IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/idb/brikps/13985.html

Breaking Glass Ceilings in Colombia: Strategies and Outcomes in Efforts to Narrow the Gender Gap in Educational Leadership

Author

Listed:
  • Elacqua, Gregory
  • Pérez-Nuñez, Graciela
  • Cubillos, Pedro P.
  • Iglesias Velasco, Juliana

Abstract

In Colombia, women represent 65% of the teacher workforce but only 34% of school principals, reflecting a significant gender gap in leadership. This study examines two centralized principal selection processes implemented by Colombias National Civil Service Commission: the 2016 nationwide process and the 2018 process targeting disadvantaged PDET regions (Development Programs with a Territorial Focus). Both processes evaluated candidates through standardized tests, minimum requirements, and assessments of education and experience, determining eligibility for leadership vacancies. Our descriptive analysis shows how selection criteria influence gender representation. In 2016, standardized testing dominated, resulting in 45% of applicants being women but only 20% qualifying, with an overall eligible-to-vacancy ratio of just 0.7%. In contrast, the 2018 PDET process prioritized context-specific competencies and practical experience, yielding 35% female eligibility despite women comprising only 38% of applicants (likely due to challenging conditions in PDET regions). Moreover, eligible candidates of both genders outnumbered vacancies by 4.5 times. These findings underscore the critical role of selection design in shaping gender representation in school leadership. However, structural barriers, such as inadequate childcare and rigid work schedules, persist as obstacles to womens participation.

Suggested Citation

  • Elacqua, Gregory & Pérez-Nuñez, Graciela & Cubillos, Pedro P. & Iglesias Velasco, Juliana, 2025. "Breaking Glass Ceilings in Colombia: Strategies and Outcomes in Efforts to Narrow the Gender Gap in Educational Leadership," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 13985, Inter-American Development Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:idb:brikps:13985
    DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18235/0013404
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://publications.iadb.org/publications/english/document/Breaking-Glass-Ceilings-in-Colombia-Strategies-and-Outcomes-in-Efforts-to-Narrow-the-Gender-Gap-in-Educational-Leadership.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/http://dx.doi.org/10.18235/0013404?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Xu, Yiqing & Yao, Yang, 2015. "Informal Institutions, Collective Action, and Public Investment in Rural China," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 109(2), pages 371-391, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lai, Weizheng, 2024. "The effect of education on voter turnout in China's rural elections," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 221(C), pages 230-247.
    2. He, Quqiong & Pan, Ying & Sarangi, Sudipta, 2018. "Lineage-based heterogeneity and cooperative behavior in rural China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 248-269.
    3. Cai, Meina & Zhang, Qi & Zhao, Xiaolu, 2024. "Social Embeddedness, Power Balance, and Local Governance in China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    4. Huang, Lulu & Liu, Qiannan & Tang, Yugang, 2024. "Long-term economic impact of disasters: Evidence from multiple earthquakes in China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    5. Yongjun Tang & Qi Li & Fen Zhou & Mingjia Sun, 2024. "Does Clan Culture Promote Corporate Natural Resource Disclosure? Evidence from Chinese Natural Resource-Based Listed Companies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 192(1), pages 167-190, June.
    6. Kebin Deng & Zhong Ding & Xu Liu, 2023. "Clan loyalty and COVID‐19 diffusion: Evidence from China," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(4), pages 910-938, April.
    7. Tang, Can & Zhao, Zhong, 2022. "Informal institution meets child development," MERIT Working Papers 2022-032, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    8. Bei Luo & Terence Tai-Leung Chong, 2017. "Entrepreneurial activities and institutional environment in China," Economic and Political Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(2), pages 179-194, April.
    9. Liu, Feifei & He, Xinming & Wang, Tao, 2023. "In the name of the family: The effect of CEO clan culture background on firm internationalization," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    10. Huang, Liangxiong & Ma, Minghui & Wang, Xianbin, 2022. "Clan culture and risk-taking of Chinese enterprises," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    11. Bei Luo & Terence Tai-Leung Chong, 2019. "Regional differences in self-employment in China," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 53(3), pages 813-837, October.
    12. Li Huang & Shougeng Hu & Shixiang Li & Zhenqi Fu, 2019. "Nonmarketization Bargaining and Actual Compensation Level for Land Requisition: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis of China’s Land Requisition Conflict Events," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-24, November.
    13. Shiyong Zhao, 2024. "Foreign business presence and local entrepreneurship development: evidence from China," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-10, December.
    14. Qiang Wu, 2025. "How Does AI Affect the Pay Gap Within Firms: Mechanism Analysis Based on Personnel Structure and Corporate Investment," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 46(2), pages 717-733, March.
    15. Lixia Wang & Haiyun Liu, 2024. "Included or Excluded? When Foreign Direct Investment Meets the Confucian Clan in China," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(4), pages 17232-17255, December.
    16. Hua, Wenyuan, 2025. "On the distributional effects of principal-agent problems: Evidence from China’s shell farmer cooperatives," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    17. Skarbek, David, 2016. "Covenants without the Sword? Comparing Prison Self-Governance Globally," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 110(4), pages 845-862, November.
    18. Tang, Can & Zhao, Zhong, 2023. "Informal institution meets child development: Clan culture and child labor in China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 277-294.
    19. Cai, Meina & Sun, Xin, 2018. "Institutional bindingness, power structure, and land expropriation in China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 172-186.
    20. Chuanhui Liao & Dingtao Zhao & Shuang Zhang & Lanfang Chen, 2018. "Determinants and the Moderating Effect of Perceived Policy Effectiveness on Residents’ Separation Intention for Rural Household Solid Waste," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-17, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • M51 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Firm Employment Decisions; Promotions
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:idb:brikps:13985. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Felipe Herrera Library (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iadbbus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.