Preparing to lead schools: Leadership aspirations of Zimbabwean female teachers

Over the past two decades, the topic of women leading and managing education has increased and intensified, shifting focus to roles and performance. Hence this study was conducted to investigate the leadership aspiration trends amongst female teachers in Zimbabwe. It is also located within the global literature on social justice putting effort to foster positive social change in societies. A sample survey research design was utilized leading to the sampling of 160 female teachers from two districts - Mberengwa and Zvishavane in the Midlands province in Zimbabwe. Descriptive statistics were calculated on the survey data. Findings indicated that although the female teachers advanced their qualifications and scored positive achievement aspirations, they were not willing to take up leadership positions. To a great extent, this study lays the groundwork for policymakers, researchers and practitioners and points toward the path of knowledge generation and accumulation.

This scholarship that has emerged over the past decade in support of widening access for and encouraging female educators to 'lead' schools in Africa deserves global attention.Indeed, Hallinger (2018, p. 371) concluded his recent review of African research on educational leadership and management with a pertinent recommendation, "this growing body of African research on gender and leadership/management has potentially important implications for policy and practice…".The author took note of the relevance of this recommendation with respect to educational leadership in Zimbabwe.Zimbabwean political independence in 1980 was accompanied by the expansion of the education system.Concurrent with development of the nation's education system, both national and international policymakers issued declarations aimed at fostering gender equality not only for students but also educators (Gudhlanga et al., 2012).These declarations recognized that sustainable development would be impossible unless efforts were taken to address institutionalized gender inequality.Deep-seated cultural attitudes that limited access of women to leadership roles were impeding social and economic development in Zimbabwe, as in many other African societies (Aladejana & Aladejana, 2005;Brown, 1996;Combat, 2014;Onyene, 2007;Panigrahi, 2013;Pheko, 2002;Steyn & Parsaloi, 2014).
The field of women educational leadership and management is where the tension between tradition and change has been felt tremendously in Zimbabwe.Schools are not independent of the larger socio-cultural practices putting female principals on the spotlight.Therefore, female teachers in Zimbabwe prevail over institutional barriers in order to attain leadership positions and socio-cultural norms that work against their advancement (Muzvidziwa, 2012).During the past twenty years, researchers in Zimbabwe have documented both obstacles faced by women in gaining access to some leadership roles as well as their efforts to enact new ways of leadership in Zimbabwean system (e.g., Makura, 2012;Mudau & Ncube, 2017;Muzvidziwa, 2010Muzvidziwa, , 2012Muzvidziwa, , 2013)).
The contributions of this study lie in two related domains.First, scholars have asserted that the development of a globally representative knowledge base requires research findings from a broader set of national contexts than currently exists in the field of educational leadership (Hallinger, 2018;Clarke & O'Donoghue, 2016;Oplatka & Arar, 2017).This has led to the recent publication of research reviews on educational leadership from societies that have not traditionally contributed to the global literature.These have included reviews of research from regions such as Africa (Hallinger, 2018), Arab societies (Oplatka & Arar, 2017) and Latin America (Flessa et al., 2018), as well as from individual societies such as Vietnam (Hallinger, 2016), Israel (Eyal & Berkovich, 2010), and Singapore (Ng et al., 2015).This empirical study of Zimbabwean research supports this trend of weaving research findings from under-represented societies into the fabric of global scholarship in educational leadership.
In addition, it is well documented across the world that the access of women to leadership position is often impeded despite documentation of 'female advantages' in leading selected aspects of schooling (see Hallinger, 2016;Eyal & Berkovich, 2010;Eagly et al., 1992;Krüger, 1996Krüger, , 2008)).As suggested, African scholars have documented how system policies and practices institutionalise patriarchal attitudes that limit female access to leadership positions and constrain their efforts to lead in schools (Nkomo & Ngambi, 2009;Smit, 2013;Steyn & Parsaloi, 2014).The existing studies have primarily focused on obstacles and barriers to leadership positions (Hlatywayo et al., 2014;Maposa & Mugabe 2013;Moyo & Perumal 2019;Muzvidziwa, 2014) without recognizing the impact of leadership aspirations on school leadership.A void exists in this knowledge bank, in particular with regards to Zimbabwean school settings.Thus, this study seeks to investigate the leadership aspirations trends amongst female teachers in Zimbabwe.It is also located within the global literature on social justice where efforts to increase the number of women in school leadership positions represents a potentially powerful means of modelling and fostering positive social change in societies.

