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Karamanidou, Maria (2017) Women principals in Cyprus primary schools: barriers to accession. PhD thesis, University of Nottingham.

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Abstract

This thesis focuses on the barriers that women principals face in Cypriot primary schools. This research had six aims including the overarching aim. The overarching aim of this research is to examine the career progress of female principals in Cyprus primary schools and to address the apparent under-representation of women in leadership positions. The research also aimed to establish the barriers that female leaders face in order to be promoted as principals, and how they can be overcome. Another aim was to establish how gender issues play a part in creating barriers to promotion as a school principal and how these may subsequently affect them in leading the school. A third consideration was to comprehend what barriers women may have faced in their childhood years and to establish whether, and to what extent, female leaders face internal and external barriers in Cyprus schools. The research also sought to identify the support or enablers that may facilitate women’s career progression.

The enquiry was conducted using mixed method approaches, including both surveys and interviews. These quantitative and qualitative methods were combined to facilitate methodological triangulation. The data were collected sequentially, with the surveys preceding the interviews. This sequence was planned to obtain generalisable data first and to secure self-selected participants for the interviews. The quantitative data were collected through a whole population questionnaire survey administered to all women principals (C.187) in Cyprus primary schools, using Survey Monkey. Qualitative data were collected, from all twenty women principals who agreed to be interviewed.

The findings show that societal culture and discrimination, the influence of the patriarchal family, family and domestic responsibilities, the intersection between women’s age, sex and the location of schools and professional development, were powerful influences on the career trajectory of these women primary school principals. These themes recur in several places, showing the pervasive nature of these influences on women principals in Cyprus. The thesis reports these findings and connects them to other literature on women principals. The present work is informed by contemporary feminist and gender theories.

Item Type:	Thesis (University of Nottingham only) (PhD)
Supervisors:	Bush, Tony Townsend, Andrew
Keywords:	education, Cyprus, primary schools, female principals, gender, barriers
Subjects:	L Education > LB Theory and practice of education
Faculties/Schools:	UK Campuses > Faculty of Social Sciences, Law and Education > School of Education
Item ID:	42894
Depositing User:	Karamanidou, Maria
Date Deposited:	01 Sep 2017 08:02
Last Modified:	13 Oct 2017 00:30
URI:	https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/42894

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