Supporting girls’ leadership development

Written by Erin Buckingham, Secondary Teacher, St Margaret's Anglican Girls School

Kamala Harris, the former Vice-President of the United States, sagely advised: ‘What I want young women and girls to know is: You are powerful and your voice matters.’ For those of us working in schools day-to-day, this advice from Harris emphasises how crucial our role is as educators in helping students to recognise their potential, as well as provide avenues where they can demonstrate and grow their leadership. For this reason, it is important that we understand and acknowledge those factors that can influence girls’ leadership development.

The students – perceptions of leadership and leadership opportunities

Understanding the factors that impact upon adolescent leadership development is crucial for supporting students’ leadership identity formation. Wright et al. (2023) highlight that providing opportunities for student leadership in schools is important for developing the future’s leaders, with extracurricular activities being an important place for students to learn and practise leadership skills. However, the authors also establish that a significant impediment to fostering student leadership is a lack of understanding about students’ conceptualisation of leadership. This includes a greater understanding of who students view as effective leaders (and why), the skills and attributes that are advantageous for effective leadership, and what students view as the purpose of leadership (Dempster & Lizzio, 2007).

Additionally, Neumann et al. (2009) explore the effects of being appointed to a key leadership role, such as school captain, and how this responsibility is likely to alter students’ relationships with others (peers and adults), as well as impact upon their personal wellbeing. To support students’ leadership development, greater acknowledgment of these changes can help prepare students for their appointed roles. Leadership, however, need not be confined to senior leadership roles – students’ understanding of informal leadership can also be relevant to their leadership development. Coffey and Lavery (2018) emphasise the importance of experiences and opportunities in the middle years of schooling to help prepare students for formal leadership roles in their senior years. The authors argue that scaffolded leadership opportunities need to be provided in schools to develop students’ skills for the future.

Fostering student voice is another way in which students’ sense of leadership can be developed. For example, a review of the literature on student voice by Lyons and Brasof (2020) focusing on student leadership and the organisational mechanisms that support the success of student voice initiatives reveals five features that support student leadership: research to guide decision-making; consistency with regard to meetings; governance structures, or a formalised system of decision making; recognition and acknowledgment of students’ contributions; and small group size with an even ratio of students to adults. Additionally, a review of empirical studies by Cook-Sather (2020) offers three suggestions for authentic leadership that prepare students to contribute to civic life: analysis of school practices; research; and authorship.

When considering students’ leadership development, due thought must also be given to the specific needs of adolescent girls. Nicole Archard (currently the Principal at Loreto College, Kirribilli) has published extensively on the topic of girls’ leadership (Archard, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013a, 2013b), including the creation of the Female Leadership Framework (Archard, 2013c), which was informed by several qualitative studies involving varied methods of data collection. The framework is intended to prepare girls for leadership and the challenges they may encounter as future leaders and considers the cultural, school, familial/social and personal constructs of leadership. To support girls’ leadership, the following strategies are recommended for schools: provide authentic leadership experiences; facilitate exposure to female role models; inform about gender and gender issues; provide opportunities to practise leadership and the development of skills; teach about leadership as a concept and the variety of leadership styles; and provide equal access to leadership positions.

The school – leadership culture and role models

To support students’ leadership development, it is also important to acknowledge how school culture influences leadership and the implicit messages students encounter. Research by Lizzio et al. (2011) on students’ formal and informal leadership indicates that student leadership is dependent upon a ‘psychological contract’ of mutually respectful relationships between teachers and their peers, meaning that a school culture that promotes positive interactions and school citizenship is more likely to support and encourage effective student leadership. Although this study examined only a single public school in Queensland (it acknowledges multiple limitations relative to the results), the authors suggest that the leadership styles of school administrators and teachers are likely to impact upon students’ perceptions of leadership.

A case study by Kirk et al. (2017), this time from the United States, proposes that both school-wide features (strong traditions, student leadership, cultural diversity, staff empowerment, sense of community, and sufficient resourcing) and classroom characteristics (teacher belief in students, sense of community, engaging practice, equitable roles, and shared decision-making) have implications for student empowerment. While this study was focused on supporting students from marginalised groups to succeed, its premise of improving school climate highlights features that should be considered when reflecting upon how school culture influences student leadership. This is supported by Hine’s (2014) longitudinal study of a student leadership program in Western Australia, which attests to the ‘importance of leadership development at a personal, school and community level’, and the significance of student leadership to the ‘positive cultivation of school culture’ (p. 104). As such, a failure to consider the impact of school culture on student leadership development is likely to hinder any efforts to improve existing practices.

