The lived experiences of women principals in rural secondary schools regarding their career pathways

This interpretivist qualitative study explored lived experiences of rural secondary schools’ female principals' career development. Purposive sampling technique was employed to select eleven female principals from 11 rural public secondary schools in Ilembe District, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mthethwa, Joyce F., Kutame, Azwidohwi P., Buthelezi, Alan B., Ajani, Oluwatoyin Ayodele
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2022
Online Access:http://journalarticle.ukm.my/21095/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/21095/1/The%20Lived%20Experiences%20of%20Women%20Principals%20in%20Rural%20Secondary%20Schools%20Regarding%20their%20Career%20Pathways.pdf
_version_ 1848815270945095680
author Mthethwa, Joyce F.
Kutame, Azwidohwi P.
Buthelezi, Alan B.
Ajani, Oluwatoyin Ayodele
author_facet Mthethwa, Joyce F.
Kutame, Azwidohwi P.
Buthelezi, Alan B.
Ajani, Oluwatoyin Ayodele
author_sort Mthethwa, Joyce F.
building UKM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description This interpretivist qualitative study explored lived experiences of rural secondary schools’ female principals' career development. Purposive sampling technique was employed to select eleven female principals from 11 rural public secondary schools in Ilembe District, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa to provide in depth information to the study. A semi-structured interview guide was used in various audio-recorded interviews, which lasted between 20-30 minutes each to capture exact information. The audio-recorded data was systematically transcribed and coded to generate common themes for the presentation and discussion of findings. Findings revealed that some communities’ cultures continue to dominantly influence women principals’ career pathways, despite policies or efforts to promote gender equality in South Africa. The social attitude or ‘injustice’ against female principals in rural environments has limited their quest to pursue their careers further or to aspire to top administrative leadership positions in education. It is recommended that necessary government structures and other stakeholders in the education sector should provide the necessary support to encourage female principals in rural schools.
first_indexed 2025-11-15T00:47:19Z
format Article
id oai:generic.eprints.org:21095
institution Universiti Kebangasaan Malaysia
institution_category Local University
language English
last_indexed 2025-11-15T00:47:19Z
publishDate 2022
publisher Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling oai:generic.eprints.org:210952023-02-09T06:21:36Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/21095/ The lived experiences of women principals in rural secondary schools regarding their career pathways Mthethwa, Joyce F. Kutame, Azwidohwi P. Buthelezi, Alan B. Ajani, Oluwatoyin Ayodele This interpretivist qualitative study explored lived experiences of rural secondary schools’ female principals' career development. Purposive sampling technique was employed to select eleven female principals from 11 rural public secondary schools in Ilembe District, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa to provide in depth information to the study. A semi-structured interview guide was used in various audio-recorded interviews, which lasted between 20-30 minutes each to capture exact information. The audio-recorded data was systematically transcribed and coded to generate common themes for the presentation and discussion of findings. Findings revealed that some communities’ cultures continue to dominantly influence women principals’ career pathways, despite policies or efforts to promote gender equality in South Africa. The social attitude or ‘injustice’ against female principals in rural environments has limited their quest to pursue their careers further or to aspire to top administrative leadership positions in education. It is recommended that necessary government structures and other stakeholders in the education sector should provide the necessary support to encourage female principals in rural schools. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2022 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/21095/1/The%20Lived%20Experiences%20of%20Women%20Principals%20in%20Rural%20Secondary%20Schools%20Regarding%20their%20Career%20Pathways.pdf Mthethwa, Joyce F. and Kutame, Azwidohwi P. and Buthelezi, Alan B. and Ajani, Oluwatoyin Ayodele (2022) The lived experiences of women principals in rural secondary schools regarding their career pathways. e-Bangi Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities, 19 (7). pp. 207-223. ISSN 1823-884x https://ejournal.ukm.my/ebangi/index
spellingShingle Mthethwa, Joyce F.
Kutame, Azwidohwi P.
Buthelezi, Alan B.
Ajani, Oluwatoyin Ayodele
The lived experiences of women principals in rural secondary schools regarding their career pathways
title The lived experiences of women principals in rural secondary schools regarding their career pathways
title_full The lived experiences of women principals in rural secondary schools regarding their career pathways
title_fullStr The lived experiences of women principals in rural secondary schools regarding their career pathways
title_full_unstemmed The lived experiences of women principals in rural secondary schools regarding their career pathways
title_short The lived experiences of women principals in rural secondary schools regarding their career pathways
title_sort lived experiences of women principals in rural secondary schools regarding their career pathways
url http://journalarticle.ukm.my/21095/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/21095/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/21095/1/The%20Lived%20Experiences%20of%20Women%20Principals%20in%20Rural%20Secondary%20Schools%20Regarding%20their%20Career%20Pathways.pdf