Sign up to our pledge

We are proud to launch The Leading Women’s Alliance Pledge today, on International Women’s Day, in order to encourage and empower more women to take up headship.

We want individuals and organisations across the education sector to sign up to the Pledge and commit to taking specific actions that will ensure every child benefits from going to a school led by a great headteacher. This means drawing deeper from the pool of female leadership potential in our schools.

The Pledge was developed by the Leading Women’s Alliance and refined by over 100 women school leaders, researchers and development organisations at our Leading Women to Headship Summit in January. It recognises that the contributions we can make depend on the role(s) we play – as recruiters, employers, leaders and mentors, development organisations, individuals, colleagues and role models. Many individuals and organisations fulfill more than one role. The bullets below each element of the Pledge are suggestions that delegates at the Summit made about how to make the Pledge a reality.

Support the Pledge by leaving your details below and let us know what you plan to do or are already doing to encourage and empower more women to take up headship.

The Pledge

We want to encourage and empower more women to take up headship.

We pledge the following:

In recruitment, to manage explicit and unconscious bias in the recruitment process and offer flexible working.

• Adverts stipulate openness to job-shares or part-time working, where feasible
• Use blind short-listing
• Design interview and assessment to minimise impact of individual bias
• Assessor training to include training on unconscious bias and taking unconscious bias test
• Independent quality assurance of recruitment processes
• Identify and monitor ineffective or discriminatory interview practice by governors, liaising with National Governors’ Association to improve practice

As employers, to ensure there is no pay gap between men and women doing the same role.

• Develop and publish fair and transparent pay systems
• Audit current pay structures and address any discrepancies
• Publish salary differences between male and female school leaders

As leaders and mentors, to nurture female talent in our schools and communities, and champion aspiring female leaders at all levels.

• Use appraisal and professional reviews to systematically identify talent and potential at all levels (including for non-executive roles)
• ‘Aiming off’ for our own unconscious biases to ensure leaders from diverse and underrepresented groups are spotted
• Have explicit conversations with those whose talent has been identified – give them a ‘tap on the shoulder’
• Work across schools in a multi-academy trust, local authority or region to consider how best to identify, nurture and deploy talent to maximise opportunities for talented individuals
• Create a culture of opportunity – distribute leadership opportunities; create/point people in the direction of training, mentoring and support programmes
• Champion well-being, flexible working, job shares, etc. and ensure staff are aware of their rights
• Be a role model of how to be a great leader and have a life

As leadership development organisations, to provide programmes, mentors and support to empower women and build their confidence to be authentic leaders.

• Facilitate networking and match-making between people looking to job share
• Provide more coaching/mentoring opportunities
• Offer more conferences and training opportunities tailored to the needs of women
• Give feedback
• Encourage individuality
• Share success stories

As individuals, to be determined, resilient and committed to leading our schools so that every child receives a great education.

• Always keep the ‘why’ in mind – vision, values and ethos with children at their heart – and revisit often
• Take time to reflect
• Look after own health and well-being
• Go for it! Recognise that you don’t have to have mastered everything before taking the next step

As colleagues and role models, to create a diverse and supportive network of female leaders and aspiring female leaders who share our goal of transforming the life chances of children and young people.

• Walk the talk. Be a role model of how to be a great leader and have a life; collectively demonstrate that there are many different approaches
• Join networking forums and contribute to them as speakers, on Twitter, etc.
• Commit to mentoring/coaching an aspiring female leader – NCTL are asking those willing to do so to sign up here
• Act as a role model: aspire and inspire; challenge and take risks
• Recognise and address your own unconscious bias
• Have the same high expectations and openness towards adults as we do to children
• Champion and advocate BAME leaders
• Be a governor
• Ensure male colleagues are attuned to the challenges women can face

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The Leading Women’s Alliance

The Leading Women’s Alliance is an alliance of leadership and academic organisations (ASCL, The Future Leaders Trust, UCL/IoE and #WomenEd) and schools (Mulberry School for Girls and Hackney Teaching School). We came together to plan and deliver the Leading Women to Headship Summit in January 2016. The Pledge was initiated by The Leading Women’s Alliance and further developed by over 100 female delegates from across the education sector at the Summit.

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Support the Pledge by leaving your details below and let us know what you plan to do or are already doing to encourage and empower more women to take up headship.