Elements of gender‐related variability in the selection of school advisors in Greece

Abstract

PurposeIn many countries, including Greece, women are underrepresented in school management positions. Modern societies recognize sex inequalities in management as a significant social problem and implement human resource policies intended to reduce such problems. The purpose of this paper is to assess the level of gender inequality in the recent selection procedure for public school advisors in Greece and to compare the performance of women and men on the different selection criteria.Design/methodology/approachThe paper compares the scores of male and female teachers in the national assessment of the Greek Ministry of Education, during the 2007 secondary education selection procedure. The data for the 2007 assessment procedure for the selection of secondary education school advisors were obtained. There were 1,137 candidates of whom 404 were selected as school advisors. These groups were analysed and grouped according to different criteria: sex, postgraduate qualifications, work experience, and score in a written examination. The differences in scores between groups were tested for statistical significance using a one‐way analysis of variance. A regression analysis was conducted to investigate the possible relationship between the score before the interview of female and male candidates and the score in the interview process.FindingsThe results indicate that the number of women candidates is lower than the expected number according to the proportion of women and men teachers in secondary education in Greece. Both men and women candidates appear to have scored the highest percentage of their credit points from the interview and not from the other selection criteria. Women achieved significantly better scores in knowledge of foreign languages and the scientific criteria, whereas men scored better in the publication of educational books. Prior to the interview assessment, women scored better than men. After the interview assessment, there were no gender‐related differences. For both men and women, the interview score was not related to the score on the other selection criteria. There is no evidence that women do not posses the average qualifications or merit to be selected as school advisors.Originality/valueThis paper is the first to investigate the elements of gender inequality in the selection procedure for secondary education school advisors in Greece.