and are able to ‘defuse’ angry males. They show sympathy with unhappy
circumstances and o beyond self-interest for the best of the group. They listen to followers’ needs and
- 41 -
concerns through open communication policy and don’t avoid getting involved in conflicts. On the
contrary, they interfere and resolve problems. It can be said with confidence that female HODs are
‘diplomats’ and instead of being authoritarian or bossy, they walk tightropes between treating men
carefully and getting the job done. They are totally conscious of the problems men have towards
women. Women are very cautious using power; they walk on eggshells and attempt to enact power as a
positive skill. For them, power is to empower, not being censorious, belittling or destructive or taking
arbitrary decisions or being hierarchical or confrontational.
Women respond easily to the change and don’t resist it like men do. Women listen to the problem with
an eye focused on how to avoid repetition in the future. They focus on the emotional and personal
issues in a conversation, whereas men listen to facts. They give more information, encourage efforts
and stress personal relations through communication more than men do. They fight fires in their
departments and believe in ‘fix it now’ instead of waiting for the problem to inflate and become
unsolvable. Using their tactful feminine skills and focusing on little details was seen as a privilege,
unlike men who are more talented in seeing the wider picture. Women have the talent and patience to
add their fine touches to the scene.
Applying the full range of leadership model on both males and females proved that females exceeded
males in exhibiting both transformational and transactional leadership skills and even in Laissez faire.
In transformational leadership, women exceeded men in acting with integrity with staff, going beyond
self-interest for the good of the group, spending time coaching and advising staff, listening to the
follower’s concerns and needs through open communication policy and treating others as individuals
rather than members of a group, while men excelled in helping others develop their strengths.
In transactional, women excelled in encouraging followers to figure out better ways to execute their
tasks, motivating followers to work for goals that go beyond self-interest, getting others do more than
they are expected to do, stating objectives of good performance, discovering individual capabilities and
effective in representing them in front of the higher authority with a huge difference.
As for the laissez faire, it seemed that male HODs are in larger need of management’s support to
communicate, motivate and interact more with staff, resolve conflict and even in dangerous areas such
as crisis management, managing conflict and policy making. Women were only criticized for being
emotional which may not act in their favor.
The third question of the research -How can current leadership styles be rectified to enhance female
leaders’ performance? Can be analyzed as follows:
Although some blamed the management for the inappropriate performance of HODs, others thought
that it is the person to be blamed and not the management. For example, Chart 3 shows that 64% of the
male heads agree that management don’t support them to achieve their goals. On the other hand, 60%
of female heads believes that management supports their roles as supervisors.
- 42 -
Chart 3-m: No management
support to achieve my goals
Chart 3-f: No management support
to achieve my goals
Not
applicable
Strongly
agree
Agree
4% 0% 4%
32%
8% 0%
16%
16%
Disagree
60%
Disagree
Strongly
disagree
60%
Strongly
disagree
Not
applicable
Strongly
agree
Agree
Almost 72% of male heads agree to that management doesn’t offer them any career advancement
against 24% of female heads (Chart 6).
Chart 6-m: No career advancement
offered by management in the
future
Not
24%
4% 0%
36%
Chart 6-f: No career advancement
offered by management in the
future
Not
applicable
Strongly
agree
Agree
16% 0%
12%
Disagree
Disagree
Strongly
disagree
36%
12%
applicable
Strongly
agree
Agree
60%
Strongly
disagree
The majority of males and females believe that the image of successful female leader should be
supported by both parents and management as in (Chart 19).
Chart 19-m: The image of
successful female leader should be
supported by both parents &
management
4%
0% 0%
48%
48%
Chart 19-f: The image of successful
female leader should be supported
by both parents & management
Not
applicable
Strongly
agree
Agree
0%
0%
28%
40%
Not
applicable
Strongly
agree
Agree
Disagree
Disagree
32%
Strongly
disagree
- 43 -
Strongly
disagree
36% of males think that most opportunities are given to male to exhibit their leadership skills while
64% of males disapprove. On the other hand, 80% of females disagree to that as seen in Chart 18.
