Abstract
The research focused on the extent to which extrinsic barriers to promotion continue to play a role in female teachers’ career advancement in the post-apartheid era in South Africa. The study consisted of both a literature and an empirical study aimed at determining the nature and extent of extrinsic barriers to promotion in secondary schools and used a quantitative questionnaire in the post-positivist paradigm.
Notwithstanding excellent non-discriminatory South African legislation and policy documents specific to education, the reality is that management posts in education are still dominated by male teachers. This situation is incongruent with the larger population of female teachers who find themselves captured in post level 1 teaching positions. Between 2010 and 2016 the percentage of female teachers grew from 68,2% to 70,4%.
The Department of Basic Education’s official statistics and annual reports indicate that data at national level on gender stratification in managerial positions is not officially available. However, unofficial information (documents and articles) on the underrepresentation of women in promotion posts shows that less than 38% of women are school principals.
The democratic dispensation has not lived up to the promises made in the legal documents promulgated since 1995.
The literature review examined the various extrinsic barriers to promotion affecting female teachers’ professional career development in education in the post-apartheid era. The most prominent research themes are still discrimination, gender and leadership, prejudice and stereotyping, while networking is exclusionary in nature and tends to be – male dominated. Mentorship, appointment procedures, organisational climate and career profile are typically external barriers to promotion for female teachers. Women who are not part of a network feel that they are disadvantaged and have poorer access to promotional opportunities. The reasons for the discrimination are stereotyping, gender discrimination, and family responsibilities which bar women from participating in and accessing networks and promotional opportunities. Increasingly, formal networks such as principals’ meetings and financial and governing body meetings are no longer men-only environments, but are bringing about increased visible and audible presence of women in schools. The benefits of mentoring relationships include building self-confidence, professional and personal development opportunities, increased job satisfaction, career planning, positive leadership perceptions and loyalty to the organisation. To the detriment of women, it is not only men in education who act as barriers, but also women in management positions, who prevent other women from being promoted, a phenomenon commonly referred to as the “queen bee syndrome”.
Organisational culture is not prioritised by organisational leaders, while insufficient resources, inadequate rewards, limited mobility and lack of role models are cited as barriers to planning and managing school leadership succession. Appointment procedures – overt and covert – are viewed as discriminatory and reference is made to advertising and interviewing processes evident in pre-set appointment policies, promotion criteria, advertising and recruitment practices. Analysis of disparities between male and female principals’ qualification levels shows that female teachers’ qualifications are often higher than those of their male peers. It is argued that qualifications and experience are of crucial importance in the appointment of principals and impacts on their salary scale. One of the objectives of the South African democratisation project is to achieve equal gender representation in management positions. It is reassuring to read that these appointment procedures are meeting the legal requirements and can no longer be regarded as barriers to promotion.
Female teachers often find the organisational culture challenging and that little has changed between 2001 and 2018. Practices in schools as organisations remain a barrier to promotion for female teachers. Men often act aggressively or take on the role of innocent seducers. The professional profile of female teachers shows that family responsibilities are regarded as the most important barrier to promotion.
A tangible similarity exists in the relationship between job motivation and satisfaction, which is found in the extent to which a person experiences a sense of self-actualisation and fulfilment. The gradual decline in the popularity of education as a career choice and the high number of teachers exiting education are indicative of low job satisfaction and motivation.
This review provided the basis for the development of a structured questionnaire.
The research followed a quantitative research approach in the post-positivist paradigm. The data collection tool was a structured questionnaire consisting of five constructs, divided into 50 questions or items to determine the extent to which extrinsic barriers affect the career advancement of female teachers in the post-apartheid dispensation. The questionnaire was distributed to female teachers already appointed in promotional positions from post level 2 and above (n = 365); the feedback response was 83,6% (n = 305).
The calculation of the Cronbach alpha coefficient determined the reliability and internal consistency of the measuring instrument. Using the SAS computer program, averages, standard deviations, frequencies and percentages were calculated from the responses to the questions.
The Ethics Committee of the North-West University’s Faculty of Education approved the research project. Subsequently, the Gauteng District Office and school principals granted permission to conduct the research, while participant respondents at the selected schools provided consent based on detailed information on the data collection process. The respondents’ protection and anonymity were ensured and participants were informed that they could withdraw from the research at any time and that the data would be kept confidential.
The respondents’ profile indicated that they were on average 40 years and older (84%); had 21 years’ teaching experience (60%); were married (76%) and had children (83%). They were in head of department positions (69%) and 4% are school principals. They all had post-graduate qualifications and higher (39%) and had held management positions (44%) for the past five years. More than half (59,7%) had not applied for further promotion.
Most respondents (74%) indicated that gender did not play a major role in networking opportunities, contradicting earlier findings. Similarly, the respondents (86%) were willing to be mentors and share positional power with other women, also contrary to the literature study. A high percentage of respondents (82%) did not regard appointment procedures as an extrinsic barrier to promotion. This finding is indicative of alignment between legislation and appointment practices. However, 82% of respondents felt that they must have higher qualifications than their male counterparts to be considered for the same positions.
The organisational culture had also changed over the past few years as respondents (67%) felt they did not have to prove that their home and family responsibilities interfered with their professional duties; that they were equal to their male colleagues in attending professional development events (76%), and that they have not been placed in a less important portfolio because of their gender (75%). Female teachers’ career profiles reveal that 73% of the respondents are moderately to highly competitive. Relocation due to a spouse’s career did not prevent respondents (65%) from applying for a promotional position in another town or city.
The findings indicate that being part of a network is important and that the respondents did not view their gender as a barrier to belonging to a network at school. Male teachers no longer hold the most prominent promotional posts and there are equal promotional opportunities for both male and female teachers. A mentorship programme and acting-principalship positions are important to prepare female teachers for promotional posts. Furthermore, a sufficient number of role models are available in schools. This availability is enhanced by female teachers’ attending principal and departmental executive meetings where mentors and role models in education could be met. The research results indicate a shift in the perceptions of the role of extrinsic barriers to promotion, which differs substantially from the literature. This is in line with literature findings on intrinsic barriers to promotion, where it was found that only 16 of 75 items played a practically significant role as intrinsic barriers to promotion.
Finally, it is recommended that women in education, the education community and government should be instrumental in creating a gendered perspective on educational change and development, promoting gender equality in leadership and decision-making, and also the use of sufficient skills, experience and qualifications that women possess. A total change in the attitude of society is required – including among members of the education sector – for women to take their warranted place among educational leaders.
Keywords: education; extrinsic barriers to promotion; female teachers; gender equality; promotion; teachers; underrepresentation
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