THE ATTITUDES AND VIEWS OF TEACHERS AND PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS RELATED TO THE GENDER DISCRIMINATION IN SCHOOL LEADERSHIP

Women are underrepresented in leadership positions in Turkish work life as well as in other countries. There are some social and personal barriers preventing women from managerial positions. One of the area in which women are underrepresented is school leadership. The main purpose of this study is to describe the attitudes and the views of the primary teachers and primary pre-service teachers related to the barriers preventing female teachers from attaining leadership positions in schools. In accordance with the main purpose of the study it was investigated whether there were any differences between the attitudes and the views of the primary teacher and the primary pre-service teachers. The attitudes and the views about the barriers facing female teachers in school leadership were also compared according to gender and the grades of the primary pre-service teachers. Data were collected from 114 primary teachers working in primary schools in ayeli district and 192 primary pre-service teachers attending primary school teacher training program in the Faculty of Education in Rize University.The attitudes and the views of the primary teachers and primary pre-service teachers related to the barriers preventing female teachers from attaining leadership positions were described in two dimensions, personal attitudes and views, and social attitudes and views. Study results revealed that the attitudes and views differentiated significantly due to gender and position (teacher or pre-service teacher) in both dimensions. Moreover, it was indicated that gender and the position of the primary teachers and the primary pre-service teachers have significant joint effects on the personal attitudes and views whereas joint effects of the gender and positions on the social attitudes and views were not observed at statistically significant level. As a conclusion, study results indicated that female primary teachers and female primary pre-service teachers have not negative attitudes and views for female promoting to school leadership as much as their male counterparts. However, female primary teachers and female primary pre-service teachers seemed to accept voluntarily the social female roles more than male primary teachers and male primary pre-service teachers.In accordance with the study results some suggestions were developed. First of all, it was proposed that traditional gender roles should be redefined in Turkish Educational System. Secondly, gender discrimination subject might take place in teacher training programs. Moreover, further gender studies were recommended in t