A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Leadership and Management (MLM) of Mzumbe University
This study addressed factors influencing women access to leadership position in Kisarawe district secondary schools, Tanzania. Three objectives were covered in this study. Firstly, to what extent do legal and policy framework influence access of women to leadership positions. Secondly, to investigate whether working experience has influence on access to women in leadership positions and thirdly to determine the influence of stakeholders on access to leadership position. This study applied qualitative and quantitative approaches while procedures for data collection were purposive sampling and accidental sampling. Methods of data collection used are questionnaires, interview and focus group discussions. 75 respondents were involved from 5 secondary schools. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse quantitative data. Findings of the study revealed that Legal and policy framework, working experiences and stakeholder’s efforts have influence on access of women to secondary schools’ leadership positions. The study concludes that poor implementation of policies, under qualifications of women to be appointed on leadership posts, few stakeholders who conduct leadership train for female teachers cause small number of women in leadership. The study recommends the following: effective implementation of policies, more chance to higher learning for female teachers, additional of gender topic in lower level curriculum and transparency on appointing school leaders. Other recommendations for local government, head of schools and stakeholders are; local government officials and other stakeholders should support the movement of encouraging women participation in secondary school leadership positions, head of schools should empower female teachers by increasing more chances of leadership positions in schools also by building conducive environment which influence female teachers to participate in leadership position, encouraging young girls to participate in leadership and conduct gender awareness through effective programs, seminars and mass communication