Jill Blackmore here argues that the particular approaches previously taken by feminist theory towards educational leadership require reviewing in the light of the radical restructuring of educational systems seen in the late-1990s. She asserts that new forms of managerialism, while seemingly sympathetic to so called "female styles of leadership", have produced a value shift which is troubling for many (but not all) women in leadership. The text provides an historical overview of educational management and the "masculinist" models embedded in leadership and organizational processes; an analysis of equal opportunities policies and their different strategic approaches; presents research on how educational restructuring has produced specific dilemmas for women in educational leadership; and finally offers a series of issues and principles which are premised upon centralized and market liberalism.

Author Biography

Jill Blackmore is an Associate Professor in the School of Social and Cultural Studies in the Faculty of Education, Deakin University. She taught in state secondary schools for 14 years and currently teaches postgraduate courses in educational administration and policy to distance learning students. Her main interests are in feminist approaches to administrative and organizational theory, leadership, educational restructuring, organizational change and teachers' work, and all their policy implications. She has published widely in various international and professional journals in the field of administration, policy, history and feminist studies. Recent publications include co-editorship (with Jane Kenway) of Gender Matters in Educational Administration and Policy: A feminist introduction (Falmer, 1993); Answering Back: girls, boys, education and feminism (co-authored with Jane Kenway, Sue Willis and Leonie Rennie) Routledge, 1998.