Conceptual Background
It has been widely featured in the literature that patriarchy perpetuates gender differences, and the extent varies from society to society (Coleman, 2007;Nkomo & Ngambi, 2009).This study draws from Zimbabwe, a developing Southern African country with diverse cultures engrained in traditional patriarchal values (Chabaya et al., 2009;Muzvidziwa, 2014).
Hierarchical power structures still exist in the education system and they have socially, politically, economically and culturally discriminated against women (Wadesango & Karima, 2016).As a result, important institutions like family, school, and peer, friend, teacher, or mentor groups impact one's conception of identity and effective working methods (McKillop, & Moorosi, 2017).Coleman's (2002) study highlights gender-based inequalities in experiences, indicating that families had a bigger influence on women than men, while schools have a greater influence on men than women.When women take decisions to work in the schools, they obtain experience in this way, which influences their knowledge, attitudes, and abilities and helps them get ready for a promotion.While some people become school leaders by chance without following a well-defined plan, others are more likely to have been competent teachers.According to some research, female principals at schools frequently seize opportunities when they present themselves (McKillop & Moorosi, 2017).Indeed, not just at this moment but at every step thereafter, specific situations or aspects of family, social, cultural, or national needs are likely to impact their professional decisions (Richardson & Schaeffer, 2013).Nonetheless, some teachers require some time to gain confidence in their ability to complete positions that they may not have done previously (Keter, 2013).The women either acquired the best methods from very good leaders or how not to do headship from ineffective ones.The attempt to socialise into the school is another aspect of this stage, which entails recognising the complexity of a variety of circumstances, winning the acceptance of colleagues, and adjusting to the school's culture (Earley & Weindling, 2007).Although this may be the case for both men and women, sociocultural factors are more likely to prevent women from achieving leadership roles earlier than males, and family responsibilities are frequently cited as the primary obstacle to leadership for women.
Historically, Zimbabwean education systems like other former colonial states, were plagued by racial discrimination which later diverted to gender inequalities between female and male black population in the postcolonial period (Muzvidziwa, 2014).Gender issues were not given attention as it was regarded normal for preparing girls for domestic roles, for example marriage (Chitiga, 2008).The socialization of girls has been towards domestic duties (private sphere) and boys towards the public sphere.This transmission of traditional culture begins in the family and is later reinforced by interactions in social institutions such as schools and in the community.Gender disparities in school leadership across levels are exhibited in the current statistics provided by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (2022) showing that there are 7,386 primary schools and 3,131 secondary schools with a teacher establishment of 17,937 for early childhood development, 80,175 for primary schools and 48,740 for secondary schools.According to the statistics, out of 81,977 primary school teachers, 62.70% are female (51,401).While women make up 62.70% of primary school teachers, their representation is significantly lower in the most senior positions of head and deputy head, where they make up 33.39% and 37.78% of the staff, respectively.Similarly, of the 49,362 secondary school teachers, 50.09% (24,723) are female; nevertheless, females have only been appointed to 18.79% and 29.94% of head and deputy head positions, respectively.
Compared to their male counterparts, female teachers are less likely to be awarded top leadership positions in both primary and secondary schools.
These practices have accelerated the privilege of men in society and limited opportunities for women.This is evidenced by the predominant male leadership throughout all sectors of society, including schools (Maposa & Mugabe, 2013).The publication trend of the Zimbabwean women educational leadership and management body of knowledge published in English-language outlets is shown in figure 1.

Pattern of women leading and managing education publications in Zimbabwe
The women leading and managing education literature is largely recent.There are no publications prior to 2008.The highest number of publications was in 2012 and 2022.There were no publications in 2018.This shows a trend on how women education leadership has not been given sufficient attention.These trends are consistent with Hallinger (2018) that publications in Africa prior to 2005 represented only 11% of the African literature.A sudden boom was realised from 2012 onwards.Although it was beyond this study to investigate the causes of the sudden surge, this may be linked to financial support where Zimbabwean scholars who have migrated to other countries have been encouraged to contribute to the knowledge production of their own countries, for example, the author of this paper is a migrant living in South Africa.In addition, the gender equity policies could be the reason for the focus on women (Moyo & Perumal, 2020).The underrepresentation of women in educational leadership is not only unique to Zimbabwe, but other African societies as well (Panigrahi, 2013;Steyn & Parsaloi, 2014).Therefore, the predominant male gender relations have continued to shape biased beliefs and attitudes about who should lead educational institutions.

