Problems faced by female education administrators in the context of gender: A phenomenological study

The main purpose of this study is to determine the problems faced by female educational administrators. This study was conducted in phenomenology (subjective experience) design, which is a qualitative research method. The literature was reviewed to form the theoretical framework of the study, and a semi-structured interview form, developed by taking expert opinion, was used to collect the data. Data were collected through face-to-face and online individual interviews. The study group determined by the snowball sampling method consists of 13 female school administrators working within the Antalya Provincial Directorate of National Education in the 2020-2021 school year. NVivo 10.0 software package was used for data analysis. The data are presented not only with the frequency tables in accordance with the purpose of the study, but also with the figures obtained from the software program. As a result of the study, it was revealed that female administrators face many obstacles in the process of career development. The prejudiced perspective towards women, which is accepted by the patriarchal society in the context of gender, negatively affects the career development process of women. Female administrators must make more effort than male counterparts in the career development process. Women are at a disadvantage due to the heavy burdens brought by gender roles. Due to the prevailing perception in traditional societies in terms of gender in the process of being appointed and promoted to education administration, women; they must deal with gender discrimination, the rejection of their authorities and the prejudice that "women do not become administrators". To benefit more from women's aesthetic perspectives and strong communication skills, it is recommended to achieve a gender balance in school administration.