Beginning Principals and the Issue of Gender in Rural and Regional Areas

The lived experiences of female beginning principals is an under‐researched area in the field of educational administration. Much of the research undertaken in this area is flawed due to the assumption that male experience is the norm from which generalizations are made appropriately for all beginning principals. Androcentric bias inherent in the literature denies the reality of the beginning woman principal and the experiences of sexism often encountered when taking office. This paper reports qualitative data arising from an interview study of a small group of beginning women principals in rural and regional areas of New South Wales, Australia. The data demonstrate not only that there are distinctive issues for female school leaders, but that the conservative rural and regional context in which they work probably intensifies these issues. The paper concludes with a recommendation for further research examining the experiences of female beginning principals in a variety of social and cultural locations.