Research design
This study utilized the sample survey research design.A sample of 160 female teachers was selected from a target population (McMillan & Schumacher, 2010).The Gregor & O'Brien (2013) career aspiration scale was adapted under the guidance of a statistician to locally design a questionnaire that suited local needs.The first part of the questionnaire asked for school profile and biographical details as follows; type of school (primary, secondary, combined), location of school (suburb, township, inner-city, rural), race (African, Coloured, Indian, White, other), age, current position (educator, head of department, deputy principal, district facilitator), experience in the education sector and highest academic qualification.The second part questioned about leadership aspiration using the career aspiration scale; 1 -Not at all true of me, 2 -Slightly true of me, 3 -Moderately true of me, 4 -Quite a bit true of me and 5 -Very true of me (Gregor & O'brien, 2015).
According to Kraemer (1991), three characteristics distinguish survey research, and these are used to, quantitatively explain the relationships within a specific population, data collected from people are subjective and that survey research selects and utilizes a portion of the population from which the findings can be generalized back to the population.This design was chosen because of its capability of obtaining data from large samples of the population, collect demographic data enough to examine the composition of the sample, ability to obtain data about attitudes that may not be measured via observational techniques (Glasow, 2005).
Two steps were followed in this survey; (1) a sampling plan was developed to sample the population as well as how the questionnaire was to be administered (2) procedures for obtaining population estimates from the sample data and for estimating the reliability of those population estimates must be established.This process includes identification of the desired response rate and the preferred level of accuracy for the survey.The participants were randomly selected from the population and all participants had the same probability of being selected.All elements of the population were identified and listed so that they could be independently and directly selected from the population list.Once this was accomplished, the simple random sample was drawn from the sampling frame by "applying a series of random numbers that lead to certain elements being chosen and others not" (Visser et al., 2000, p. 230).

Data collection and analysis
Data were collected from a random sample of 160 female teachers from two districts -Mberengwa and Zvishavane in the Midlands province in Zimbabwe.Each participant was contacted in person via the school management to complete questionnaires.The highly structured questionnaire used to gather data for this study consisted of closed-ended questions with Likert's format scales.In order to minimize problems before the actual data collection began, the researcher read the instrument over and over againchecking for vague questions.After this preliminary check, pilot testing was conducted with 10 respondents to check if the questionnaire was easily understood, culturally appropriate and complete.A letter of introduction explaining the purpose of the project (why the respondent is important to the project) was attached to the questionnaire to gain cooperation.A record system was kept for purposes of follow-up.The SPSS computer program was used to analyze the survey data.

Results
Table 2 below presents the result of a comprehensive study that was conducted to investigate various aspirations among Zimbabwean teachers, including achievement, leadership, educational, and the influence of cultural and societal factors.Data were collected from a sample of 160 participants for each category.The mean, standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis were calculated for each aspiration category to provide insights into the distribution and central tendency of the data.The responses were measured on Likert's 5-point scale.However, the two lower scales and two upper scales were combined to allow easy interpretation (Morgan et al., 2016).
The mean achievement aspiration score among Zimbabwean teachers was 27.54 (SD = 4.600).This indicates a relatively high level of aspiration towards achieving goals among the participants.The distribution of scores was moderately negatively skewed (-1.042), suggesting that the majority of participants scored higher on achievement aspiration, with fewer scoring lower.In comparison, the mean leadership aspiration score was 22.60 (SD = 6.219).This suggests a moderate level of aspiration towards leadership roles among Zimbabwean teachers.The distribution of scores was slightly negatively skewed (-0.677), indicating that while there is a notable interest in leadership roles, it is not as pronounced as achievement aspirations.Similarly, the mean educational aspiration score was 24.81 (SD = 5.637), indicating a considerable level of aspiration towards educational goals among Zimbabwean teachers.The distribution of scores was negatively skewed (-1.401), suggesting that the majority of participants expressed higher levels of educational aspiration.Furthermore, the mean score for the influence of cultural and societal factors was 10.90 (SD = 5.114).This indicates a moderate level of perceived influence of cultural and societal factors on the aspirations of Zimbabwean teachers.The distribution of scores was positively skewed (1.309), suggesting that while some participants perceived a high influence of cultural and societal factors, others perceived a lower influence.
Generally, Zimbabwean teachers exhibit relatively high levels of achievement and educational aspirations compared to leadership aspirations.This suggests that while they are driven towards personal and educational goals, there may be less emphasis on pursuing leadership roles.Additionally, the perceived influence of cultural and societal factors appears to play a moderate role in shaping the aspirations of Zimbabwean teachers.

