Women – better leaders than men? In general and educational management it still “all depends”

Abstract

The growing impact of women in the workforce has kept the leadership style of women on the research agenda. Reviews some of the current thinking on women and leadership, drawing on general and educational management literature. Particular attention is paid to management in education because of: the continued pressure on the higher educational sector generally to be publicly accountable that indicates a specific need for effective leadership; the fact that at the school level, leadership is a central theme in the literature on organizational improvement and educational reform; and education is a field numerically dominated by women, yet despite some evidence of a growing willingness of women to take up leadership positions in the field, educational leadership is still a male preserve. Concludes with a synopsis of some of the factors that may account for differences in leadership style.