Perceptions Of Gendered Practices Among Teachers And Leaders In Relation To School Morale

Teacher retention is essential to high student achievement. Factors affecting teacher morale must be identified to increase teacher retention. The low numbers of female administrators compared to the number of female teachers indicates that equity, diversity, and pluralism do not apply to women in leadership roles. This promotes the need for an examination to the degree to which the gender of the leader impacts teacher morale. This qualitative study examined the relationship between the gender of the leader and teacher morale. Teachers and principals were interviewed with the intent of investigating the impact that gendered practices of leaders may or may not have on teacher morale. This study suggests that teacher morale hinges on a set of behaviors or character traits of the leader rather than leader gender. Certain leader attributes were identified as essential to high teacher morale. These attributes fostered qualities that appeared as recurring themes associated with high teacher morale. Additionally, an evaluation of the collected data demonstrated the influence of gender norms on how leaders may be perceived. The view of gender as a binary rather than as a continuum and factors that promote this worldview were also present in the data collected from interview respondents.