STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION OF FEMALE PRINCIPAL LEADERSHIP BEHAVIOR IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN AWKA, ANAMBRA STATE

Abstract

This thesis explores students' perceptions of female principal leadership behavior in secondary schools in Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria. It investigates how students view the leadership styles, communication, decision-making processes, and overall effectiveness of female principals compared to their male counterparts. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach comprising surveys, interviews, and focus group discussions, the study aims to provide insights into the unique contributions of female principals in shaping educational environments and promoting student achievement. The study is a quantitative method in design because it described the perception of students on female principal leadership behaviour. The population considered for the study was ten government-owned secondary schools in Awka, Anambra State. Simple random sampling involving fish bowl method was used to select three schools and a sample size of 90 was used for the study. Questionnaire on perception of students towards female principal leadership behaviour, was used as tools of data collection. Results revealed that 50% of the respondents’ age were between 14-16 years, 23% were between 11-13 years. The class distribution of the respondents showed that 27.78% were in SS2, 25.56% were in SS1, 18.89% were in SS3, 13.33% were in JS3, 11.11% were in JS2 and 3.33% were in JS1. The findings contribute to existing literature on educational leadership and gender dynamics in Nigeria, providing recommendations for training, policy implementation, and further research. This study showed that students like the female principals’ leadership style because they are democratic and give listening ears. Result also showed that female principals act like mothers in school; however, students take their instructions for granted because of their gender. The students responded that females should be given equal chance to chance to assume leadership positions like the males. Gender programmes in form of conferences should be promoted, where all female principals would meet and share their experiences for maintaining better leadership.