Battling gender, class and caste: narratives of Indian women leaders

This paper uses and extends the frame of intersectionality to explore the experiences, perspectives and career pathways of women leaders in north India. In addition to battling multiple structural oppressions of gender, class, ethnic origin, cultural norms and expectations, women in India have to fight the mantle of caste. As leaders of education, both in the workplace and in the community, they have to face the challenges of caste-based policy, known as ‘reservation'. The research uses bilingual-bicultural ethnography to explore experiences of women leaders. This methodology positions the person of the researcher as the key tool in data gathering and interpretation. I conducted narrative interviews with a purposive sample of participants combined with observations and informal conversations with school and university staff. The findings reveal how intersections in the identities of Indian women constrain and shape their experience and careers as leaders of education.