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Leadership and Women: the Space Between Us

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Leadership and Women: the Space Between Us The University of Sheffield Leadership and Women: the Space between Us. Narrating ‘my-self’ and telling the stories of senior female educational leaders in Malta. Robert Vella A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education. The University of Sheffield Faculty of Social Sciences School of Education October, 2020 ii Life is a journey and it’s about growing and changing and coming to terms with who and what you are and loving who and what you are. Kelly McGillis iii Acknowledgements Thank you for what you did; You didn’t have to do it. I’m glad someone like you Could help me to get through it. I’ll always think of you With a glad and grateful heart; You are very special; I knew it from the start! These few lines by Joanna Fuchs gather my gratitude to many persons who in some way walked with me through this journey. As the phrase goes, “no man is an island”, and surely, I would not have managed without the tremendous help and support of these mentioned below. A special thanks goes to my supervisor Emeritus Professor Pat Sikes. I am tremendous grateful for her sincere guidance, incredible patience, and her full support throughout this journey. I am very grateful for her availability and for her encouragement to explore various paths to inquire into my project. For me Pat was not just a supervisor, she was my mentor, a leader, advisor, and above all a dear friend. Mention must be made also to Professor Cathy Nutbrown and Dr David Hyatt who both offered their advice and help through these years, mostly during the study schools. A word of gratitude also to those academics of The University of Sheffield, attending the study schools in Malta and offering their insights. iv I would also like to acknowledge the invaluable help given by the participants, who offered their time and willingness to share their stories to come up with my drama. A word of thanks goes to those friends, colleagues and relatives who offered their support throughout these four years. I am eternally grateful to my wife Josette, who was the one mostly hit by my doctoral endeavour. As always, Josette was my mentor throughout the whole journey, she supported me and encouraged me, always with affectionate love. Same could be said for my three children, John, Steve and Marija, who although sometimes I abandoned them, they were always by my side, encouraging me and showing pride, that as themselves their father is also a student. Finally, my acknowledgments will be incomplete without showing my appreciation and thankfulness to my creator, in whom I believe about His continuous support and help through my ups and downs, even when I somehow abandon Him. The research work disclosed in this publication is partially funded by the ENDEAVOUR Scholarship Scheme - Group B – National Funds. v Dedication This study is dedicated to my wife Josette, and our three children John, Steve and Marija. You are my love, pride and joy, and make every second of my life worth living. vi Abstract The main aim of this qualitative research study is to investigate the perceptions and experiences of senior female educational leaders in the Department of Education in Malta. Although Malta’s laws relating to gender equity are in line with those of the EU, traditional beliefs and values, including those influenced by the Catholic church, mean that in many areas of social life, women and girls continue to be perceived to be inferior. It is also the case that the gender gap in Malta in many sectors is one of the highest in Europe. The study is framed within the constructivist and interpretivist paradigm and took a narrative approach. I have looked at gender and leadership through a lens of social justice rather than feminism. Throughout 2017-2018 in-depth interview data was collected from the eight female senior leaders in the Maltese education department. Data were analysed manually using a hybrid approach method (Fereday & Muir-Cochrane, 2006), to decide on the relevant themes. An autoethnographic approach was also employed, whereby I critically examined and reflected on my experiences of female leaders. Data was crafted into a fictitious staged drama script to present the findings from the interviews, and another fictitious radio drama script to present some key relevant experiences from my life. To the best of my knowledge no such study has been conducted locally using a similar approach, and focusing on senior female educational leaders. The findings from the study demonstrated that women in educational leadership in Malta have to face challenges specific to them being females. Furthermore, the study contributes to understanding around women already in leadership posts, and also those aspiring to be leaders. The study recommends among other things, real family-friendly measures by organisations; organised professional development programmes for women in leadership and for those aspiring to be leaders; and training programmes focused on how to build healthy collegial relationships. Also, this thesis suggests some potential proposals for future research. Robert Vella vii Table of Contents Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................. iii Dedication .................................................................................................................................. v Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... vi Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................... vii List of Figures ........................................................................................................................... xi List of Tables ............................................................................................................................ xi Chapter 1 – Setting the stage for senior female educational leaders in Malta and ‘my-self’ .... 1 1.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Setting for the study ......................................................................................................... 3 1.2.1 The Maltese context................................................................................................... 3 1.2.2 Women and leadership .............................................................................................. 4 1.3 My place in the research – positionality........................................................................... 5 1.3.1 Positionality ............................................................................................................... 6 1.3.2 Interest in the study.................................................................................................... 7 1.4 Research purpose.............................................................................................................. 8 1.4.1 The framework for this project .................................................................................. 9 1.5 Performance in research ................................................................................................. 10 1.6 Setting the boundaries – Some clarifications ................................................................. 11 1.7 The structure of the thesis .............................................................................................. 12 Chapter 2 – Inquiry Trail ......................................................................................................... 15 2.1 Preface ............................................................................................................................ 15 2.1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 15 2.2 Malta............................................................................................................................... 19 2.2.1 Maltese History in a Nutshell .................................................................................. 19 2.2.1.1 Timeline of the Maltese woman ....................................................................... 20 2.2.1.2 Gender Equality in Malta .................................................................................. 24 2.2.2 Education in Malta................................................................................................... 32 2.2.2.1 ‘Top’ Educational Maltese Leaders .................................................................. 34 2.2.3 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 40 2.3 Leadership ...................................................................................................................... 41 2.3.1 Leadership Definitions ............................................................................................ 43 2.3.2 Leadership and Culture ............................................................................................ 45 2.3.3 Educational Leadership ........................................................................................... 47 viii 2.3.3.1 Educational Leadership Typologies .................................................................. 48 2.3.4 Conclusion ..............................................................................................................
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