Gender, female principalship, and student's achievements : a case study of a female principal leading an Islamic school

Abstract

The hegemonic masculinity that perpetuates the larger educational leadership culture persists to this day, making it important to understand the kind of gender construction that is working for existing female leaders, especially in the context of Islamic schools. However, these constructs also need to be understood for their implications on educational practices, such as on students' achievements. Indeed, there have been few studies that highlight these three elements of the gender of the principal, leadership, and students' achievements despite their interrelatedness. Therefore, this study seeks to explore how gender construction facilitates female principalship in an Islamic school and the implication for students' achievements. The study applies the post-structuralist feminist theory of Gendered Educational Leadership as will become clear how an Indonesian private Islamic school discursively presents the gender of the female principal. This study employs a qualitative case study of the leadership of a female principal at Al-Wahid Islamic Elementary School (pseudonym) in light of feminist perspectives. In collecting the data, observation, interviews, and analysis of documents were conducted for triangulation. Meanwhile, the data analysis is done through thematic analysis. The findings show that (1) gender concept in the Islamic school indicates binary construction of the ikhwan and akhwat categories reflected through school facilities, regulation, and social interaction. (2) Within this context, the acceptable ideal female principal is someone who performs both masculine and feminine leadership styles. In practice, the female principal also accordingly performs masculine and feminine styles. However, the overall evaluation by school members seems to stabilize it to be exclusively feminine. This masking is revealed as rooted in the essentialist view of gender and feminization of the elementary school level and its leadership position. (3) Finally, the implication is found to be central to how the principal and school members approach students' achievement issues; how the principal approaches students' achievements with a socioemotional emphasis, how the school members downplay the female principal's role in promoting students' achievements, and how there are discernible gender differences in students' achievements. Therefore, this study indicates the need to be more critical and aware of possible bias in evaluating the performance of female leaders. Further research is recommended to explore more than just one case of a female principal in this issue or on a different level of education, such as in secondary or higher education. Finally, incorporating more of the perspective of students as those who benefit from the issues of achievement is also encouraged. Keywords: Gender, leadership, female principal. gendered educational leadership, students' achievements. Therefore, this study indicates the need to be more critical and aware of possible bias in evaluating the performance of female leaders. Further research is recommended to explore more than just one case of a female principal in this issue or on a different level of education, such as in secondary or higher education. Finally, incorporating more of the perspective of students as those who benefit from the issues of achievement is also encouraged.