Leadership and Gender

This article reports on a broad-scale study in the field of leadership and gender. It isbased on research into some 400 male and female principals in Victoria, Australia,between 1996 and 1999. While confirming previous claims that there are significant differencesin the perceptions and beliefs of male and female leaders, it acknowledges theimportance of organizational cultures and values systems. It argues for a sophisticatedresearch lens which comprehends the complex interactions between principals and thecontexts in which they work. Findings with regard to students, teachers and parents areexplored with reference to variables such as level and size of schools, sectorial values andstudent gender. These are linked to an argument that male and female leadership inAustralian schools takes multiple forms and that differences within a gender can be asimportant as differences between them.