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This study compared leadership styles and behavior of male and female heads of
primary schools in Kasulu District. It employed a cross sectional research design,
where both qualitative and quantitative research approaches were used. A sample of
192 respondents which comprised of 22 heads of schools, 124 teachers, 44 pupils and
two District education officers were used. Data were collected through interviews,
questionnaires and documentary review. Qualitative data were subjected to content and
thematic analysis and quantitative data were analyzed through computation of
frequencies and percentages by using SPSS version 17. Findings of the study revealed
that, the heads of primary schools currently use participative, team management,
democratic and authoritative leadership styles. It was found that female heads of
schools often used participative leadership style while male heads of schools often used
team management leadership style in running their schools. Moreover, male and female
heads of schools were found with almost the same amount of task oriented leadership
behavior; even though female heads of schools were high in interpersonal leadership
behavior than male heads of schools. Nonetheless, leadership styles and behavior of
male heads of schools were viewed as effective by most of the respondents than
leadership styles and behavior of female heads of schools. Based on the findings, it is
concluded that, although most male and female heads of schools displayed pleasing
leadership styles and behavior, leadership styles and behavior of female heads of
schools were not fully appreciated. The study thus recommends addressing the
situation of gender imbalance in schools leadership, in order to utilize leadership
talents and skills of female heads of schools as it have been done for male heads of
schools. |
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