Gendered Perceptions of Diversity in Educational Leadership Promotions in Irish Schools: A Quantitative Study

This study examines educators’ perceptions of diversity in promotional practices within the Irish context through the lens of Gender Schema Theory (GST). Although women constitute the majority of the teaching workforce, they remain underrepresented at senior leadership levels, highlighting persistent gender disparities. Using survey data from 123 educators, this study investigates how gender shapes perceptions of the role of diversity in promotion processes. Findings indicate that women were more likely than men to perceive diversity across multiple dimensions as essential to fair and effective promotions and to enhancing leadership effectiveness. By contrast, men were more inclined to perceive current practices as already fair and inclusive and preferred to maintain the status quo. Importantly, tokenism was not strongly endorsed by either group, suggesting that diversity initiatives are broadly regarded as legitimate. The results underscore how gendered schemas influence perceptions of merit and fairness and highlight the importance of embedding transparent and inclusive structures in leadership promotion within Irish education.