Gender, Leadership Style and Employee Engagement

Abstract

This study sought to establish the relationship between gender, leadership styles and teacher engagement in public secondary schools of Murang’a County, Kenya. A survey research design was used. A sample of 368 respondents was selected from a target population of 3,860 teachers in 306 public secondary schools using systematic random sampling followed by use of random numbers. Data was collected using a questionnaire. Both descriptive and inferential statistical methods like mean and percentages, and t-test respectively were used for data analysis. The findings of this study revealed that most schools were headed by male principals (66.3%), with only about a third of the principals being female (33.4%). The study findings also showed that there was no statistically significant difference between the respondents’ perception on leadership style due to gender. However, there was a significant difference between respondents’ perception on employee engagement and gender. The study recommended that the Ministry of Education and other players in education need to come up with, and enforce gender parity policies in recruitment, appointment and promotion of women so that discrimination against women ascension to leadership is eliminated. The Teachers’ Service Commission should be tasked with the role of implementing such policies to the letter. This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge in women leadership domain and recommends strategies that will promote it.