Perceptions of Selected Stakeholders On Influence Of Principals' Leadership Styles On Participation of Female Students in Education in Mixed Day Secondary Schools In Rachuonyo South Sub County, Kenya

Abstract

ABSTRACT The principal has a responsibility of enhancing students' participation in terms of enrolment, attendance and completion in secondary education. Worldwide, studies have shown that principals use different leadership styles which are perceived to enhance student participation in secondary education. In USA, Pakistan and Uganda, studies have revealed that principals use democratic, autocratic and laissez-faire leadership styles to enhance student participation in education. Principals in Kenya, Rachuonyo South SubCounty inclusive, use the three leadership styles. However, girls' participation in Rachuonyo South was as low as 38.45% from 2006 to 2013 while boys' was 61.55%. The dropout rate for girls for the same period was 17.1% and boys' 8.93% yet both gender were under the administration of the same principals using the same leadership styles. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to establish the perceptions of selected stakeholders on influence of principals' leadership styles on participation of female students in mixed day secondary schools in Rachuonyo South Sub County. Objectives of the study were to; establish the perceptions of selected stakeholders on the influence of democratic leadership style, ascertain selected stakeholders' perceptions on the influence of autocratic leadership style and determine selected stakeholders' perceptions on the influence of laissez-faire leadership style on girls' participation in mixed public day secondary schools in Rachuonyo South Sub County. A conceptual framework was used to focus on the variables of the study; perceptions on principals' leadership styles as the independent variable and participation of female students as the dependent variable. The study adopted descriptive survey design. The study population comprised 62 principals, 640 teachers, 6588 female students and I Sub County Director of Education (SCDE). 31 principals, 64 teachers and 378 students were selected through simple random sampling and 1 SCDE using saturated sampling. Data collection instruments comprised questionnaire and interview schedule. Reliability of instruments was established through a test-retest method in 6 (10%) schools not involved in the main study. Pearson r was 0.74 for principals, 0.82 for teachers and 0.79 for students set at p-value of 0.05 which means they were reliable. Face and content validity of instruments was determined by including input from the experts in educational administration. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics in form of frequency counts, means and percentages. Qualitative data was transcribed and analyzed in emergent themes and sub themes. The study established that democratic leadership style had very high influence of 5.0 while Autocratic and Laissez-faire leadership styles had low influence of 3.0 and 3.3 respectively on participation of female students in secondary education in mixed day secondary schools. This means that democratic leadership style encouraged enrolment and reduced girls' drop out in secondary education participation. The study concluded that democratic leadership style was the most appropriate for enhancement of girls' participation in secondary education. The study recommended that principals should adopt democratic leadership practices and minimize use of autocratic or laissez-faire styles to improve on girls' participation. The study provides an insight to education stakeholders on dealing with the challenge of female students' participation in secondary education.