Chart 18-m: Most opportunities are
given for males to exhibit
leadership
Not
0% 4%
24%
32%
Chart 18-f: Most opportunities are
given for males to exhibit
Not
leadership
applicable
Strongly
agree
Agree
8%
20%
8%
4%
applicable
Strongly
agree
Agree
Disagree
Disagree
40%
60%
Strongly
disagree
Strongly
disagree
Three interviewees think that the management is not responsible as much as the person in charge.
Interviewee-3 (F) said “but again it is not only the management problem .. do your job then think of the
management problems… but never blame management for everything that happens”, same as
Interviewee-10 (M) stated “management is not responsible as the person himself.. he has to be
convinced that he has some faults and has to fix them.”
As discussed in the literature, a lot of respondents highlighted the importance of the professional
development of HODs to help management improve performance. The interviews show that women try
their best and exert all the effort and believe that leadership is a science to be learned and acquired
while men think their normal role is to lead and if women pursue training it is because they feel inferior
and want to fill up the gap. Again two interviewees gave the metaphor of the hare and the tortoise, the
patient hardworking model (females) against the arrogant lazy model (males). In the questionnaire, a
whole section was dedicated for areas of training to enhance leaders’ skills. In a scale of 5, only ‘better
needs’ and ‘highly needs’ (4 & 5 in the Likert scale) were rated. Charts from 60-79 (see appendices)
corresponding to questions 1-2 in Part 4 of the questionnaire as follows:
- 44 -
Question
No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Better
needs &
highly needs
Males
Females
%
%
37%
28%
36%
18%
40%
19%
37%
16%
30%
8%
36%
25%
34%
23%
34%
24%
27%
19%
39%
13%
36%
20%
29%
19%
18%
18%
49%
31%
28%
19%
33%
18%
25%
29%
28%
21%
35%
19%
29%
22%
Training area
Strategic Planning
Setting Goals and prioritizing objectives
Effective Leadership
Effective Communication skills
Time management
Crisis management
Managing conflict
Budget Management
Presentation Skills
People’s Motivation
Training of Trainer
Performance Appraisal
Customer Relationship Management
Business English courses
Recruitment and Interviewing skills
Delegation skills
Business Correspondence and Report Writing
Coaching and empowerment
Creative Problem solving and effective decision making
Teamwork building
Eight interviewees agreed that the majority of training courses were taken by women. Interviewee-5
stated “I can’t even remember one male teacher in all these years of experience”. Interviewee-6 added
“men are rare … very rare”. Interviewee-8 “in a group of 8, you are lucky if you find a male leader
there… …we would be like 40 you may find maximum 5 or less.”
Chart 7 shows that 52% of male heads believe that higher education degrees are of no use to them
while only 16% of females agree to that.
Chart 7-m:Higher educational
degrees are of no use
16%
4%
28%
Chart 7-f:Higher educational
degrees are of no use
Not
applicable
Strongly
agree
Agree
12%
16%
56%
0%
52%
Not
applicable
Strongly
agree
Agree
Disagree
Disagree
16%
Strongly
disagree
0%
Strongly
disagree
Interviewee-6 (F) commented “Women are ambitious. They are.. in continuous race to achieve better
and grow just to prove their worth and importance.” Interviewee-12 (M) commented “men think why
- 45 -
should I attend (training) I know this stuff anyway… but women may attend because they lack these
skills.. this is how men think…they can do without listening to this crap…there should be an upgrade
somehow…we can say that men are culturally resistant to change….and women have proven
themselves as educators and leaders… 90% of famous names in education.. are females… you rarely
hear a reputable man’s name”.
Eight interviewees approve that women are more efficient than men and that men need professional
development more than women. Interviewee-13 (M) argued “for professional development and training
and seeking post degrees … men can’t take that”. Interviewee-14 (M) “they look only for the title and
position and the salary of course… in these schools, leaders are promoted according to seniority not
qualification.”
Interviewee-8 (F) “I would say that they (men) don’t have the perseverance and consistency of female
leaders… may be men are over confident.” Interviewee-10 (M) suggested “we as men believe that
these seminars offer theoretical and not practical knowledge and I attended a lot… but are these
applicable?… NO … Men are down to earth…and most of schools’ managements don’t care about
applying what is learned in the seminar… so what is the use?” Interviewee-16 (M) stated “men think
they can acquire these skills by experience and feel they master these skills… they think this is their
natural role….and they don’t need training”. Interviewee-2 (F) commented “I noticed that males
consider courses a way to get higher in the career ladder…they only look for promotion in their job
that’s why they apply for a degree”.
