Women leadership: A case study in the Otjozondjupa Region, Namibia

Empowerment of women in leadership and in particular, school leadership has been the
focus of the Namibian government and the country since independence in 1990. Different
policies and laws, postÀindependence, make provision for women empowerment and
leadership in a range of organisations and institutions throughout the country. However,
reports on gender equity in leadership positions suggest that Namibia is not really moving
towards these policy goals at a sufficiently quick pace. A lot still needs to be achieved in
terms of transforming the gender stereotyping in Namibia, which still suffers from the
legacy of gender discrimination of the apartheid era.
ModernÀday academic authors and journalists portray an increasing interest in an
awareness of the advantages of women leadership. Women are increasingly perceived to
have leadership styles more suitable for contemporary conditions than men. It is against this
backdrop that this study sought to investigate women leadership in the Otjiwarongo circuit
in the Otjozondjupa educational region in Namibia.
The study used a qualitative, interpretive research paradigm. It adopted a case study
approach. The primary participants consisted of four women principals in the Otjiwarongo
circuit and the secondary participants included four women education officers from the
same circuit. SemiÀstructured interviews, a focus group interview and observation were
applied as methods for collecting data and the data collection period was just over six
weeks. Data analysis was done through coding and identification of categories.
The findings revealed that women principals possessed the qualities of commitment, good
communication and are passionate about their work, which are qualities normally
associated with effective leadership. In terms of their role in their schools, they emerged as
democratic leaders who involved all stakeholders in the decision making process through
consensus. In addition, they demonstrated distributive and servant leadership in their
interactions with stakeholders. The main challenge to the leadership position of these
women principals seemed to be the stereotypical view held, that as women, they had to
work twice as hard as men at leading schools.
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The study recommended that people oriented leadership styles, such as the ones enacted
by the women principals in this study, are highly recommended for effective leadership in
the 21st century.

Publisher: Rhodes University
Year of Publication: 2012