Discussion
The study analysed the leadership aspirations of female teachers.The results provided positive evidence for the common assumption that men are best leaders.Echoing previous studies, literature stresses that female school leaders juggle between familial roles and their professional expectations (Chabaya et al., 2009;Shava & Ndebele, 2014), a reason that could discourage female teachers' leadership aspirations These challenges are largely connected from traditional black cultural expectations of gender roles and heterosexual wife and daughter/ sister-in-law duties common amongst black communities in Zimbabwe.The deeprooted sex-gender systems prescribe roles according to sex so much such that formally employed women are culturally compelled to perform domestic duties to their families (Maposa & Mugabe, 2013).Unfortunately, these cultural constructs are inherited from one generation to another through beliefs, values and practices.Meanwhile, men enjoy the privilege of dominance while women remain subordinated.The patriarchal nature of the Zimbabwean society places men at an advantage than women (Mudau & Ncube, 2017).In addition, the feminine reproductive roles add another layer to women's duties of extended families' health and well-being (Mapolisa & Madziyire, 2012) to an extent that majority of women sacrifice professional development to do important household roles (Wadesango & Karima, 2016).Given that all sample teachers work in schools where it is prestigious to acquire leadership positions, the finding may be read as a sign of underlying issues impeding teachers' leadership aspirations.This study is an early effort to present empirical evidence, future research is warranted to unearth the issues working against the advancement of women into leadership.
Combining the findings that female teachers aspire to advance their education and their achievement aspiration, the study provides affirmative evidence that female school leaders use relations-oriented strategies.The finding presents the lens through which female characteristics can be analyzed to understand how they lead.Scholarship portrays women school leaders for applying communal traits to bring stakeholders together from inside and outside schools to establish safe and welcoming environments to enhance parental involvement in school projects (Muzvidziwa, 2015).The literature reveals that women leaders experience challenges because of multiple responsibilities ingrained in the gender nature of society, family influences and culture (Moyo & Perumal, 2020).Largely future scholarship should focus on the advancement of women into leadership as a possibility to reshape cultural norms, for instance to shift mind-sets from dominance to sharing ideas (Makura, 2012).
Like preceding studies on female school leadership, this study found that although women possess potential to lead as shown in their educational qualifications and achievement aspirations but they prefer males as leaders.The outcome of this echoes the literature which shows among others challenges, for instance role conflict, institutional constraints, sociocultural factors, gender-role attitudes and how they serve as deterrents to women's advancement to school leadership (Chabaya et al., 2009).These factors influence organizational features such as school climate and culture.Other scholars have emphasized socio-cultural factors as major impediments to the professional experience of female school teachers and leaders.These are usually presented as myths, stereotypes and prejudices that pull women down (Mapolisa & Madziyire, 2012), hence culture subordinates' women resulting in them failing to command men at work (Mudau & Ncube, 2017).
There were somewhat surprising findings that give grounds for further research.All the participants were willing and working towards their furthering their qualifications which qualifies them to lead in schools.However, they still feel that men have the obligation to lead.
According to Coleman's (2002) research, gender differences exist in the experiences that men and women have.Specifically, women are more influenced by their families than men are by schools.Women who choose to work in schools gain experience in this way, which impacts their knowledge, attitudes, and skills and prepares them for advancement.While some individuals become school leaders by accident and without adherence to a clear plan, others are more likely to have been trained teachers.It warrants further investigation, possibly qualitative, as to how school leaders are selected and inducted into their new positions.It is also important for scholarship to investigate the impact of contextual factors such as economic and political trends in Zimbabwe on women's advancement into leadership.The literature shows that although schools ascribe to different beliefs and ascribe to a myriad of cultures, they are not independent of the larger societal structures that influence power relations and the interaction patterns (Moyo & Perumal, 2019).Similarly, other studies have established that school culture is dominated by male values and masculine interaction patterns (e.g.Maposa & Mugabe, 2013;Muzvidziwa, 2013;Shava & Ndebele, 2014).These relationships shape and influence women in leadership perform their duties, that is, their leadership approaches and to a large extent what they can and cannot do (Mapolisa et al., 2013).Therefore, the contextual factors that schools take for granted reproduce a hierarchical society.This is influenced by what has been prescribed by society as acceptable behavior to which defying the set norms is unacceptable (Chabaya et al., 2009).
The outcome of this study makes institutions aware of leadership aspirations of female teachers.Therefore, it reinforces the fact that advancement of female teachers into leadership cannot be ignored.Increasing the number of women leading and managing schools will empower female teachers to aspire to be leaders.Literature shows that regardless of women outnumbering men in the teaching field, their number decreases in the management positions.
A study conducted by Makura (2012) concludes that women utilize human relations, collaboration and power sharing to navigate institutional constraints and socio-cultural factors emanating from traditional conceptions of leadership.Female ways of leadership that is, caring, nurturance, power-sharing and collaboration have proved change the plight of their schools.Sharing of duties, approach of reciprocity, listening to colleagues and incorporating their ideas as opposed to command and control is empowering (Makura & Shumba, 2009) is what schools need.Hence promoting gender equity and leadership variability gives increase to sustainable leadership.The education system must ensure gender-impersonal recruitment, promotion and career management systems that empower female teachers.Women need to be empowered to transcend gender stereotypes as well as an enabling practice to balance their professional duties and familial roles.The government should institute policies and programs that expedite female teachers' career advancement.Further studies are required to examine how female teachers can be empowered.The author believes that this study lays the groundwork for policymakers, researchers and practitioners and point toward the path of knowledge generation and accumulation.

