This article reports the findings from a review of the scholarly literature concerning women leaders in education. The PRISMA approach was used to review the contemporary evidence (2014-2024) and 30 articles were identified that fully met the inclusion and exclusion criteria set for the review. A thematic analysis of the selected articles was…

Educational leadership at early childhood education (ECE) has been extensively studied. However, evidence from Chile is still scarce. As with many parts of the world, the ECE workforce is very female-heavy and Chile is no exception to this. This situation presents an intriguing context for leadership studies as particularities of a gendered role…

Over the past 36 months, the world has experienced an abundance of crises happening consecutively and concurrently. The COVID-19 pandemic has maintained its stronghold, while the war in Ukraine rages and mass shootings have affected the United States, Germany, and Nigeria. All these events have led to a collective shift in 'normalcy' and moved…

This study explores school leaders' and teachers' experiences of leadership in assessment during the Covid-19 lockdowns. A total of 148 school leaders and 582 teachers participated in a survey, and 15 school leaders from four schools also participated in focus group interviews. In Norway, the pandemic led to closed schools for long periods, from…

Historically, there remains an underrepresentation of Black women in and en route to the highest levels of organisational leadership. The divide is all the more pronounced in the field of education, one in which women represent a large share of the community. Particularly relevant for Black women is the incongruence between their heightened…

This paper presents the findings of a self-study exploring the experiences of women leaders, and the intersections of leadership work with roles as mothers. Drawing on narratives of women from across experiences of leading to support women in the workplace, to women who juggle leadership work and mothering, and women whose mothering involves…

Distributed leadership is one of the most influential and well-discussed ideas to emerge in the field of educational leadership. Prompted by the foundational and seminal work of Spillane et al. (2001) the idea of shared or 'stretched' leadership that incorporates both formal and informal leaders, has been of interest to researchers, policy-makers…

Principals in Sweden face leadership challenges as pedagogical leaders of School-age educare Centers (SAECs). This study examines how principals identify both professional development needs as well as challenges they face in supporting the SAEC teachers. The empirical data is based on reflections from 29 principals and vice-principals from four…

The global pandemic, COVID-19 shattered everyday life as we know it and disrupted education globally. In this study, we explore an initiated digital transformation accelerated by the pandemic from school leaders' perspectives in the context of Swedish high schools. The data consists of a questionnaire with 105 school leaders containing both fixed…

One of the biggest challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic was to integrate ICT (Information and Communication Technology) into remote teaching. As managers, school leaders play a principal role in deciding how to overcome this challenge. This study aims to identify how school leaders support ICT integration at schools. To do so, the authors…

Since the COVID-19 pandemic struck, schools across the world closed, either periodically or over a considerable time. The OECD reports that during this period, globally, over 1.2 billion children were out of the classroom. As a result, schools moved part or all of their curriculum online, teaching remotely via digital platforms. Evidence suggests…

The sudden closure of educational institutions amid the pandemic compelled school administrators to manage the crisis with little reaction time. Despite the stringent and exigent predicament, school principals had to amend and modify their leadership technique by adapting to varying levels of academic, technological, operational, and personal…

The role of the Heads of Departments (HoDs) in the school structure is to provide middle leadership. They assist the principals on the day to day leadership of the schools. They are responsible for ensuring the achievement of their departmental and school vision and mission. This study sought to explore the nature of the challenges faced by the…

This article outlines the findings from a contemporary review of the evidence base on system leaders and system leadership. This article provides analysis, commentary, and insights about system leaders and system leadership based on a review of the current evidence. The review also includes insights from country experts and offers country-specific…

There is an increased focus on schools and school systems to develop teaching teams to improve school teaching and learning practices. As such, effectual school leadership has become synonymous with creating the conditions for teachers to work collaboratively to improve school teaching and learning. Middle leaders, teachers who are formally…