Differences between the perspectives of school administrators and the perspectives of

The results of the survey questionnaire and interviews demonstrate some discrepancy between the views of male and female administrators and the views of male and female teachers regarding the extent to which teachers should be involved in making educational decisions in their schools. Male administrators were more enthusiastic than female administrators and indicated that teachers should have more involvement in making decisions related to schools’ educational goals and policies and schools’ curriculum. Male teachers were also more enthusiastic than female teachers and indicated that schoolteachers should have more involvement in making decisions related to schools’ educational goals and policies and schools’ administrative policies for teachers.

Three male teachers commented during the interviews about the divergence between the opinions of the male and female administrators and teachers. They indicated that male teachers would like to have more involvement in making decisions than female teachers suggesting that male teachers need to satisfy their leadership needs. More than 30 years ago, Al-Derhim (1984) also revealed that, in Qatari schools, male teachers indicated their need to have more involvement in making educational decisions. In addition, males need to receive satisfaction from their work and to have a more informal relationship with their school administration to enhance their degree of involvement in the decision-making process. Al-Derhim

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(1984) argues male teachers prefer a human relations informal collegial approach to leadership that meets psychological and social needs and allows for involvement in decision-making.

It can be argued that the perceived need for a human relations approach to leadership is based on a cultural argument where men are raised to believe they are superior and natural leaders needed to be involved in decision-making unlike women who are perceived to be busy with their family responsibilities, lack leadership skills and the time needed to be involved in the process (Romanowski & Al-Hassan, 2013). An important issue here is that women themselves could possible believe that they are not as good leaders as men. Findings indicated that women reported less enthusiasm than men regarding the extent to which schoolteachers should be involved in making educational decisions. This is an area for further research.

There are some commonly held views of women in Arab world. First, Arab women are considered by many as the upholders of cultural values and traditions. Since Arab culture places importance on motherhood and domesticity (Kazemi, 2000), the understanding of Arab women is very traditional, emphasizing reproductive functions (Jamali, Sidani, & Safieddine, 2005). Second, many Arab women are hesitant to leave these caretaker roles to take leadership positions because they face challenges regarding balancing time and energy between work and home (Romanowski & Al-Hassan, 2013). Finally, World Bank (2003) points out that family laws and traditions create an unequal balance of power in the home that affects women’s access to work and leadership positions. This paradigm positions men as having the responsibility to support and protect their wives. This is used to justify the man’s full authority and control over his wife’s interactions in public

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(Sabbagh, 2005) and this could often limit “the woman’s opportunities for leadership positions to those where females are segregated from men” (Romanowski & Al- Hassan, 2013, p. 3).

In the current study, results from the interviews revealed that, at times, female teachers seemed to be reluctant or cautious to ask for female teachers’ greater involvement in making educational decisions or taking on leadership responsibilities. The reasons given for this hesitation were family commitments, difficulties of balancing traditional family duties and work responsibilities and the traditional cultural attitude that leadership is ‘men’s work’. Furthermore, as confirmed by the Arab Human Development Report (2005), in the Arab world, “The prevailing masculine culture and values see women as dependents of men” (p. 91). The report continues stating, “as a result, men take priority both in terms of access to work and the enjoyment of its returns” (p.91). These societal perceptions and cultural beliefs, which are based on gender roles and discrimination, narrow definitions of women’s role, and the workplace structure, which favour men, tend to act as a “glass ceiling” (Boatwright & Forrest, 2000) and an invisible barrier that lead women to doubt their abilities and prevent them from being involved in making educational decisions and, thus, affect the degree to which they should be involved in the decision-making process (Shakeshaft, 1993; Young & Kochan, 2004; Northouse, 2007).

It is noteworthy that the State of Qatar has made great efforts to encourage gender equality in all fields and increase the number of women in many influential leadership positions (Felder & Vuollo, 2008). For fast-developing regions, such as the Middle East, development of leaders is a high priority on the national agenda. For example in Qatar, “Qatari women (females with Qatari citizenship) will likely play

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a key role in the country’s economic future” (Felder & Vuollo, 2008, p. 1). Because of the increase in population and the low percentage of Qataris compared to the expatriate population (Hyslop, 2010), there is a perceived need for expatriate women to assume various leadership positions because of the lack of Qatari women (Romanowski & Al-Hassan, 2013). In Qatar, women are better educated than men on average and they are entering the labour force in increasing numbers. More importantly, Qatari women are holding important leadership positions (Felder & Vuollo, 2008).

The leadership role played by HH Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al-Missnad, the mother of HH The Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and President of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs, to support women and foster their role in society and in public life has encouraged some women to become involved in the national advancement process, prove their competency at work like men, and meet their family obligations at the same time. However, there are still some gender gaps, cultural factors, traditional barriers, and a focus on the traditional that have an impact on the social position of women, and thus decrease the extent to which they feel should be involved in the decision-making process (SCFA, 2004; Breslin & Jones, 2010).

Johnson (1991) points out that teachers’ participation in making decisions can be determined by some external factors related to their culture and traditions and this might play a role in placing teachers in the lower levels of the school hierarchy. This is certainly the case with some woman and families in the Arab world where women are viewed as having less ambition and lacking leadership skills and decision-making abilities because they are stereotyped as dependent and obedient

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and leadership roles are regarded as contradicting with their womanhood (Stelter, 2002; Joasil, 2008).

The Qatari society, as an Arab and Islamic society, has preserved its cultural and traditional morals and values that consider the family to be the most important element in society. Simultaneously, Qatar has a national vision that aims at developing Qatar into an advanced country with high standards of living for this generation and the coming generations by 2030. Thus, Qatari society and organizations possibly need to develop and improve some common goals and objectives to achieve their future vision (GSDP, 2009) including some change in the thinking behind some of the societal and cultural values about gender and gender roles. Stelter (2002) points out that future successful organizations will need not only to understand leadership in terms of gender but also the contribution that gender provides to the workforce and the effectiveness of organizations.

6.4 Differences between the perspectives of school administrators and