Implications for educational leadership and management
Understanding that Zimbabwean teachers exhibit lower levels of aspiration towards leadership roles highlights the need for educational leaders and managers to identify and nurture potential leaders within the teaching workforce.This may involve implementing targeted leadership development programmes and providing opportunities for teachers to explore and develop their leadership skills.Therefore, educational leaders can utilise the insights from this study to design leadership development initiatives that specifically target increasing leadership aspirations among teachers.By providing training, mentorship, and support, educational institutions can encourage teachers to take on leadership roles and

Declaration of interest
The author reports no competing interests to declare.

Appendices
Appendix A

Indicators
Journal of Educational Management and Development Studies, Volume 5 Issue 2 improvement efforts.Similarly, educational leaders can work towards aligning the aspirations of teachers with the broader goals and objectives of the educational institution.By creating a shared vision and fostering a culture that values leadership and professional growth, educational leaders can motivate teachers to aspire towards leadership roles that contribute to the advancement of the institution.Given the influence of cultural and societal factors on the aspirations of Zimbabwean teachers, educational leadership and management strategies need to take into account these contextual influences.Educational leaders should strive to create an inclusive and culturally responsive environment that respects and values the diverse backgrounds and perspectives of teachers.In addition, educational leaders and managers should prioritise building the capacity for educational leadership within schools and educational institutions.This involves providing ongoing support, resources, and opportunities for professional development to equip teachers with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to assume leadership roles and contribute effectively to educational leadership and management practices.Lastly, educational leadership and management practices should foster a collaborative and collegial environment where teachers feel empowered to contribute to decision-making processes and collaborate with colleagues towards common goals.By promoting a sense of shared responsibility and collective efficacy, educational leaders can harness the aspirations of teachers towards collective success and organizational improvement.

Table 1
School profile and demographic characteristicsThe frequency counts and percentage breakdown of the participants indicated that the highest number of participants 143 (89.4%) were educators followed by heads of departments amounting to 14 (8.8%) and deputy principals constituted 3 (1.9%)which was the least.The participants' teaching experience showed that 67 (41.9%) had less than 10 schools, 66 (41.3%) in township schools, 5 (3.1%) in inner city schools and 43 (26.9%) in rural schools.The racial distribution showed that 159 (99.4%) were African and only 1 (0.6%) was classified as other.

Table 2
Mean differences in of various aspirations among Zimbabwean female teachers

Not at all true of me/ Slightly true of me Moderately true of me Very true of me/ Quite a bit true of me CA6
I plan to reach the highest level of education in my field.

Indicators Not at all true of me/ Slightly true of me Moderately true of me Very true of me/ Quite a bit true of me CA7
I agree with the cultural belief that men are in control of decision-making.