As research from the Department for Education found women are significantly less likely to be promoted to senior leadership than male teachers, we look back on the words of Prof Stiansy at last year's conference to see what can be done to correct the imbalance
By Murielle Gonzalez
Women are the engine of the teaching profession in the UK. According to 2020 workforce government data (the latest available), there were 624,520 full-time teachers in the country: 30.5% male and 69.5% female. However, female representation in leadership positions is nowhere near these figures. Research from the Department for Education found women are significantly less likely to be promoted to senior leadership or headship than male teachers. Moreover, even when they do progress, the time taken to ascend into leadership roles is slightly longer compared to males.
The landscape in higher education is not so different. Advance HE's Equality Charters has reported that women make up 53.8% of the workforce in the sector, with only 27.5% in senior management roles.
From primary and secondary schools to colleges and universities, the gender imbalance in leadership roles persists. It is widely recognised that institutional structures that work against those with caring responsibilities (primarily women) make it harder for female teachers to advance their careers.
The conference Women in Education seeks to provide current and future leaders with the skills needed to correct this imbalance. The event returns in 2023 with an in-person gathering in London on 20 June.
Personal coaches and senior female leaders in education make up the speaker line-up. Professor Mary Stiasny, Pro-Vice Chancellor, International, Learning and Teaching at the University of London, attended the conference last year, and her presentation on leading a change in culture still resonates today.
The meaning of leadership
Recalling the early days of her career, including successes and failures, Stiasny told us about the lessons she learned on her way to becoming the leader she is today.
Her career started in 1972 as a schoolteacher, and she faced discrimination because she was a woman. "I was deemed unfit to open a joint bank account with my husband. Yet only a couple of decades ago, women were staffing the munition factories and driving the ambulances because of a sharp labour shortage to keep the war effort going. Funny how women have always been expected to plug in and out when society deems it necessary," she said.
"I've been a teacher, a schoolteacher, and a secondary schoolteacher. I've been a teacher trainer and a lecturer. I've been a dean, a bureaucrat, and a pro director. Now I'm a Pro Vice-Chancellor.
"I'm also a mother, a daughter, a wife, a sister, and a friend. So, I would argue, and I'm sure everybody in the audience does argue, that women are as capable as men in multiple roles. Some of us might say that we're more capable of spinning the plates, and performing multiple roles. Yes, we can become leaders, but we have our demons."
Stiansy said women often think they are not worthy and fear failure. "While men will keep trying until something comes up. Women avoid taking the next step up at work, believing they can't do it," she explained before revealing what leadership means to her: "You have to support women to take a step forward. And that's my main message for you today."
Back in 1998 and in her role as Dean of Education, she learned the importance of female leadership. "We were restructuring the whole university, and I had to appoint a new leadership team," she explained, noting there were seven posts to fill. Only one woman applied, even though the majority of staff in the faculty were women.
She asked the many women in the faculty to apply for the roles, and their answers varied from 'I don't want to at the moment' to 'It's not right for me. "Finally, the one woman who did apply was appointed, and she was brilliant," she said.
Following the appointments, everybody in the faculty, especially the women, complained about the lack of women in the senior leadership team. Her response to the criticism was clear: "Did you not think I would have wanted more of you to join me at the table, but you would not apply? I hope those attitudes of not applying have moved forward. But also my own attitude has changed," she said: "I failed those women."
Reflecting on what went wrong, she said: "I did not spend the time to encourage and support them to apply. I suggested it, and then I just left them to it. I have to accept that responsibility, and that's a lesson learned."
There were many important messages in Prof Stiasny's presentation, and her words on the invisibility of women are one of them. She recalled the time Andy Murray was praised by the media for his gold medal, with commentators naming Murray the first British player to do so, ignoring the careers of Dorothea Douglass, who won gold in the London Olympics of 1908.
She said: "We have to raise the visibility of women as senior leaders. But how do we support each other? It's time we are brave enough to speak out.”
Women in Education will announce the speaker line-up for the 2023 event shortly, but the agenda has already been published. The conference, designed to inspire and empower in equal measure, is a must-attend event if you're serious about taking the next step up in your career and gaining the skills to be the leader you aspire to be.