Research Article
Being a Saudi and Qatari Female Principal: Position Demands, Challenges, and Advice

Linda R. Vogel , Ahlam Alhudithi

607 948

Article Metrics

Views

 

607

Downloads

 

948

Citations

Crossref

0


Vogel LR, Alhudithi A. Being a saudi and qatari female principal: position demands, challenges, and advice. European J Ed Manage. 2016;2(1):13-33. doi: 10.12973/eujem.2.1.13
Vogel, L. R., & Alhudithi, A. (2016). Being a saudi and qatari female principal: position demands, challenges, and advice. European Journal of Educational Management, 2(1), 13-33. https://doi.org/10.12973/eujem.2.1.13
Vogel Linda R., and Ahlam Alhudithi. "Being a Saudi and Qatari Female Principal: Position Demands, Challenges, and Advice," European Journal of Educational Management 2, no. 1 (2016): 13-33. https://doi.org/10.12973/eujem.2.1.13
Vogel, LR & Alhudithi, 2016, 'Being a saudi and qatari female principal: position demands, challenges, and advice', European Journal of Educational Management, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 13-33. Vogel, Linda R., and Ahlam Alhudithi. "Being a Saudi and Qatari Female Principal: Position Demands, Challenges, and Advice." European Journal of Educational Management, vol. 2, no. 1, 2016, pp. 13-33, https://doi.org/10.12973/eujem.2.1.13.

Abstract

This qualitative study examined what female principals in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, two historically male-dominated cultures who are actively implementing reforms to provide women with more leadership opportunities, reported as typical elements of their daily work. The study also examined the challenges that these female principals reported in their efforts to improve the learning environment in their schools and what advice they would give to women entering the field of school leadership. The themes that emerged from the data were used to construct a grounded theory of the daily responsibilities of Saudi and Qatari female principals, the challenges that faced in fulfilling those responsibilities, and how they advised women entering principal positions to prepare to respond to those challenges.

Keywords: Principals, Saudi Arabian education system, Qatar education system, school leadership, female leadership.


References

Abukar, J. M., & Musa, Z. M. (2016). Job satisfaction of female principals in Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Research in Applied, Natural and Social Sciences, 3(9), 11-20.         

Aburizaizah, S., Kim, Y., & Fuller, B. (2018). Principal leadership and student achievement: Decentralising school management in Saudi Arabia. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education. doi: 10.1080/03057925.2018.1462145

Alahmadi, H. (2016). Examining multiple approaches to the preparation of new principals: A mixed-methods comparative study of two programs. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Imam Mohammad Bin Saud Islamic University. Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Thesis Global.  (UMI No. 10133400).

Alameen, L.., Male, T., & Palaiologou, I. (2015). Exploring pedagogical leadership in early years education in Saudi Arabia. School Leadership & Management, 35(2), 121-139. doi: 10.1080/13632434.2014.992773.

Al-Asfour, A., Tlaiss, H. A., Khan, S. A., & Rajasekar, J. (2017). Saudi women’s work challenges and barriers to career advancement. Career Development International, 22(2), 184-199. doi: 10.1108/CDI-11-2016-0200

Albakry, A. H. (2016). Voices of women leaders in corporate institutions in Saudi Arabia (Doctoral dissertation). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (UMI No. 1798851077).

Aldawsari, R. A. (2016). Under-representation of Saudi women leaders in the Saudi higher education (Doctoral dissertation). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (UMI No. 1815085792).

Alghamdi, M. (2013). The obstacles of applying decentralized management in Riyadh educational offices (Unpublished doctoral dissertation.) Imam Mohammad Bin Saud Islamic University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.  

Alhumaidhi, H. (2013). The barriers of practicing of secondary school principals for the authorities that given to them. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Umm Alqura University, Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Allheaniy, B. (2012). Attitudes of principals in Makkah about the new authorities to them (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Umm Alqura University, Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Almutairi, N. (2017) Principal perceptions regarding autonomy and school improvement in Saudi Arabia’s educational system. (Doctoral dissertation). Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. (UMI No. 10264994).

Alotaibi, S. (2013). The degree of practice the new powers and its role to improve the school administration performance from school principal’s perception at Taif region. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Umm Alqura University, Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Altuwaigri, A. (2016). A comparison between Saudi and American school principal preparation programs. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation), Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL.  

Alyami, R. H. (2016.) Saudi Women’s Education and Work Opportunities: Equity Matters. International Journal of Technology and Inclusive Education, 5(2), 868-872.

Arab News (2017). Women to constitute 28% of Saudi Arabia’s work force by 2020. Retrieved from http://www.arabnews.com/node/1068131/saudi-arabia

Arar, K. & Oplatka, I. (2016). Current research on Arab female educational leaders’ career and leadership: A review of extant literature and future directions for research. Challenges and opportunities of educational leadership Research and practice: The state of the field and its multiple futures. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishers.

