Week 9 - Critical Reflection and Writing Process Evaluation

Running head: MORALITY AND CIVIL DISCOURSE 1

Morality and Civil Discourse

Jason Simpson

EDD8010

Capella University

MORALITY AND CIVIL DISCOURSE 2

Introduction

Leadership in education requires that a leader must uphold ethical behavior, promote

diversity positively, and civic discourse as it relates to leadership. However, there are some notable

challenges in maintaining the relationship between educational leadership and ethical behavior,

civic discourse, and diversity. Some leaders will need to have an advanced comprehension of

principals and not just from a science perspective to ensure that a better outcome has been

identified. There is a lot of literature asserting that a leader should not differentiate people based on

their gender, religion, origin, color, or culture. For this assignment, I wanted to explore gender

inequality after observing the number of women in leadership positions compared to men. The

discussion goes deeper into the obstacles and challenges women face when it comes to leadership.

This is because there is still need for more research to understand the reason why there are fewer

women in leadership. There is need for the issue of gender inequality to be addressed starting from

the federal, state, social, and local levels.

Brief Summary of Concerns and Opportunities

Despite the differences in culture and demographic characteristics, understanding

educational leadership and what a leader should be remains an important thing in today’s society

which has been taken over by the growth in technology, seamless communication, and global

marketing. With the growth in globalization, we have also seen a number of women rise into

leadership compared to the past when only men were considered as the only ones who could make

leaders. However, the number of women in educational leadership is not the same as that of men.

There are a lot of obstacles and challenges that are hindering women from getting to the right

MORALITY AND CIVIL DISCOURSE 3

position of leadership that they deserve in education. The barriers range from psychological,

organizational, and traditional, and they have denied women sufficient access to the leadership

seat. Chin (2011) asserts that women have become potential leaders in society and its time we

started changing our view of women and leadership. It is important that we start changing society’s

consciousness to view women as leaders in education and not just domestic managers, wives, and

mothers.

In educational leadership, there are a lot of ethical issues surrounding the problem of

gender inequality starting from unequal employment in different fields of education, unequal

earnings, criteria for recruitment, and access to education. Specializing in performance

improvement leadership is important to help one gain enough knowledge and skills to make ethical

decisions when it comes to women leadership in educational organizations. Some leaders might

want to rethink their approach when it comes to issues surrounding inequalities. Educational

leaders work in a variety of settings such as non-governmental agencies, universities, corporations,

and public organizations and therefore they are the right ones to set an example that other

institutions in society can emulate. This can be done through analysis and critical thinking to

ensure this overarching issue is solved. Leaders in education can cooperate with the legislators,

authorities, and other agencies for the issue of gender inequality to be addressed. Proposing gender

equality policies, making new proposals, and conducting regular meetings to discuss the issue are

some of the ways through which educational leaders can have a positive impact in changing the

position of women in leadership in organizations and society.

Diversity Challenges Associated with Specialization

MORALITY AND CIVIL DISCOURSE 4

Some years back, women only stayed within the homestead to take care of kids and their

husbands. However, this has rapidly changed especially in the field of education as women of

today have moved outside the home to claim their rightful place in the educational workplace, and

they are raising awareness that what the other gender can do, women can do better. Women are out

there in the business world expressing themselves and making tremendous change and they have

not been left out in the field of education too. Women are going after the high-ranking positions of

management in different fields through communicative and open leadership. There is enough

awareness on gender and gender equality including galvanization of policies on equal opportunities

that can help the world give women the necessary power to perform to the best of their knowledge

and skills in different educational leadership positions. Shah and Shah (2012) assert that we are in

an era of globalization where women role and position in leadership should not be determined by

our cultures and belief systems.

However, there are a lot of challenges facing women in the workplace today. There is a lot

of discrimination in the workplace starting from unequal pay to unequal assignment of roles and

responsibilities. One of the methods that can be applied is using standardized procedures to change

the view and attitude that women are weak. There are cultures where women are still viewed as

domestic managers and even those who are employed still have to maintain their home roles. It is

not easy for women to have successful careers and have their careers progress to the peak because

of beliefs that women are the ones who make a happy home, raise kids, and give emotional

security to the home. Serious changes are needed in our institutions to fight this notions and

attitudes. Differences between men and women in education institutions have been seen through

differences in working hours, duties assigned, and the positions of recruitment.

MORALITY AND CIVIL DISCOURSE 5

Ethical Challenges Associated with Specialization

Among the philosophical disciplines that have thoroughly studied human actions and

norms and how they align with morality is ethics. Ethics digs deeper into the basic rules,

regulations, and behaviors that societies consider good and acceptable. Ethics in education is in the

determination of right and wrong and socially responsible ways of doing things to uphold human

dignity. Some of the questions answered by ethics here include is educational leadership upholding

the rights and duties of all employees including women? Are all the rules of fairness applied? In

ethics, answering these questions will give an answer to ethical behavior in educational leadership.

