Differences and similarities between male and female principals’ leadership styles in catholic schools in south Lebanon

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of the study is to investigate the differences and similarities that may exist between female and male principals’ leadership styles in Catholic schools in South Lebanon. Design/methodology/approach – This study used the mixed methods design. More specifically, the study adopted the Explanatory Sequential Design and worked with primary data. It started by collecting and analyzing quantitative data through a surveybased questionnaire, then collected and analyzed the qualitative data through two focus groups. In the first phase, the deductive approach, with a post-positivist position, was used. Then, a factor analysis took place and non-parametric tests were used, notably Mann-Whitney U test, since the data was not normally distributed. In the second phase, the inductive approach, with constructivist position, was adopted. Finally, a holistic interpretation of both quantitative and qualitative findings was conducted. Findings – The current study found some differences between male and female principals in identifying and communicating the school vision and fostering an appropriate model for their teachers. Female principals were able to identify and communicate the school’s vision to their associates more effectively than their male counterparts. In addition, female principals were perceived as being able to foster a more appropriate model for their teachers than male principals did. However, no statistically significant differences were noted between male and female principals in 1- Providing their teachers with an individualized support, 2- Providing their associates with intellectual stimulation and 3- Expecting higher performance from their associates. Research limitations – The current study faced several major limitations that complicated the collection and analysis of data and sometimes led to the existence of biased answers. First, the small number of participating schools and the teachers’ fear of losing their jobs created some potential biased answers. Second, the Lebanese economic and political crisis created many obstacles to the achievement of the study. In addition, the Covid-19 health issue made things even worse as per the live meetings and research methods. Practical implications – This study shed some lights on the situation of leadership in Catholic schools in South Lebanon. Decision makers were given some recommendations about the traits that should be required when they appoint new principals in their schools. Notably, female principals are recommended because they seem to be more effective in identifying a school vision, articulating it, and providing an appropriate model than male principals do. In addition, decision makers were advised to motivate the principals they appoint to engage the teachers in self-enhancing programs and sessions, and to provide them with some extra funds to be given to the teachers as extrinsic rewards. This could motivate the teachers to perform better and achieve higher levels of work commitments. Originality/value – Although the school leadership theme is abundant in literature, none has ever attempted comparing female and male leadership styles in Lebanon, especially in South Lebanon. The originality of the study is that it tackled a rather virgin ground of investigation. Its value resides in the new lights that it shed on the Catholic schools principals’ leadership styles in such diverse Lebanese community.