Barriers For Female In Educational Leadership?A Case Study Of High School In Deisse City,Ethiopia

The purpose of the study was to find out and in barriers for female to enter leadership positions in secondary schools in Dessie city.It was intended to assess the institutional,domestic or personal as well as intra personal problem of female to inter leadership positions in educational institutions.In this regard;eight secondary schools in Dessie city were selected to be main focus area.The main beneficiaries of the study were secondary school female teachers,principals and deputy principal in Dessie.A significant contribution was intended to be made with the findings to the main participants of policy makers at our levels.To extract their perception on the matter the data gathering tool interview was considered appropriately.From the 9 secondary Schools which are found in the four sub-cities,8 were purposefully selected from the total number of schools among 5sub-cities.By using purposive sampling each sample element is selected for purpose.Most of the participants perceive those in principal ship positions to have both feminine of masculine characters while insignificant number of participants said that they perceived principals with character with assertiveness,aggression,high self-esteem and self-confidence or in short with masculine characters.While this is so most of them female teachers include this the study never aspired for leadership positions at the beginning of their career.Additionally,choosing from issues involved in recruitment and selection there are respondents said that it is the attitude of recruiters is the most influential.While,insignificant number of respondents claimed that the criteria for recruitment is not clear and understandable.And almost all of the female respondents' said that ‘caring for children' takes the upper hand for them,as a barrier to enter leadership positions followed by ‘getting married'.From among the personal barriers ‘educational background' and ‘Childhood background' of female teachers had taken the lead in influencing factors.Based on the findings it is recommended that policy makers,educational expert officer and immediate supervisors assert gender sensitive issues in the making of policies to hire or promote principals.