Two Males thought that men are more capable and if women excel because they feel inferior and they
want to compensate the differences “Interviewee-5 (F) commented “but women feel weak from inside
that’s why they are always in a race to achieve what they lacked and missed”. Interviewee-15 (M)
commented “women feel that they are inferior to men… that is why they want to compensate these
shortages… but let me tell you that if men rely on basic inheritance of leadership, they will not last for
long, so women will win the race in this area…women may reach the target late but they will win at the
end.” Interviewee-5 (F) stated “I think men don’t seek training because they are more confident of
their skills and they think they are capable and don’t need more courses and that they can lead easily,
they are born leaders this is what culture and tradition told them, so naturally they can lead at work”. It
is the story of the hare and tortoise as Interviewee-6 added “men are rare …because they are too
confident of themselves that they don’t need any more training…. It is like the story of the hare and the
tortoise”.
Two interviewees think that management can change male resentfulness to work under the supervision
of female leaders through training and working on developing personal characteristics but again this
won’t change radically. Five interviewees believe that men and women need to improve their
performance continuously, which will help them change their perception of management.
Three males believe that management should develop open communication channels as Interviewee-12
(M) commented “In regards to management towards leaders, they should develop open channels of
communication between them... management has to be lenient with leaders and facilitate their jobs…
they don’t have to put obstacles in front of them instead help them achieve their target.” Ensuring that
- 46 -
fair leadership is applied is critical..as Interviewee-13 (M) suggested “unfair leadership is very
common… you have to cancel your ear and let your eyes work… and you have to leave your office
and walk around”.
Four interviewees believe that management should attract leaders’ attention and notify them ahead of
time of their mistakes, sit and listen and discuss. Rater-20 (M) suggested that “Management should try
to motivate their employees and encourage them towards good performance and achievements and
warn them politely when they make mistakes and try to find ways to prevent mistakes before they
happen”. Two females complain that management has to look for reasons why staff are envious of each
other and resolve hidden and unseen war going on between staff members. Management has to care
about success of the team as a whole and work loyally and feel belonging to the place.
Management should not wait for problems to happen. Four interviewees even blamed management for
creating conflict on purpose. Interviewee-14 (M) said “any school owner wants to know all details
inside his school… if everything is smooth and people are ok together… so he will not know
anything… he likes to have conflict between his leaders… if there is no love or belonging to the
institution… so there is no development. Sometimes management works against the welfare of the
students especially when they fight good leaders and force them to leave the organization just because
they are defying the management decisions.” Interviewee-3 (F) stated “here the system as a whole is
corrupted, the staff here are all envious of each other …the management doesn’t care whether the team
succeeds or not, all they care for is the enrollment numbers and the payment of the fees, there is no
belonging, no loyalty.” Interviewee-3 (F) added “I believe in teamwork building.. if you educate and
inspire those who are under you… for sure we will succeed … actually in Egypt, we don’t have
teamwork at all.”
Six interviewees stated that management should reduce duties required from heads and relieve the
workload in order to give them time to do other duties. Seven interviewees believe that management
should apply walking through style of management as Interviewee-2 (F) added “Walking through is a
style of management….you shouldn’t sit behind your desk and ask people for quality. Interviewee-6
(F) added “the owner of the school or the principal should be an educator himself and shouldn’t listen
to every hear-say, he should walk through and observe and eye-witness things”
Seven interviewees believe that management should train HODs not to be driven to parents’
preferences and develop communication skills as commented by Rater-21 (M) “Supervisors should
stop being at good terms with everybody all the time. They must stop taking hasty decisions and stop
complimenting parents.” Interviewee-6 (F) suggested “management is totally driven to what the parents
and students want … ‘the customer is always right’ rule doesn’t apply to education.”
