Female educational leadership in the Arab world: a systematic review of published research literature

The present systematic literature review is undertaken within the context of concerted efforts aimed at diversifying the knowledge base of female leadership in the educational context. Much of the research in the field has been done in Anglo-American and European contexts. To this effect, the study conducts a systematic literature review to identify published research on female leadership in the Arab world written in English between 2000 and 2022. The findings of the review show a dominance of empirical studies with the majority being qualitative in nature and having a limited level of conceptualization, which poses a challenge to understanding female leadership as a contextual intersubjective phenomenon. This review highlights the importance of the sociocultural factors as a pivotal theme connecting with and affecting the three other themes of the review, the challenges and enablers of female leadership in the Arab world, and leadership perception and persona that women leaders develop. The review concludes with insights for researchers, policymakers and practitioners in the region.