Specialization in Performance Improvement Leadership is one of the ways to promote

ethical behavior in the field of education. In the future, there is need for educational leaders who

will be responsible not only to their institutions but also to the society. O’Keefe and Damian

(2018) all this requires educational leaders to master how to improve performance in leadership

and acquire the necessary knowledge and skills to make ethical decisions. The educational leaders

must be aware of their responsibility and influence on employees in education institutions to

promote equality in employment and a conducive working environment for all.

When it comes to ethical responsibility, it is essential to do a precise definition of the

basically accepted behaviors, norms, and boundaries and how they influence the individual and the

general public. There is need for constant re-examination of the education profession dimension to

ensure there is alignment in the goals applied to an individual and society. The same as ethics,

leadership requires performance that takes full responsibility for every action and upholds

professional behavior. Each profession has ethical principles which govern the conduct of the

people and their application requires not only obedience to the profession but also the generally

accepted principles of ethics. This is especially important in educational leadership where one

MORALITY AND CIVIL DISCOURSE 6

deals with different types of people and operates in an environment where professional values have

to be highly upheld even when translated into paper.

Civil Challenges Associated with Specialization

Legally women may not be restricted from accessing leadership positions but the number

of women representing others in leadership is still too low, and there is still a high level of

inequality in the educational leadership practice. There are multiple agencies and systems

protecting women against any form of discrimination but we still have a long way to go before we

achieve a society that is tolerant enough to allow every individual to fully enjoy their rights.

This awareness on why people should fight inequality against women especially in this 21st

century when women have understood their place in educational leadership. There has been

establishment of institutions struggling for the rights of women and addressing the issue of gender

inequality in the current society. There are a number of acts that have been implemented in

different professions to provide regulations that can remedy gender inequality. Accepting the fact

that gender discrimination exists and introducing policies advocating for equal opportunities will

align societal beliefs with contemporary civilization and build a nation where there is respect for

the rule of law and upholding of human rights.

Fuller, Cliffe, and Moorosi, (2015) confirm that there is less support for women in

leadership positions and educational leadership can change this attitude towards women. The

stereotypes and prejudices against women can be fought through segments such as public

education and sensitization. It is also good to organize training programs that will raise awareness

for the public to respect women and uphold their position in society.

MORALITY AND CIVIL DISCOURSE 7

Literature Overview

There are numerous research discussions on the position of women in leadership and

exploring the journey of women all through the years, working hard to succeed in leadership

including the progress they have made so far. According to White (2019), there are a lot of barriers

these women have encountered while developing leaders and there are still challenges affecting

their access to top managerial positions such as the discourses around excellence. This is a

confirmation of the claims by Popp et al., (2019) that women face a high level of discrimination

when in leadership positions.

Leadership styles adopted in organizations can be one of the ways through which the issue

of gender inequality can be addressed. Leadership that portrays ethical behaviors will be an

example to employees. O’Keefe and Damian (2018) assert that ethical outcomes are determined by

the ethical behavior of co-workers and ethical leadership. Only educational leaders with strong

ethics have the power to set a good example to employees. However, the important thing to

understand is that achieving gender equality is not an easy thing. It is a long-term process that may

have complicated requirements. Cullen and Murphy (2018) assert that of importance is how

different actors will work together for gender knowledge mobilization to appropriately shape the

practices, policies, and discourse on gender equality.

Conclusion

After a thorough analysis of literature, it is evident that gender inequality still exists, and

the area education leadership has not been left behind. The traditional society, cultures, and beliefs

MORALITY AND CIVIL DISCOURSE 8

are the main obstacles preventing the modern woman from advancing to the highest position in

leadership. Ethical issues arise in the different treatment given between men and women in

managerial positions. For instance, some people believe that successful managers can only be men

and that women cannot cope with responsibilities that come with leadership. However, it has been

proved that women can even be better leaders than men. Being a successful leader be it a man or

woman is important and that is why specialization in Performance Improvement Leadership is

essential.

References

MORALITY AND CIVIL DISCOURSE 9

Chin, J. L. (2011). Women and Leadership: Transforming Visions and Current Contexts. In Forum

on Public Policy Online (Vol. 2011, No. 2). Oxford Round Table. 406 West Florida

Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801.

Cullen, P., & Murphy, M. P. (2018). Leading the debate for the business case for gender equality,

perilous for whom? Gender, Work & Organization, 25(2), 110-126.

Fuller, K., Cliffe, J., & Moorsi, P. (2015). Diversity and Ethical Preparation within the Senior

Leadership Team. Planning & Changing, 46.

O’Keefe, D. F., Messervey, D., & Squires, E. C. (2018). Promoting ethical and prosocial behavior:

The combined effect of ethical leadership and coworker ethicality. Ethics & Behavior,

28(3), 235-260.

Popp, A. L., Lutz, S. R., Khatami, S., Van Emmerik, T. H., & Knoben, W. J. (2019). A global

survey on the perceptions and impacts of gender inequality in the Earth and space sciences.

Earth and Space Science, 6(8), 1460-1468.

Shah, S., & Shah, U. (2012). Women, educational leadership, and societal culture. Education

Sciences, 2(1), 33-44.

White, K., & Burkinshaw, P. (2019). Women and Leadership in Higher Education: Special Issue

Editorial.