Organizational structure of schools and sexism: A modeling study with the variables of organizational justice, self-efficacy, work-family conflict and organizational silence

Purpose: The study aims to investigate the opinions of school administrators and teachers regarding organizational structure and sexism, and to analyze the correlation between these concepts. To examine this relationship, a structural equation model with the mediating effect of the variables "Organizational Justice", "Self-Efficacy", "Organizational Silence" and "Work-Family Conflict" will be developed and tested. Method: Since this study aims to test a model created to reveal the relationships between the variables of "Organizational Structure", "Sexism", "Organizational Justice", "Self-Efficacy", "Work-Family Conflict" and "Organizational Silence", the relational design, one of the quantitative research designs, was utilized. The study sample consists of 400 participants, including 18 kindergarten teachers and administrators, 94 elementary school teachers and administrators, 121 middle school teachers and administrators, and 167 high school teachers and administrators from both private and public schools affiliated with the Ministry of National Education in the central district of Kütahya. In this study, data was collected using the "Self-Efficacy", "Organizational Silence", "Work-Family Conflict", and "Organizational Justice" measurement tools, along with an "Organizational Structure in Schools" measurement tool (adapted by the researcher) and a "Sexism in School Management" measurement tool (developed by the researcher). Frequency, percentage, arithmetic mean, t-test, ANOVA, and correlation analyses were used to analyze the data obtained for the study. Confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis were used to ensure the construct validity of the measurement tools and path analysis was used to test the structural equation model. IBM SPSS Statictics 20, Lisrel 8.51 and IBM SPSS AMOS 22.0 programs were used for these analyses. Results: Participants' perceptions of the "Sexism in School Administration" were calculated as neutral, with an average of 2.82. When the participants' perceptions were examined according to the sub-dimensions of the measurement tool, the mean values were calculated as 2.43 for "Management Skills", 3.36 for "Preference" and 2.66 for "Human Relations". The mean value of the "Preference" dimension is higher than the other dimensions. Another striking finding is that 70.2% of the participants had an implicit perception of sexism or a sexist perception. It was found that the perceptions of teachers and administrators about the organizational structure of the school were at the "agree" level with an average of 3.76. It was observed that the participants' perceptions for the sub-dimensions of "Division of Labor", "Technical Competence", "Hierarchy", "Formatting", and "Objectivity" were at the "agree" level with mean values of 3.79, 4.12, 3.66, 3.84, and 3.38, respectively. It was seen that the participants perceive both the bureaucratic structure (X = 3.63) and the professional structure (X = 3.96) at the "agree" level. Considering these findings, the schools located in the central district of Kütahya are perceived by the participants as "Weberian school type". In the path analysis, it was found that the variable "Organizational Structure in Schools" had an indirect effect on "Sexism in School Administration" through the mediating variables "Organizational Justice", "Self-Efficacy", "Organizational Silence", and "Work-Family Conflict". Conclusion and Suggestions: According to the results of this research, it was concluded that certain gender roles are accepted for women and this acceptance is an obstacle to their preference to become school administrators. In addition, the participants' perceptions of the "Sexism in School Administration" differ according to all demographic variables. Particularly, the number of variables that differ in the "preference" dimension is more than the other dimensions. Examining the participants' perceptions in this study, it is evident that both 'specialization', which expresses the professional structure of schools, and 'authority', which indicates the bureaucratic structure of schools, are high. The high level of perception of both the bureaucratic structure and the professional structure shows that the schools in the central district of Kütahya are generally perceived as "Weberian school type" by the participants. In the model created in this study, it was found that the variable "Organizational Structure in Schools" had an indirect effect on "Sexism in School Administration" through the mediating variables; "Organizational Justice", "Self-Efficacy", "Organizational Silence", and "Work-Family Conflict". Therefore, it can be concluded that as the bureaucratic and professional structure of schools increases, employees' perceptions of organizational justice and self-efficacy will increase, this phenomenon will decrease employees' perceptions of organizational silence and work-family conflict, and accordingly, sexist perceptions towards female administrators will decrease. On the contrary, it can be inferred that as the bureaucratic and professional structure of schools decreases, employees' sexist perceptions of female administrators will increase. In considering the results of the study, several suggestions were made for researchers and policy makers. Keywords: Organizational Structure in Schools, Sexism in School Management, Organizational Justice, Work-Family Conflict, Self-Efficacy, Organizational Silence