Bahry, L., & Marr, P. (2005). Qatari women: A new generation of leaders? Middle East Policy 12(2). Hoboken, NY: John Wiley & Sons Publishing. Retrieved from https://mepc.org/journal/qatari-women-new-generation-leaders

Brewer, D. J., Augustine, C., Zellman, G. L., Ryan, G., Goldman, C. A., Stasz, C., & Constant, L. (2007). Education for a new era: Design and implementation of K-12 education reform in Qatar. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation.

Creswell, J. (2015.) Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. New York, NY: Pearson.

Felder, D., & Vuollo, M. (2008). Qatari women in the workforce. RAND-Qatar Policy Institute Working Paper Series (August 2008) (WR-612-QATAR).  Retrieved from http://www.rand.org/pubs/working_papers/2008/RAND_WR612.pdf

Guthrie, J. W., & Schuermann, P. J. (2010). Successful school leadership: Planning, politics, performance, and power. New York, NY: Allyn & Bacon.

James-Hawkins, L., Qutteina, Y., & Yount, K. M. The Patriarchal Bargain in the Context of Rapid Changes to Normative Gender Roles: Young Arab Women’s Role Conflict in Qatar. Sex Roles (2017) 77, 155-168. doi: 10.1007/S1119.9-016-0708-9

Katta, M. M., de Pablos Heredero, C., Botalla, J. L. M., & Margalina, V. M. (2016). Factors of successful women leadership in Saudi Arabia. Asian Social Science Journal 12(5), 94-107. Toronto, ON: Canadian Center of Science and Education.

Khalifeh, F. (2011). Qatari women: Employment challenges and the new generation of leaders (Doctoral dissertation). Available from ABI/INFORM Global; ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (UMI No. 1284154121).

Khalil, D., & Karim, M. (2016). Saudi Arabia: School leadership in Saudi Arabia. In Arlestig, H., Day, C., & Johansson, O (Eds.), A decade of research on school principals: Cases from 24 countries (pp. 503-520). doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-23027-6-24.

Meemar, S. S., Poppinnk, S., & Palmer, L. B. (2018). Educational decentralization efforts in a centralized country: Saudi Tatweer principals’ perceptions of their new authorities. International Journal of Education Policy & Leadership, 13(2), 1-15.

OECD. (2016). Education at a Glance 2016: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2016-en

Qatari women then and now. (2017, June 2). Marhaba. Retrieved from https://www.marhaba.qa/qatari-women-then-and-now/

Rashawn, K. (2015). The role of Saudi women school principals in leadership. (Doctoral dissertation). Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Thesis, (UMI No. 3663055).

Romanowski, M. H. (2015). Qatar’s education reform: Critical issues facing principals . In  P. Pashiardis  & K. Beycioglu (Eds.), Multidimensional perspectives on principal leadership effectiveness (pp. 88-102). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

Saudi Gazette. (2015). More women than men in Saudi universities, says ministry.  Retrieved from http://english.alarabiya.net/en/perspective/features/2015/05/28/More-women-than-men-in-Saudi-universities-says-ministry.html .

Saudi Ministry of Education. (2016a). احصائيات عامة ـ التعليم العام [General statistics for K-12 schools]. Retrieved from https://www.moe.gov.sa/ar/Pages/StatitsicalInformation.aspx

Saudi Ministry of Education. (2016b). الدليل التنظيمي لمدارس التعليم العام [Organizational structure for K-12 schools]. Retrieved from https://departments.moe.gov.sa/EducationAgency/RelatedDepartments/ESUPERVISION/girls/Shared%20Documents/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%84%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%86%D8%B8%D9%8A%D9%85%D9%8A%20Print.pdf

Shah, S. (2006). Educational leadership: An Islamic perspective. British Educational Journal, 32(3), 363-385. doi: 10.2307/30000004.

Shah, S., (2015). Education, leadership, and Islam: Theories, discourses, and practices from an Islamic perspective. New York, NY: Routledge.

Supreme Education Council. (2014). Education for All National Review: 2000-2015 for Qatar. UNESCO. Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/002298/229888a.pdf .

Tayan, B. M. (2017). The Saudi Tatweer education reforms: Implications of neoliberal thought to Saudi education policy. International Education Studies, 10(5), 61-71.

UNDP. (2011). United Nations Statistics Division, Statistics and Indicators on Women and Men. Retrieved from http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/indwm/statistics.htm

UNESCO. (2008). Biography of Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Abdullah al Missned. Retrieved on July 16, 2017from http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.phpURL_ID=24040&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

UNESCO Institute for Statistics. (2018). Qatar: Education and Literacy—Participation in Education. Retrieved from http://uis.unesco.org/en/country/qa