Invisible burdens, visible leadership: emotional labor and the ethic of care among Kazakhstani women principals

Contemporary school leadership increasingly demands emotional labor, yet this work remains largely invisible and deeply gendered. This study examines how female principals in Kazakhstan navigate and perform emotional labor within a post-Soviet context shaped by bureaucratic governance, neoliberal reforms, and patriarchal norms. Drawing primarily on Hochschild’s theory of emotional labor and informed by Tronto’s feminist ethic of care, the study explores how emotional expectations become embedded within women’s leadership roles. Through thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with 16 principals from rural and urban schools, the research explores how emotional demands shape leadership trajectories and daily practice. Findings reveal that principals continuously regulate their emotions under conditions of scrutiny and accountability, suppressing personal feelings to maintain professional legitimacy as calm, caring, and resilient leaders. Emotional labor also extended beyond the school into domestic and community life, framing care as both a source of moral authority and a gendered burden. The study argues that emotional labor in school leadership is shaped by the intersection of gendered expectations, post-Soviet institutional legacies, and contemporary accountability pressures. Contributing rare empirical evidence from Central Asia, the research advances international debates on gender, care, and emotional labor in educational leadership.