TITLE:
Social Disabilities for Constructing and Establishing a Leader Identity: Group Prototypicality, Minorities, Social Stereotypes, and ‘‘Quasi-Organizational Capitalism’’ in Greek Primary Education
AUTHORS:
Konstantia Spyriadou
KEYWORDS:
Headteachers, Leader Identity, Professional Identity, Specialty Teachers, Minorities, Quasi-Organizational Capitalism, Education Policy, Organizational Justice
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Leadership,
Vol.12 No.3,
July
11,
2023
ABSTRACT: This paper attempts to interpret the exclusion of
minority specialty teachers from the
administrative hierarchy of Greek public primary education, examining
their obstacles and the intervening social, institutional, cultural, and
systemic factors. Qualitative methodology was used in this research, as the researcher
carried out 43 telephone semi-structured interviews from the whole country. The underrepresented subgroup, internalizing the
specialty stereotypes, struggles to transform their vulnerable, susceptible, and controversial Professional, and Social Identities into powerful, positive, and influential Leader Identity, constantly hitting
against a glass ceiling, thus feeling unable to confront the hegemonies
formed with multiple criteria. Although there are several studies that separately explore the
social status and the Professional Identity of marginalized specialty teachers,
this is the first time they are considered as one social group, expressing
their views about their exclusion from the administrative hierarchy. I debate the formation of
the new term “quasi-organizational capitalism”, which resembles the classification of
financial capitalism, from a symbolic aspect,
refers to the existence of an irreversible organizational status quo,
being structured in such a way as to serve the
aims and interests of the privileged
quasi-capitalists, reproduces their domination and impedes the administrative
advancement of the deprived quasi-proletarians, even in public and non-profit organizations. Organizations and policy-makers should ensure social equality and
organizational justice by focusing on strengthening the administrative
role of minorities, and socially stigmatized subgroups having low Social
Identity status, multiple barriers, and social disabilities for constructing
and establishing a Leader Identity.