From a birthday party to Advancing Female Leadership in Education
Non-profit organisation Advancing Female Leadership in Education (AFLE) grew out of an impromptu chat at a two-year-old’s birthday party.
‘I was having a conversation about how women weren’t getting roles in senior leadership, and how something should be done about it,’ says IEU member Natasha Stewart, now the AFLE vice-president.
That discussion led to the creation of AFLE less than a year ago. But Natasha and her AFLE colleagues had been building to that moment all their careers. Many of them had undertaken extra study (Natasha recently completed her Masters of Education, specialising in Leadership and Management and AFLE President Emma McCulloch has completed her Masters of Educational Leadership and is currently undertaking a PhD in Education) and many had been frustrated at being knocked back for senior roles.
‘Often when I was applying for leadership roles, and I asked if the position was flexible, the answer was no.’
She says catering for women in leadership roles is dependent on schools being ‘open minded’.
AFLE’s stated purpose is ‘to increase the number of women in leadership positions in all Victorian schools’. Since more than 70% of Australian teachers are female, it’s about time the needs of women returning to the workforce and/or seeking flexible working arrangements were recognised by employers.
‘We’re out to create a bit of momentum,’ Natasha says, and it looks like AFLE has made a good fist of that already. AFLE has membership across all school sectors and seeks to further grow and ‘force cultural change in education so more women can combine families and leadership roles’.
Natasha says AFLE exists because of the ‘ongoing existence of gender inequity in Australian schools’.
‘A group of highly qualified, experienced and dedicated female teachers from all sectors of Australian education had decided that this social injustice had to stop, we couldn’t just keep talking about our unjust experiences when applying for senior leadership positions. What hope did aspiring future female teachers have if we didn’t try to do more?
‘The first step was to raise awareness and demand greater change not only from the principals who have the power to implement and shift perception by making changes, but also society too. Gender inequity exists in most sectors of Australian society; this problem goes beyond Australian schools, and we are all accountable.’
AFLE’s goals:
to achieve gender parity in education leadership
to improve networking opportunities
to support women’s pathways to leadership
to build leadership confidence in women
to build a body of research directly related to women’s leadership pursuits.
Members gain exclusive access to support, training and events, including webinars on job applications and networking events.
The inaugural AFLE Conference later in the year will offer the opportunity ‘to join a diverse group of female education leaders and gain valuable insight into the latest trends and best practices in the field’. ‘Attendees will benefit from keynote speakers, workshops, and interactive sessions designed to spur innovative ideas and create a space for meaningful dialogue.’
How schools and employers can encourage female leadership in schools
create greater flexibility – in terms of FTE fraction and location – in senior leadership roles
provide active support from school leaders to allow for new opportunities and networks for women, including role modelling and a commitment to diversity
empower women’s planning, by supporting rising women through suitable professional learning
support talent through life transitions challenge traditional views and provide an unbiased appointment process.
AFLE on:
Women seeking leadership roles with flexible working conditions
In primary schools, it’s not uncommon for part-time deputy principal or head of literacy/ numeracy roles to be advertised. However, in the secondary school system, leadership roles are rarely advertised as part time or including flexible work arrangements. Some employers are more accommodating and can offer women part-time positions in middle management roles; however, this often comes with conditions, such as a minimum of .8 FTE, or working part time over five days, which can still create a barrier for aspiring female leaders with external commitments.
Some women who apply for advertised full-time senior positions find that even if they are the preferred and most professionally suitable applicant, they are often unsuccessful if they ask for job flexibility or part time fractions.
The reasons employers use when knocking back qualified women for leadership roles
Unfortunately, it is not difficult for employers to dismiss qualified female applicants for leaderships roles, because the present structure of many schools often discourages women from even applying for these positions.
If women do get to the end point of a job interview and they dare to ask about job flexibility, employers easily rely on the narrow view that ‘due to the nature of this position, this role must be full time’, or they simply claim that ‘there were more suitable applicants’. This may sometimes be true, but it’s extremely hard to put to the test, and all too often managing a part-time employee is placed in the too hard basket.
How to get involved with AFLE
AFLE encourages IEU members to attend their upcoming events, participate in their free job application webinars and subscribe to the mailing list. The inaugural AFLE conference is on 25 November (details to be finalised soon).
Link: www.afle.com.au