Motivation and encouragement towards good performance and achievement and even financial rewards
were suggested by Rater-20 (M) “Management should motivate their employees and encourage them
towards good performance.” Interviewee-15 (M) suggested “we should raise salaries and promote and
motivate them…we should honor and praise them”. Management should give supervisors some
freedom to take decisions as Rater-18 (F) said “Management should give supervisors some freedom to
take decisions within their departments according to a set of agreed standards, Interviewee-9 (F) added
“Management can support leaders by giving them more freedom to assess their staff performance their
way.”
- 47 -
Six interviewees believe that management should hire both qualified and trustworthy leaders and
chosen according to experience as Interviewee-6 (F) commented “hiring people that we know is not
like hiring skilled and qualified people.” Rater-22 (M) clarified “the problem is that the school
management always chooses the trustworthy people and not the qualified and there are no specific
criteria for choosing leaders for these positions.” Four interviewees believe that management should
trace leaders’ history and check references before hiring. Rater-20 (M) stated “There should be a better
way of choosing employees not according to personal relationships”. Rater-21 (M) added “Supervisors
should be elected and not appointed by the school management, and the management should review
their record and history before hiring.”
Three interviewees believe that there should be continuous evaluation for HODs as Interviewee-8 (F)
suggested “ it is very important to check if everybody is meeting the standards or not, everyone should
be evaluated and these to be documented…and based on the evaluation, she should be promoted or
receive a raise” and Rater-19 (F) commented “The leader should be chosen according to his previous
leadership experience whether practical or theoretical (training courses).”
Five interviewees assured that management should enhance the HR department performance by setting
rules and activating the Reward and Penalty System. As Interviewee-9 (F) suggested “everybody
should abide by these rules…I mean no exception…no excuses.. … the HR frame is very important …
HR department is …here for the staff rights and not for the managers, they have to look for the best
interest of the employees”. Interviewee-8 (F) answered “the management has to work on the human
resources department.. for them, everything is perfect, and this really misleads the management…. the
voice of teachers should have a way there (top management).”
Three interviewees believe that management should intervene as a role model as Interviewee-7 (F) &
11 (M) said “if you choose a supervisor, you have to be a model yourself”, and “In my opinion, the
management is blamed for this attitude of supervisors. The management should set a good example for
supervisors to follow. Our problem is that the management is not in harmony which leads to
undermining staff’s hard work “too many cooks spoil the broth.”
Management should support fair leadership as Interviewee-1 (F) suggested “I would suggest that peers
and bosses evaluate the leaders as well to give them constructive feedback.” Interviewee-6 (F) stated
“to help leaders more… there must be a set of rules for everybody .. only in extraordinary situations,
exceptions may be accepted”. Interviewee-9 (F) added “fair leadership has to be supported by rules and
you should not.. be too loose with staff…this will turn things upside down”. Interviewee-15 (M)
suggested “management have to give me some power to perform my duties in a fair way and to assign
someone who helps and supports more than supervises….the management has an important role, when
you put a system, you have to discuss it first and check how applicable it is… and before blaming your
staff for not implementing the system… you should take views and opinions..this is fair leadership.”
Four interviewees believe that women should be paid equally like men and salaries should be raised as
Interviewee-8 (F) added “You should add that men are paid more than female leaders..… may be
because a woman is emotionally attached to a school and doesn’t leave it easily, and this is like a
guarantee to the management that she will stay no matter what, why should I pay her more… but a man
leader will simply move to the place that pays more…this is financially unfair for her.”
- 48 -
Specialization and delegation of work in order to relieve HODs’ burden is crucial. Interviewee-4 (F)
suggested “management should distribute roles on mangers and train them to perform effectively
instead of having all strings in their hands.”
To interpret the above, it seems that management supports females than males. For males, management
doesn’t provide them with opportunities for career advancements, despite the fact that male heads
admit that training is of no practical use for them. In addition, while some believe that management
should support HODs and defend their side, others thought that both management and HODs are
equally responsible for the enhancement of school and education. In the following conclusion, the last
research question - How can current leadership styles be rectified to enhance female leaders’
performance? will propose some useful recommendations to the management to improve leaders
performance especially females – the focus of the research.
