ISJ November 2015: Moving from ‘womanless history’ to women stepping up into school leadership roles

Linda Duevel, Mona Nashman-Smith & Ellen Stern

Abstract:

   The concept of ‘womanless history’ is one that has been considered in a variety of different places, from the most serious scholarly publications to the latest high street supermarket magazines. This article will address the role of women in education and particularly the part women play today in leadership positions in international schools.

   Are women invisible in history, or has today’s society just become lazy and overlooked the role that women rightfully can claim in being educational leaders over the centuries? In an interview with National Public Radio on 4th April, 2015, Oxford-educated journalist Carla Power refers to 9000 women scholars in Islamic history over the last 1400 years. Power refers to ‘…women riding across Arabia doing lecture tours on horse or camel-back and women teaching caliphs or princes’.