And Still She Leads: Inequality in Educational Leadership

In a sector where women make up over three-quarters of the teaching workforce, you might expect to find equality at every level of leadership. But the data tells a different story — one that many of us recognise not only in the statistics, but in our lived experiences.

Women make up 77% of the teaching workforce, and yet a lower proportion, 68%, of headteachers in primary and secondary schools are female.   In secondary schools and multi-academy trusts (MATs), the picture shifts: executive leadership remains male-dominated, and the gender pay gap continues to widen.

Education has one of the largest gender pay gaps, with women earning approximately 20% less than their male equivalents.

In 2023/24:

• Female secondary school headteachers earned, on average, £4,938 less than their male counterparts.

• In primary schools, the average pay gap stood at £2,608.

• Among older female headteachers (aged 60+), the gap stretched to over £14,000.

• And at MAT level, some reported pay gaps so stark they’re hard to ignore: one trust in West Sussex reported a 62% median hourly gap in favour of men.

• A 2023 analysis revealed that among the top 10 highest-paid CEOs in MATs with 25 or more schools, only three were women.

These are not just numbers. They represent stories of missed opportunities, slower progression, and structural barriers that quietly — but persistently — shape women’s careers in education.

What’s driving this inequality?

It’s rarely a question of talent, commitment or ambition. But several systemic factors continue to hold women back:

• Caring responsibilities still fall unequally, with many women juggling leadership with invisible and unpaid labour at home.

• The motherhood penalty — career interruptions, part-time work, and biased assumptions — continues to shape earnings and progression.

• Menopause, while affecting every woman differently, is still largely unsupported in workplace culture and policy.

• And in many senior spaces, women remain the exception, not the norm — navigating boards and executive teams that were, quite simply, not built with them in mind.

Why we must keep talking about this

Progress is not inevitable. It takes conscious effort — from boards, from trusts, from leaders at every level — to name inequality and challenge the structures that perpetuate it.

Now is the time to consider ways in which we can support women to lead. And many innovative organisations are doing just that. There are many approaches that organisations can take. Whether it's through equal pay policies, flexible working approaches, maternity (and paternity) benefits, menopause support or through professional development targeted at empowering women leaders.

We need networks, mentorship, allyship and safe spaces where women can lead with authenticity, not armour.

Resources:

Some great organisations who may be able to help:

The Maternity Teacher Paternity Teacher (MTPT) project: click here

Flexible Teacher Talent: click here

The Woman Hood: click here

Education Support: Menopause in the workplace: click here

Menopause Friendly UK: Click here

W Corp - become a certified women-friendly workplace: click here

One of Many - Women leading the change they want to see in the world: click here