Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this qualitative multicase study was to explore the leadership journey of female secondary principals. Methods. A multicase study design and semistructured interviews were used to explore the overarching research question: How do female secondary principals describe their leadership journey? By interviewing participants, the focus was on challenges in female leadership, personal leadership attributes, leadership styles, and mentorship. Using a purposeful sampling, five female secondary principals were interviewed using audio recordings to ensure accurate participant voice. Member checking was utilized for validation and clarification. Findings. Ten themes emerged from the subquestions related to how participants described their leadership journey. The themes were as follows: (a) self-confidence, (b) stereotypes, (c) communication, (d) student driven, (e) relationship oriented, (f) shared leadership, (g) gain in confidence, (h) empowering others, (i) advice, and (j) advancement. Commonalities among all five participants include the importance of building relationships and utilizing a shared leadership style. All participants acknowledged the idea that their school is built using a team approach and to cultivate a positive culture, leaders must build a supportive, innovative foundation. The findings also revealed that mentorships are important for seeking advice; however, gender of the mentor did not play a role with these five participants. Personality and perspective is the most accurate description when selecting whom to seek advice from. Conclusions. To be an effective secondary principal, leaders must make the time to build relationships with staff, students, and parents. This relationship building is done through communication, shared leadership, empowering others, and making sure decisions are student driven. Additionally, effective secondary principals should continually learn, change, and improve. This change is in gaining confidence, improving leadership styles, and recognizing a leader is not alone in making a school successful. Recommendations. Recommendations for future research include exploring male secondary principals to conclude whether gender is a factor when focusing on a secondary principal's journey; exploring the leadership journey of principals who have applied for positions versus appointed to positions; replicating the study using a larger sample size; consider the role that race contributes to the leadership journey of secondary principals.