Abstract
In 2015, Statistics South Africa reported less than 50% of gender representation for positions of influence. Twenty years into democracy, the 27 secondary schools in the sub-district under study only have four women principals. In South Africa, the new dispensation intended to ensure that women are afforded leadership opportunities, which they were denied through programmes such as the Reconstruction Development Programme (RDP) of 1994, Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR) of 2006, Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (ASGISA) of 2007, New Growth Path (NGP) of 2010 and later the New Development Programme (NDP) of 2011.
This qualitative study used a phenomenological framework to explore the value-add of coaching interventions for the promotion of women towards leadership positions. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with eight participants who were purposively sampled. The findings showed that there are still limited opportunities afforded to women in general and to women in the education sector, in particular in South Africa, to access exclusive leadership positions. The recommendations were directed at women educators, the education system and leadership coaching specialists.
The main recommendation was that there should be systems to coach women from PL1 onwards to prevent discrimination against less experienced women educators who aspire to reach top positions in the secondary education sector. The education department needs to ensure that they adapt the affirmative action policy and its principles to effectively implement its mandate. Leadership coaching specialists need to revisit and tailor instructional and educational coaching processes to suit the needs of women and further.
Keywords: Leadership coaching, coaching interventions, barriers to leadership, women in leadership, education sector.