Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemConstraints to women entering positions of management in government primary schools in rural Victoria( 2000)This study sought to explore the issues surrounding the under-representation of women in positions of senior management in Victorian government primary schools. It is based on interviews with women teachers and principals in East Gippsland, approx. 300 kilometres from Melbourne, and thus sought to explore the barriers or constraints facing women leaders within a rural context. Both quantitative and qualitative methodologies were used. Firstly an analysis of employment statistics was undertaken to determine the extent of women's underrepresentation in management positions in schools, with comparisons being made between metropolitan and country regions. A brief questionnaire was also utilised to gain background information about the study participants and their schools. The main data were derived from interviews with ten female leaders across seven schools in the region. These data were analysed using modified a priori categories, resulting in a collective picture of factors which had influenced the career progression of this group of rural women. This study found that women are under-represented in positions of senior management in Victorian government primary schools, and that this under-representation is greatest in rural areas. An investigation into the reasons underlying this under-representation, found that there were common constraints or negative influential factors which impacted upon women's career aspirations and progression. Unlike other similar research, it also found that there were common positive influential factors which had been of significance. Many of the women interviewed shared a range of personal characteristics and experiences (positive influential factors) which supported and encouraged them during their careers. As a group, the women interviewed were highly motivated and loved their jobs. Most were perfectionists, had a high level of skill and were prepared to work hard and for long hours. They had strong educational philosophies, a need for personal challenge and a pro-active outlook on life. A lack of family commitments, and a high degree of family support were also commonalities. All participants were supported and encouraged by others in their early careers and felt that opportunities were available at lower levels of management within schools. Some had also benefited from leadership specific professional development. The findings also highlighted the existence of constraints or barriers (negative influential factors), both attitudinal and structural, to women's career progression within schools. The negative influential factors cited by these women as a group, were, in decreasing order of importance: � Non-supportive Culture � Limited Opportunities � Leadership Style � Life Balance/Workload � Job Description � Personal Characteristics � Lack of Access to Professional Development � Family Responsibilities These findings support the more recent literature, which also identifies prejudicial attitudes and behaviours as the most significant barrier to women's participation in senior management. It also supports the findings in the literature that a differing leadership style presents a significant barrier to advancement for women. The negative effects of Family Responsibilities, however, were far less influential than in other similar studies, with the high number of role reversals being a significant feature of the participants in this study who were parents. The high percentage of single or childless participants apparent in other studies, however, was mirrored in this research. The other barriers identified by this group of women were specific to the educational context, where there is less research available for comparison. The negative influence of a change in job description or daily work tasks associated with promotion to principal, is supported by the limited body of research within schools. The barrier posed by limited promotional opportunities was exacerbated by the rural context, a finding which also concurs with the limited research in the area of schools and rurality.
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ItemThe Lives of female teachers in one teacher schools in Victoria in the 1930s and 1940s( 2002)This thesis is an oral history study of the lives of six women who taught in oneteacher schools in Victoria in the 1930s and 1940s. Much has been written about women teachers in the nineteenth century, but there seems to be a dearth of literature on twentieth century women. In much of the literature examined, female teachers who taught in one-teacher schools at the turn of the century were depicted as disadvantaged in many ways. They experienced difficulties with accommodation, loneliness and low salaries. They were often inadequately educated themselves and those who wanted to make a career out of teaching suffered because of their isolation from professional development and opportunities to further their own education. The women interviewed for this study taught in schools in different parts of Victoria during the 1930s and 1940s. Their names were obtained from friends and colleagues. They are a small group, but their experiences are important and can help us to understand the history of the teaching profession more generally. These women are aged between seventy-eight and ninety-one. Their memories are fragmentary but they are very clear on some aspects of their teaching lives. They exhibit the reticence of earlier generations of women teachers who believed it was bad manners to `rain on the parade'. These women, in general, gave positive accounts of their time teaching in one-teacher schools. They enjoyed the authority that came with being in charge. They talked about being a respected member of the community; some married locals and settled into the community. Their accommodation was more convivial than that of their sisters in the nineteenth century and most women talked about becoming life-long friends with the families who boarded them. These women felt there was a lack of choice of career - they could either be teachers or nurses - and their careers were cut short by the marriage bar. All these women had to resign on marriage, and those who returned to teaching were re-employed and exploited as temporary teachers on a lower rate of pay. Nevertheless, equal pay was not an issue for these women and they accepted four-fifths the male salary as `how it was'. Overall, these women retold positive aspects of their lives in one-teacher schools and the meaning of teaching in their lives. They were proud of their careers although it was accepted that most women would become wives and mothers. These are stories of women who received great personal satisfaction from teaching and who took enormous pride in their work. Those who returned to teaching some time after their marriage, spoke of the fulfilment gained from resuming their chosen career.