The lack of women at management level caused concern at the INTO education conference in Donegal this weekend. Delegates wanted to know why women do not apply for jobs as principals. A report from the union entitled Leadership opportunities for teachers - Is gender an issue? was launched on Friday in order to fuel debate and provide answers to the issue of equal gender representation. Literacy and school reviews were the two other issues which were debated by teachers at the conference.

According to the report: "It is clear that many women teachers possess the expertise, qualifications, skills and experiences that are needed in the field of education but they do not necessarily wish to exercise these skills within the traditionally identified roles." The report again highlights the fact that men hold the majority of school principalships, even though they comprise only 21 per cent of the profession.

"The gender dimension of leadership cannot be ignored," Senator Joe O'Toole, the general secretary, insisted.

Mary Culhane, a Limerick-based teacher and a member of the union's equality committee, told delegates that the equality report was based on the completion of a questionnaire which was issued to 750 randomly selected teachers in the Republic and Northern Ireland. The survey found, she said, that the factors that deter men and women from applying for jobs do differ.

With regard to women, they cited the increased level of responsibility as the first factor which prevented them applying for leadership posts. She said that family commitments was the second most frequently cited reason. Culhane told delegates that the main deterrent cited by men, in contrast to women, was the level of remuneration such a job would bring. The second main deterring factor cited by men was the level of responsibility such a promotion would involve.

Mags Jordan, another member of the union's equality committee, told delegates that the report "begs the question as to why women teachers continue to be under-represented in senior management positions". She cited "another reality of life": that women continue to bear the primary responsibility for the family, as being a factor which prevents many women from going forward and assuming a leadership role as they feel that too high a price has to be paid for engaging in such dual responsibilities.

AT INTERVIEW stage, she pointed out, "unsuccessful males are more likely to blame their lack of success on external factors. In contrast, females attribute their failure to them not being good enough, which in turn may discourage future attempts.

"If quality leadership and quality education are to be truly valued, then change must occur," she said.

However she said that while women teachers continue to be significantly under-represented in the more traditional role of principal, increasing numbers are actively seeking and participating in the newly created posts in education.

Also at primary level, she said, "47 per cent of principals are female, a figure which compares favourable with our European neighbours and causes one to believe that a position of gender balance is being approached".

Women principals are more likely to be found in smaller schools with accompanying lower levels of remuneration as well as in schools in which younger pupils are taught. This pattern is replicated throughout the country, she said and "it reinforces the deeply held societal view that women teachers in smaller schools do not require the sophisticated management skills and abilities as are required by their male colleagues who run more organisationally complex, larger schools.