For adolescent girls, the impact of school culture on their perceptions of self and leadership is particularly formative and, therefore, critical for consideration. McNae’s (2011) case study of one New Zealand girls’ school found that many of the girls held beliefs about leadership that incorporated traditional hierarchical structures. For example, they believed that attaining a formal leadership role in the senior years of schooling was a rite of passage, achieved only after progressing through the junior years. However, when given the opportunity to dismantle those structures and enable more leadership opportunities, senior students elected to maintain the status quo, suggesting that younger students should undergo a similar journey to theirs in reaching a formal leadership position. This highlights the complexities schools face in challenging existing beliefs and practices around leadership within the school environment. Another factor for schools to consider is what Haber‐Curran and Sulpizio (2017) describe as ‘gender socialisation’, where girls’ beliefs about leadership are influenced by their social environments, affecting how they perceive both themselves and other girls. Further research by McNae (2010, 2015) emphasises the value in recognising girls’ lived experiences, their leadership strengths, and drawing attention to the challenges they may face as women both within and beyond school, which can be facilitated by girls co-constructing their leadership development. While challenging to execute, this approach allows student support and development that is unique to each school context, while also reinforcing a school’s commitment to girls’ leadership. Although influencing school culture is a complex task, understanding how it impacts upon girls’ perceptions of leadership is an initial step to creating an environment that can positively influence their leadership development.

While Kamala Harris was not successful in securing her place in the White House, we must ensure that there are more girls who see leadership as something that is within their reach. There are numerous factors influencing girls’ leadership development that warrant schools and educators considering the formal opportunities and implicit messages that are provided to young women. This means that girls’ leadership identity and self-efficacy can be fostered meaningfully within schools, supporting the next generation of female leaders.

References

Archard, N. (2009). Leadership understanding and practice in girls’ schools: A review of web based public documents. Leading & Managing, 15(2), 16-30.

Archard, N. (2011). Peer influence on female student leadership attainment, capacity and development: A staff and student perspective within a girls’ school context. Leading & Managing, 17(1), 1-15.

Archard, N. (2012). Student leadership development in Australian and New Zealand secondary girls’ schools: A staff perspective. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 15(1), 23-47. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2011.605472

Archard, N. (2013a). Adolescent leadership: The female voice. Educational Management, Administration & Leadership, 41(3), 336-351. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143212474804

Archard, N. (2013b). Women’s participation as leaders in society: An adolescent girls’ perspective. Journal of Youth Studies, 16(6), 759-775. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2012.756974

Archard, N. (2013c). Female leadership framework: Developing adolescent girls as future women leaders through the formation of a female leadership identity. Leading & Managing, 19(1), 51-71.

Coffey, A., & Lavery, S. (2018). Student leadership in the middle years: A matter of concern. Improving Schools, 21(2), 187-200. https://doi.org/10.1177/1365480217732223

Cook-Sather, A. (2020). Student voice across contexts: Fostering student agency in today’s schools. Theory into Practice, 59(2), 182-191.

Dempster, N., & Lizzio, A. (2007). Student leadership: Necessary research. The Australian Journal of Education, 51(3), 276-285. https://doi.org/10.1177/000494410705100305

Haber‐Curran, P., & Sulpizio, L. (2017). Student leadership development for girls and young women. New Directions for Student Leadership, 2017(154), 33-46. https://doi.org/10.1002/ yd.20238

Hine, G. (2014). Student leadership development: A functional framework. Journal of Catholic Education, 18(1), 79-110. https:// doi.org/10.15365/joce.1801052014

Kirk, C. M., Lewis, R. K., Brown, K., Karibo, B., Scott, A., & Park, E. (2017). The empowering schools project: Identifying the classroom and school characteristics that lead to student empowerment. Youth & Society, 49(6), 827-847. https://doi. org/10.1177/0044118X14566118

Lizzio, A., Dempster, N., & Neumann, R. (2011). Pathways to formal and informal student leadership: The influence of peer and teacher-student relationships and level of school identification on students’ motivations. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 14(1), 85-102. https://doi.org/10.1080/1 3603124.2010.482674

Lyons, L., & Brasof, M. (2020). Building the capacity for student leadership in high school: A review of organizational mechanisms from the field of student voice. Journal of Educational Administration, 58(3), 357-372. https://doi. org/10.1108/JEA-05-2019-0077

McNae, R. (2010). Young women and the co-construction of leadership. Journal of Educational Administration, 48(6), 677-688. https://doi.org/10.1108/09578231011079548

McNae, R. (2011). Student leadership in secondary schools: The influence of school context on young women’s leadership perceptions. Leading & Managing, 17(2), 36-51.

McNae, R. (2015). Appreciating young women and their leadership: A strength-based approach to leadership development with high school student leaders. Planning & Changing, 46(3-4), 469-485.

Neumann, R., Dempster, N., & Skinner, J. (2009). The impact of positional leadership on secondary school captains. Leading & Managing, 15(2), 1-15.

Wright, E., Lee, M., Walker, A., Bryant, D., Choi, S., & Hassan, K. (2023). Developing the next generation of leaders: A global study of student leadership. Educational Studies, ahead-of-print, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/03055698.2023.2216331