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5. Conclusion
The conclusion of this research is driven from applying the conceptual framework, the Full Range of
Leadership Model. The results suggested that women are better than men in both transformational and
transactional leadership. Based on this, the following recommendations were reached for managements
of these schools to improve performance:
a) Professional developments for HODs are crucially needed as leaders are formed through training
and continuous education that updates their information of recent concepts and applications of
leaderships. Male leaders in particular not only need training but also need to change their
perspective towards the objective of training. It is the management’s role to follow up on
activating the theoretical information and implementing the outcomes of the training in practical
life. Management should discuss the importance of training and that being a male is not the only
passport towards effective leadership. They should inspire others that pursing continuous
development should not be for the sake of degrees or a means of promotion, otherwise for the
sake of knowledge that if left out these days , will keep them decades behind. Also through
training, men can slightly change their perspective towards working with women and become
less reluctant. The suggested courses are: budget management, appraisal, business
correspondence, report writing, coaching and empowerment, problem solving, effective decision
making, putting policies, writing action plans, time management, stress management, teamwork
building, delegation, interactive learning and use of technology.
b) Management should enforce fair leadership as a must if success is hoped for. Also in order to
achieve this, first HODs must work on their personal characteristics, be more flexible, consult
others before taking decisions. Praising the staff, fighting fires in their departments, uprooting
problems and investigating problems will help them avoid repetition and will definitely help
implementing fair leadership. Management should never wait for problems to inflate. They
should dedicate amble time to discuss problems. One of the gains of fighting fires and resolving
conflict is the teamwork building. Management should rely great importance on teams working
together as a whole and should collate team’s performance to promotions and financial rewards.
Also, management has to ensure that HODs stop complimenting everybody and leave space for
teachers to present their ideas, listen to problems and discuss suggestions.
c) Management should adopt open channel communication policy with HODs and teachers. They
should dedicate time to sit, listen, discuss and resolve problems. Management should defend
teachers’ back and fix defects on the spot. They should be lenient with leaders and facilitate
their jobs and remove obstacles from their way. Management should spread love, care, loyalty
and belonging to the workplace. Management should encourage staff and inspire them and
heighten their desire to achieve their set goals and even go beyond that. They should talk
privately with HODs about their mistakes and design action plans on how to improve
performance.
d) Instead of inserting spies to transfer information and believe every hear-say, management should
pave the way and expand all channels of communication with staff members based on mutual
trust and respect. Management should monitor & follow up on HODs by adopting the walking
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through style, schedule class visits, arrange peer evaluation and don’t draw their decisions from
every hear-say. Also, management should support HODs in managing their time, by relieving
them from some duties and delegate what could be delegated and help them allocate time for
other nurturing and participatory duties.
e) Management should set rules and agree on the school-parent relationship. They should set an
example for HODs & staff and not to be driven to parents and students’ preferences. The rule
‘customer is always right’ doesn’t apply to education. They also should ensure that HODs are
not paying compliments and trying to be in good terms with everybody to the detriment of the
teachers and students’ welfare.
f) Management should set rules and standards of good performance and base rewards on
achievements of goals and teamwork’s outcomes. Management should honor and praise teachers
and give them some freedom to take their own decisions within their departments without being
oppressed by the management. Another kind of motivation is to set a fair pay scale that doesn’t
differentiate between males and females and base it on education, experience and achievements
and up to date training.
g) It is no doubt that the teachers and HODs are the assets of any educational institutions.
Management should exert all efforts to retain employees and develop their skills. This requires
the appointment of a well-structured HR department. The HR department should be efficient
enough in assessing the organizational needs of qualified HODs. Their duties should go beyond
personnel issues and payroll to further appraise staff and design action plans and motivate and
encourage staff. A whole coherent system of rules should be laid out with no exceptions and
which everyone should abide by. They must develop a system for reward and penalty.
h) Hiring the qualified as well as trusted HODs is a key issue here to guarantee quality. The
recruitment of leaders just because of their connection to the management is disastrous.
Seniority and long years of experience are not the only requirements of headship. Hiring criteria
should be discussed with the HR department to filter candidates. Leaders should be elected and
not appointed. Their work references must be checked thoroughly before hiring. Once hired,
management should continuously evaluate their performance to ensure quality. Also, assessment
of their performance should be done through their subordinates to ensure fair leadership.
Last but not least, management has to act as a role model for staff in general and HODs in particular to
enhance their leadership performance and thus improve education accordingly.
.
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