Disadvantaged School Contexts and Female School Leadership in Zimbabwe

Abstract The persistent systemic inequalities inherent in cultural and traditional practices shape how society views women as leaders. This article reviewed the literature to highlight the needs, opportunities, constraints, and resources of disadvantaged schools and how this context influences the leadership practices of female primary school principals. Two questions guided the study: (1) What are the needs, opportunities, constraints, and resources of disadvantaged schools and how do they influence leadership practice? (2) How do female principals adapt their practices to their school contexts? An unbounded search was conducted to identify 22 publications, consisting of 17 peer-reviewed English-language journal articles, three book chapters, and two conference papers on female educational leadership in Zimbabwe. Systematic search criteria were strictly followed to obtain the publications from 2008 to 2018. Through the lens of an African feminist perspective, this study established that the features of a disadvantaged school context influence what female principals do and how they do it. It is important to note that principals craft strategies to expand the available resources while taking advantage of the opportunities at their disposal to manage constraints in order to meet the needs of their schools.