The Lived Experiences of Women Principals in Rural Secondary Schools Regarding their Career Pathways

Abstract

This interpretivist qualitative study explored lived experiences of rural secondary schools’ female principals' career development. Participants were female principals who were purposively selected from rural schools in South Africa to provide in-depth information to the study. Thus, eleven female principals from 11 public secondary schools within Ilembe District, Limpopo were engaged in semi-structured interviews, which lasted between 20-30 minutes each. The interviews were audio-recorded with permission of the participants to capture exact information. The audio-recorded data was systematically transcribed, coded to generate common themes for the presentation and discussion of findings. Findings revealed that some communities’ cultures continue to dominantly influence women principals’ career pathways, despite policies or efforts to promote gender equality in South Africa. The social attitude or ‘injustice’ against female principals in rural environments has limited their quest to pursue their career further or to aspire top administrative leadership positions in education. It is recommended that necessary government structures and other stakeholders in education sector should provide necessary support to female principals in rural schools.

Keywords: Female principals, leadership, rural schools, culture, career pathway.