ASSESSMENT ON FACTORS AFFECTING WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION OF ASSESSMENT ON FACTORS AFFECTING WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION OF ASSESSMENT ON FACTORS AFFECTING WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION OF LEADERSHIP IN SECONDARY SCHOOL AT AMHARA REGIONAL STATE IN THE CASE OF OROMIA ZONE LEADERSHIP IN SECONDARY SCHOOL AT AMHARA REGIONAL STATE IN THE CASE OF OROMIA ZONE LEADERSHIP IN SECONDARY SCHOOL AT AMHARA REGIONAL STATE IN THE CASE OF OROMIA ZONE

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to assess the factors that affect women’s participation of leadership in secondary school at Amhara Regional State in the case of Oromia Zone. To address this objective, the researcher has undertaken the study based on three basic research questions. In order to achieve the intended objective, both quantitative and qualitative approaches were employed. The population for this study was secondary and preparatory school teachers, principals and vice principals, high school supervisors, WEO heads and deputy heads and ZEO head. From 7 Woredas, 3 rural woredas were selected randomly to ensure a fair representation of all woredas of the zone and 1 urban district (Kemise) was chosen purposively because the researcher has better access to information and better knowledge of the study area, which helps the researcher to get relevant information about the problem. Thus, the researcher selected 6 secondary high schools and to select representative schools in the Zone for quantitative approach, random sampling was employed. Because, it is believed teachers in our Zone have equal qualifications and experiences. The research participants were 68 teachers in the sample secondary high schools that were chosen through simple random sampling techniques. Thus 12 high school leaders, 4 high school supervisors, 8 WEO leaders and 1 Zone head were included purposively, because purposive sampling is more applicable in qualitative research to choose individuals who have deep knowledge or experience about the issue under investigation. In order to gather data, closed ended and open ended questionnaires, interviews and document analysis were used. The quantitative data collected through the questionnaire was analyzed using descriptive statistics such as percentage, mean and standard deviation. The qualitative data gathered through interviews and document analyses were analyzed qualitatively through narrative way and interpretation. Then, the major findings of the analysis in line with the basic questions were described as follows: respondent attitudes to women’s ability, skill and competence to leadership have changed, that women leaders are perceived to be highly competent in most skills. But, it was still underrepresented in leadership of secondary schools. Socio-cultural factors, attitudes of women towards themselves, family and home responsibilities and institutional factors affected women’s participation of leadership in secondary schools. The overall recommendation of the study was the concerned bodies should give great emphasis to work on women leadership. Based on the results, recommendations have been forwarded and further studies have been recommended.