DfE analysis - Female teachers underrepresented in leadership

New analysis from the Department for Education (DfE) suggests female, non-white and part-time staff are less likely to be promoted into leadership roles.

The new paper, School leadership in England 2010 to 2020: characteristics and trends provides further analysis of the statistics presented in the annual School Workforce Census over that period. It finds that female teachers make up a high proportion of the workforce, but are less represented in leadership positions. In primary schools in 2020, female teachers made up 85 per cent of the workforce compared with 74 per cent of headteachers; in secondary schools, female teachers made up 63 per cent of the workforce compared with 40 per cent of headteachers. Overall, between 2010 and 2020, the proportion of leadership roles filled by female teachers has increased from 67 per cent to 70 per cent. The DfE also found male teachers progress faster to leadership roles than female teachers – in 2020 male teachers had an average of 8 years of experience when first taking up their first middle leadership role in primary schools, compared with 10 years for female teachers. Controlling for other factors – such as experience, location, phase and working patterns - in 2019, female teachers were 14 per cent less likely to be promoted to senior leadership and 20 per cent less likely to be promoted to headship than male teachers.

The teaching workforce is becoming increasingly diverse, including at leadership levels, but the study indicates it remains less diverse than the general population. The analysis also found that teachers from minority ethnic backgrounds are under-represented in leadership roles compared to the wider teaching population, but this is improving. Between 2010 and 2020, the proportion of leadership positions held by teachers from ethnic minorities steadily increased. For example, there was an increase from 5 per cent to 7 per cent for headteachers in primary schools, and from 7 per cent to 9 per cent for headteachers in secondary schools. Nonetheless, after controlling for other factors, non-white teachers were 18 per cent less likely to be promoted to middle leadership than those from white British background, and 21 per cent less likely to be promoted to headship.

Other findings from the paper include that, on average, teachers new to leadership roles have 8 years of experience in secondary schools compared to 9 years of experience in primary schools. There was also analysis of the increasing proportion of the workforce working part-time. In 2010, 7 per cent of teachers in leadership worked part-time, rising to 11 per cent in 2020. Females in leadership roles were more likely to be part-time in 2020 (15 per cent) than in 2010 (9 per cent). The proportion of male leaders working part-time remained relatively stable at around 3 per cent, increasing less than half a percent over the decade. Overall, in 2020 part-time teachers were 45 per cent less likely than full-time teachers to be promoted to headship, 43 per cent less likely to be promoted to senior leader and 51 per cent less likely to be promoted to middle leader.

The full paper can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/yckj5387