Challenging Cultural Norms

What happens when a female Arab teacher tries to break through personal and social barriers and aspires to undertake the role of high school principal, a role that constitutes a symbol of male domination? In this chapter, we discuss the new phenomenon of Arab women in high school principalship. We describe obstacles and difficulties the women faced on their paths to high school principalship in Arab society in Israel, attempting to understand how they overcame these barriers and fulfilled their aspiration to lead. And we discuss the contributions these women made to their schools and communities. To discover this information, we studied the biographical backgrounds and career paths of three Arab women, all high school principals.