School leaders play a critical role in creating high-quality teaching and learning environments within their schools that can contribute to improving student learning outcomes.
Early analysis from UNICEF Innocenti and other organizations shows that women-led schools may perform better than schools led by men. Yet, women remain largely underrepresented in school leadership roles. In some countries in sub-Saharan Africa, as few as 1 in 10 primary school leaders is a woman.
The Women in Learning Leadership (WiLL) research aims to expand the evidence base on gender and school leadership and identify concrete policy and programmatic measures for increasing women’s representation. Using mixed-methods research, the project will examine the various contextual, cultural, societal, and structural barriers preventing women from advancing into school leadership roles. The project will also analyze differences in learning and education outcomes between schools led by women and men, generate evidence on the behaviors, practices, and attitudes female school leaders adopt that contribute to these differences, and investigate how these can be implemented in more schools.
This is a joint initiative with IIEP-UNESCO Dakar and the Gender at the Center Initiative (GCI).
