Gender Mainstreaming in School Leadership: Unpacking Pre-Service Teachers’ Perceived Factors for Female Under-representation

Abstract

Abstract The world population has reached more than 8.1 billion people, with a slight gender variation where 50.28% are males and 49.72% are females. Similarly, out of 61,741,120 people in Tanzania, 51.32% are females and 48.68% are males, indicating a slight gender difference. Female teachers constitute 48% of all 229,794 primary school teachers and 32.4% of all 113,657 secondary school teachers, yet in school leadership positions, they comprise only 18%. The situation raises a question: why? This study unpacked factors for female under-representation in school leadership in Tanzania. The study used an exploratory sequential mixed design and involved 306 pre-service teachers, where 21 participated in in-depth interviews and 285 respondents filled out the questionnaires. The study employed thematic analysis for qualitative data and descriptive statistical analysis for quantitative data, presenting them in frequency, cross-tabulation, RII and percentages. The findings show that despite all genders indicating interest in assuming school leadership positions, females have low self-efficacy, fearing work–life balance with social life. Also, males indicate higher self-efficacy, believing they can lead and make effective decisions. These socioculturally constructed beliefs have contributed to influencing perceptions and practices that constitute gender stereotypes. The study recommends that teacher training institutions encourage teacher trainees to discard beliefs that perpetuate gender inequality and inhibit gender equality in leadership positions.