Equal Opportunities Policies in English Schools: Towards Greater Gender Equality in the Teaching Workforce?

Abstract

The under-representation of women in promoted posts is one particular pattern of occupational segregation by gender across post-industrial societies. This phenomenon also characterizes those professions which have been described as 'women-friendly', such as teaching. The development of national and European legislation and recommendations on equal opportunities reflects this concern to address the gender imbalance among the workforce. But do schools identify women's under-representation in promoted posts as an issue? To what extent do school's policies recognize and remedy the gender imbalance at managerial level? To answer these questions this article draws on a study of women teachers' careers in nursery, primary and secondary education in England. It shows that school equal opportunities policy statements widely ignore the under-representation of women in school managerial positions. It suggests that the constructions of gender issues in schools by those in charge of designing and implementing school policies, that is, head-teachers and governors, represent a key hindering factor for equal opportunities policies to contribute to greater gender equality. A major argument in the article is that because headteachers' and governors' discourses do not always fundamentally challenge the position of women in society, school policies and practices can offer only a limited contribution to gender equality.

Crafting the Elastic Self? Gender and Identities in Senior Appointments in Irish Education

“…, 2009). For those working in the education sector, the emotional investment of self that is required to balance care and performance in school or college is exacerbated by the demands of primary caring outside of employment (Coleman, 2001; Moreau et al. , 2008).…”

“…In this article we consider the impact of new managerial reforms on the recruitment and retention of women in senior management posts across primary, secondary and tertiary education in Ireland. While teaching is a feminized profession, senior management appointments in education are disproportionately male (Brooking, 2004; Blackmore and Sachs, 2007; Moreau et al. , 2008).…”

An empirical analysis of the gender earnings gap between the public and private sectors in Korea: A comparative study with the US

“…Policies for affirmative actions are more strictly implemented in the public sector than the private sector. We may validate Hoque and Noon's (2004) 'empty sell' hypothesis in Korea as well (Moreau et al, 2008). This empirical decomposition will be implemented for each the US and Korean labor market. The first term in (3) presents the contribution of gender differences in the observed characteristics between public and private sectors to the gender earnings gap across sectors.…”

Gender roles in school: the case of teachers and administrators

“…The finding related to the fact that men were expected to be better administrators can be the underlying reason for this finding. Moreau et al (2008) also showed that gender imbalance at management level was obvious. According to the study of İpek and Yarar (2010) female teachers in primary schools and female pre-service teachers did not have negative attitudes and views for their fellow female colleagues promoting to school leadership as much as their male counterparts.…”

“…The higher the work experience of a teacher pointed out the higher gender equality viewpoint. On the other hand, As Moreau et al (2008) suggested that school administrators often tended to interpret gender imbalance in schools as an issue took root in the differential investment of both sexes in the domestic sphere. Given the fact that Diktaş and Kızılaslan (2012) prospective teachers had a traditional perspective on gender roles, the reason of the shift in perspectives of teachers as they get more experience at work should be understood in a sense which focuses how to liberate men from culturally prescribed gender stereotypes.…”