Relationship Between Socio-cultural Practices and Participation of Women in Education Management in Kenya

The reality of participation of women within the leadership ranks of the Education sector in comparison with their male counterparts, remains far from balanced.  The empowerment of women at different levels of leadership in the education sector across the country is notable. However, in secondary schools’ leadership; ranging from Deans of Studies, Heads of Departments, Principals in Co-educational schools, Chairpersons of Boards of Management, Chancellors and Vice Chancellors of major public universities, national polytechnics, and Parent Associations remain a male-dominated entity. This is highly contextualised and conceptualised as such. This paper seeks to examine the social structures that have prolonged the problem and examine current data on women’s leadership. Qualitative data collection and analysis methods were used. The focus areas of data collection included a survey of secondary data from existing academic research. Data analysis was constructed on a systematic process based on purposive sampling, which limited the data on the research. The aim was to fast-track the need to develop policies and strategies in the education system geared towards increasing women's participation in decision-making, leadership, and management of affairs in secondary schools and higher education in Kenya. In the findings, data indicates that men continue to hold a significant majority of senior positions with only 73% against 27% of the women. The argument is that cultural underpinnings have led to women being overlooked in their careers. Also, the religious aspects that subject women to vague more like subjugation leading to male dominance.