There is an activity where students are asked to draw “what a scientist looks like”. The response is generally an old White man in a lab coat with wild hair shaking test tubes while shouting “Eureka”. The result leads nicely to a discussion about stereotypes and diversity in science.
What if we apply the same principle of investigation then to: “What does a headteacher look like?”
A search engine charged with that task will give you a selection of images, male and female, posing next to billboards, gardens, desks and the like.
There are many permutations of this investigation. For example, “what does a headteacher in a challenging school look like?” or indeed a free school or a grammar school? This shifts the images to more male faces. And an “outstanding/executive headteacher” search brings more mature results.
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