Black Women School Leaders: Building Effective Schools Against the Odds

Opportunities have been opening for women since the promulgation of the post-apartheid South African Constitution, which advocates social justice and fairness, including gender and racial equity. However, critics have claimed that women in leadership positions are still a small percentage and hence transformative initiatives need to be implemented when it comes to gender equity. This case study focuses on black women school leaders in eight secondary schools. It focuses on narratives and the leaders’ understanding of their roles in leading schools. The study explored the roles of black feminism, feminist consciousness and consciousness raising among black school women leaders. The major conclusions demonstrate that black women have three factors to address and these are gender, race and patriarchy. It also shows that it does not help to focus on patriarchy alone and that a revolutionary lens is critical. Furthermore, women leaders use resilience and eclectic approaches to leadership as well as building feminist consciousness through empowerment of small groups in their schools.