Abstract
This is a qualitative study that explores the impact of COVID-19 on female school leadership. Despite the gender stereotypes and gender roles in South Africa, female school leaders are still experiencing challenges in school management positions even during the pandemic. This study aims to explore the perceptions of six female school leaders who were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic negatively and battled personally and professionally; yet despite those challenges they still succeeded as school leaders. The researcher used a qualitative method because it was the most suitable method for interpreting the female leaders’ attitudes, experiences, and understanding of a specific circumstance. The aim was to gain in-depth information about the influence of COVID-19 on female leadership styles particularly in public schools. An interpretive paradigm was employed in order to explore the experiences of the six female school leaders. Purposive sampling was used for the selection of the participants. This study utilised a thematic analysis method to analyse the data. Data was collected by means of in-depth and semi-structured interviews supported by document analysis of school documents. To ensure the validity of the study, the interviews were transcribed verbatim. Role theory was used to frame this study – it helped conceptualise and analyse the situation that female school leaders are still confronted with in their gender roles and expectations in the society...
M.Ed. (Educational Leadership and Management)