Female leadership for inclusion, social justice, and intersectionality in educational spaces

Abstract

The study aims to examine female leadership and intersectionality in educational settings. The gatekeepers, who include male leadership, institutional cultures, and other women’s advancement facilitators, must recognise that ignoring the value and embodiment of women in educational leadership roles could result in loss of knowledge, a low level of awareness of how systems are changing, and a risk of educational institutions being forced to support antiquated practices. The methodology employed in this study is based on a qualitative and phenomenological approach that critically investigates the experiences and leadership challenges of women in leadership spaces. Fifteen women were interviewed from various education spheres and departments to understand their resilience, determination, and innovative practices comprehensively. Female leadership is crucial for educational success, especially when it challenges social justice. Social justice in schools is rooted in privilege and power, recognising and accepting differences for inclusion and equitable power distribution for empowerment. Firstly, understanding the foundation of social justice is essential to addressing women’s issues in educational spaces. There should be an emphasis on access for women, creating awareness of the causes of inequality, the capacity to direct interests, and taking control and action to reduce structural inequality. Secondly, opportunities for empowerment should be created amongst women and for women. The last recommendation pertains to challenging indigenous institutional cultures to increase the number of women in educational leadership spaces and give them the power to be decision-makers, leading to responsibilities and rights curtailing the right gatekeepers to stop women’s freedoms in educational spaces. So, empowerment moves between empowerment and development outcomes for women, ultimately leading to unintended results that will also be realised in women’s empowerment in educational leadership spaces. This paper is underpinned by critical theory to challenge the social justice idea of women’s empowerment in educational spaces in relation to women and their advancement in leadership positions. Our contribution focuses on women challenging the power and control over decisions and resources in educational leadership spaces, with particular focus on how women may use empowerment as a tool to encourage one another in oppressive spaces, while also developing themselves from an empowerment perspective in order to bring value to their embodiment in the aforementioned spaces.