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Mrs Karen Spiller presented ACELQ's 2022 Miller-Grassie Award
College Principal, Mrs Karen Spiller OAM CF, was recently awarded the Miller-Grassie Award for Outstanding Leadership in Education at the Australian Council for Educational Leaders Queensland (ACELQ) 2022 Awards. In her address, Mrs Spiller took this unique opportunity to acknowledge and perpetuate the memory of the life and work of Dr Laurie Miller and Associate Professor MacCrae Grassie.
Mrs Spiller spoke of her desire to make a difference in the lives of young people, their families and in the lives of the people she worked with, and some of the work she has done with women's leadership aspirations and development. She noted some critical issues of women leadership in our schools in her speech.
- QCT 2020 has our teaching workforce as 77% female
- Australia-wide, the ABS reports the 2021 census with 73% of the teaching workforce being women
- When we consider Principals, 55% of primary principals are women (despite the workforce being 80% women), while in secondary schools, we see 40% of women principals against a 60% female workforce.
The National Excellence in School Leadership Initiative, in their 2018 Year of Women in School Leadership white paper, identified some key areas of difference between women and men in their leadership journey, and these reflect Mrs Spiller's research ten years ago:
1. Women are more likely to experience a career interruption
According to ACER statistics, 73% of male teachers enjoy unbroken longevity in their careers, while only 46% of female teachers have the same. A career break often proves to be a barrier to gaining the requisite experience to advance to a leadership position.
2. Women are less likely to put their hand up for a leadership role
In the same ACER survey, 24% of male primary teachers said they'd be keen to apply for a leadership position in the next three years, with only 6% of female primary teachers saying the same. The reasons for this are multi-faceted, but the statistics are a big reality check. And we know that women are less likely to apply for a role unless they feel they can do every aspect of the job.
3. There just aren't enough female mentors and role models
The very best leaders all have someone to look up to and identify with as they work towards greater career heights. But with the current lack of women in educational leadership, particularly in school principal roles, it can be difficult for female teachers to find mentors to help them advance.
4. Women are less likely to receive recognition and rewards that assist them in gaining promotion.
Academic Dr Deborah Towns, Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne, notes that women are less often selected as school principals and less likely to be invited as representatives in state and national organisations while receiving fewer professional and public awards than men.
Mrs Spiller suggested that there are some general directions and principles that schools, school systems and education authorities can implement to address the problems raised above, including:
- Raise awareness of the value, needs and challenges of women leaders and aspiring leaders through advocacy, promotion, education and networking
- Build the leadership capability of women leaders and aspiring leaders by giving them opportunities for shadowing, acting in promotional roles and career mentoring
- Address the barriers faced by women leaders and aspiring leaders in the recruitment, selection, and promotion of school leaders and where we can school boards
- Build the evidence base about the needs and challenges faced by women leaders and aspiring women leaders by developing a strategic research agenda and commissioning targeted research to expose the issue and lead to more solutions
- We actively ensure that male Heads and leaders become male champions of change who act as sponsors of and for women.
In Mrs Spiller's last year being JPC's College Principal, she encourages everyone to consider what else can be done to encourage and promote quality educational leadership, as this is one of the central premises of the revered pioneers Laurie Miller and Macrae Grassie, who advocated for educational leadership as an intentional field and the study of educational leadership as distinct from leadership within other contexts.
"School Leaders have an awesome responsibility in delivering education and opportunities to young Australians. Just as Dr Miller and Associate Professor Grassie have inspired us; it is now our turn to accept the legacy mantle and go forth, encourage, mentor and sponsor." – Mrs Karen Spiller
#acelqldbranchawards
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