DANCING ON A MOVING FLOOR: LAY WOMEN AND THE PRINCIPALSHIP IN CATHOLIC EDUCATION Thérèse Power A Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education DEAKIN UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF EDUCATION, 2001 Supervisor: Associate Professor Jill Blackmore DEDICATION To those who have gone before … My mother and father, Eileen and Jim Power, who always believed in me, encouraged me, and taught me to believe in myself and to My sisters-Sisters of Mercy-who have supported me in so many ways. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to the following people who helped me in so many ways in the course of the production of this thesis: to my supervisor, Jill Blackmore for her invaluable advice, and to Robin McTaggart for his assistance in compiling questionnaires for data collection for it; to my fellow students, Jan Browne, Helen Henry and Margaret Zeegers, whose clear, sound advice and practical assistance urged me to the completion of it; to Jill Eales who typed up all the scripts from the Focus Groups for it; to Sylvia Jaksa, Gloria Alchin and Michael McMahon for providing statistical material from their respective dioceses for it; to my Focus Group members who participated so generously in the generation of data for it; to Liz Dowling, Laura Power-Davies and Peter Dowling who were proof readers for it; to Anna Dalglas for her invaluable work on the bibliography I am deeply grateful I would also like to thank the Deakin University Librarians who were so encouraging and obliging in acceding to my requests for materials LIST OF ACRONYMS USED ACCIR Australian Catholic Commission for Industrial Relations AEC Australian Education Council AST Advanced Skills Teacher BCE Before Christian Era CAFS Child and Family Services CE Christian Era CECV Catholic Education Commission of Victoria CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women CEO Catholic Education Office Co.As.It Comitato Assistenza Italiani (Italian Assistance Organisation) FAP First Assistant to the Principal KSC Knights of the Southern Cross NBEET National Board of Employment, Education and Training NCEC National Catholic Education Commission POR Position of Responsibility REC Religious Education Co-ordinator YCW Young Catholic Workers WATAC Women and the Australian Church WERG Women in Educational Research WUCWO World Union of Churches Women’s Organisations ATTACHMENTS Attachment 1 Figure 1: Comparison of Catholic Primary Female Teachers v Principals 1999 Attachment 2 Figure 2: Comparison of the Principals in Victorian Catholic Primary Schools between 1975 and 1999 by Lay/Religious Attachment 3 Figure 3: Increase in the Number of Religious Teachers in Australia Attachment 4 Figure 4: Principals of Victorian Catholic Primary Schools showing the Differences by Lay/Religious for the Years 1987 and 1999 Attachment 5 Sample Questionnaire Attachment 6 Sample Focus Group Invitation Attachment 7 Copy of Plain Language Statement Attachment 8 Copy of Consent Form Attachment 9 Visual Representation of the Female Principalship Merry-Go- Round (used to stimulate Focus Group Discussion TABLE OF CONTENTS DANCING ON A MOVING FLOOR:...........................................................ii LAY WOMEN AND THE PRINCIPALSHIP ..............................................ii IN CATHOLIC EDUCATION.......................................................................ii DEDICATION................................................................................................ iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...........................................................................iv LIST OF ACRONYMS USED........................................................................v ATTACHMENTS ..........................................................................................vii ABSTRACT......................................................................................................1 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................3 PERSONAL NARRATIVES.............................................................................5 My Story ................................................................................................................6 Transitions—1970s-1980s .....................................................................................8 Personal Questions...............................................................................................10 OVERVIEW OF THE THESIS.......................................................................14 CHAPTER ONE: THE RESEARCH PROBLEM .....................................18 THE HURDLES PERSIST..............................................................................18 GOVERNMENT LEGISLATION ..................................................................22 Equal Opportunity—Policies and Issues .............................................................22 Gender Equity Strategies .....................................................................................24 MERIT PRINCIPLE AS A BASIS OF SELECTION.....................................27 Grooming, Mentoring and the "Glass Escalator"................................................29 Career Paths: Are there new avenues for women? ..............................................30 CHAPTER TWO: ORGANISATIONS—THROUGH A 'GENDER LENS'..............................................................................................................33 BRIEF HISTORY OF CATHOLIC EDUCATION IN AUSTRALIA ...........33 Challenge to the Leadership by Religious Sisters................................................34 Comparison with State Education........................................................................34 Context and Structure of Catholic Education in Australia...................................36 Parish priest: Gate-keeper to Leadership .............................................................40 Organisations as Social/Historical Constructs.....................................................40 GENDER .........................................................................................................41 Gender Lens.........................................................................................................42 Gender and Organisational Theory......................................................................44 Gender-Neutral Representation of Organisations................................................46 Identity .................................................................................................................49 Patriarchy in Society and in the Catholic Church................................................50 Language Use.......................................................................................................54 Kyriarchy .............................................................................................................56 Hegemony............................................................................................................60 Hegemonic masculinity .......................................................................................62 Cultures of Catholicism .......................................................................................65 Culture Breakdown ..............................................................................................66 Authority in the Catholic Church.........................................................................67 Authority and Emotions.......................................................................................72 Emotion and Leadership ......................................................................................73 CHAPTER THREE: POWER AND THE SOCIAL RELATIONS..........78 OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY................................................................78 POWER............................................................................................................78 Traditional Approaches........................................................................................78 Power as a Relational Concept ............................................................................82 Critical Theory Perspective..................................................................................84 Post-structuralist Perspective...............................................................................85 SEXUALITY ...................................................................................................93 Masculinity and Femininity .................................................................................96 Masculinity / Masculinism / Patriarchy .............................................................101 Problematising the Masculine............................................................................103 Parish Priest/Authoritarian Masculinity.............................................................105 Role and Function..............................................................................................108 CHAPTER FOUR: LEADERSHIP AND CHANGE ...............................111 LEADERSHIP ...............................................................................................111 Images of leadership ..........................................................................................111 Leadership Styles and Skills ..............................................................................113 Leadership Types...............................................................................................116