A strategic management analysis of mentorship for female education managers in Lesotho

[摘要] Females have made great strides and are reaching the upper echelons in significant numbers informs of management participation in the Lesotho education system. Nonetheless, there are noear policies and programmes established to empower these females, either before or in theprocess of their careers. It is against this background that an analysis of female educationmanaqers' mentoring experiences was undertaken within the framework of a transformativefeminist perspective, utilising a mixed-method research. In-depth interviews with nine femaleeducation managers and one representative from the Ministry of Education and Training, focusgroup discussions with fifteen female Heads of Departments and questionnaires with fiftymale education managers were valuable for both the production of raw data as well as fordressing feminist research goals. Data from the in-depth interviews and focus groupdiscussions were organised into over-arching themes. The results of investigations werecombined to present a well substantiated framework.The major findings were that although there were disparities in the mentoring experiences ofmale education managers, the commonalties were that most female education managers didnot obtain mentorship for coping in their management positions. Female education managersrecoqnise that although they are capable of becoming competent managers, they need to beprepared for the position before and during the course of their careers. For most females, acommitment to contribute to making a significant difference in female education management in Lesotho's secondary schools became apparent. The findings highlight the necessity for theministry of Education and Training and the education institutions in Lesotho to ensure thatmales are trained as mentors and protégés before accessing management positions in orderto annihilate any potential incompetency.

[发布机构] University of the Free State