School leadership quality is among the biggest factors ensuring high-quality student learning worldwide. Women school leaders develop greater interactivity with children, helping them achieve greater engagement with learning and better results. Developing women school leaders is therefore key to improving school education in India and across the world.

The proportion of women teachers in developing countries, including India, has risen significantly in recent years. However, their participation in school leadership is comparatively low due to ingrained negative perceptions as well as several sociocultural barriers.

Women in School Leadership aims to document vividly the initiative by women, especially in developing countries, to achieve parity in school leadership. It analyses and interprets qualitative primary data collected from detailed case studies of women school heads, and secondary data from Unified District Information System for Education (U-DISE), the Indian national database for school information, as per a multi-disciplinary approach. The book validates the current level of progress and suggests ways to improve the situation further through policy measures and by reducing barriers to women’s school leadership development. Success in this endeavour is expected to lead to gender equality, scope for fair access and the promotion of the merit principle in education, competition and employment opportunities in schools.