ABSTRACTSUCCESS STORIES: BIOGRAPHICAL NARRATIVES OF THREE WOMEN SCHOOL PRINCIPALS IN KENYAByDamaris Moraa MayiengaStudies indicate that women are poorly represented in school leadership across the various regions of the world particularly in developing countries. Most studies explain this underrepresentation in terms of external or institutional factors that have impeded women's advancement onto school leadership. Such factors include women's lack of preparation for school leadership, discriminative hiring procedures, hostile work environments, and familial demands on women's time. Studies of this nature tend to shed little light on the personal or internal factors that hinder or enhance women's attainment of school leadership. By internal factors I mean variables such as self-image and attitude towards leadership.My study focuses on the interaction between personal and institutional factors in shaping the experiences of women school leaders in Kenya. Using the biographical approach the study examines the impact of gender socialization (at home, school and in leadership) on the self-image of three successful high school women principals in Kenya and how their self-image contributed to their ascension onto school leadership. Alongside gender socialization and self-image, this study highlights the role of protective family capital that contributed to the women's development of self-discipline; a virtue that enabled them to sail above the constraints of the patriarchal society in which they grew up. Findings from this dissertation will complement studies that explain women underrepresentation in school leadership. Moreover, this study shows how gender relations interact with personal and institutional factors to shape women's experiences in Kenya.
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