The Perspectives of the University Staff Members in the Palestinian Universities Towards the Woman’s Different Leadership Roles

This study sought to identify the attitudes of the faculty members at Palestinian universities towards the leadership roles of women. To this end, the researcher used the descriptive method. To collect data, she developed and administered a 40-item questionnaire distributed among four domains. The questionnaire was also tested for validity and reliability. The population of the study was all faculty members(No. 1947 ) at Palestinian universities in the West Bank: An-Najah, Hebron, Bethlehem and Bir Zeit. The sample of the study consisted of 300 faculty members, selected randomly. After data collection and analysis, it was found that, on the four domains, the score of impact of the attitudes of the faculty members towards the leadership roles of omen was high. The general average was 74.6%. However, no statistically significant differences were found between the means of responses of the study participants pertaining to the four domains and in the overall score which could be attributed to variables of university, experience , academic rank and college. It was also found that there were statistically significant differences (α ≤ 0.05) between the means of responses of the study participants concerning the leadership roles of women on the four domains and on the overall score of the items which could be attributed to variable of gender in favor of the female faculty members. In the light of the study results, the researcher recommends continuation of developing women’s technical skills in order to be invested and used, thus guaranteeing their continuation of assuming leadership positions in their communities. The researcher also recommends that universities hold training courses for the sake of educational awareness and reinforcement of culture of equality between men and women. Furthermore, government and civic society institutions in Palestine should offer rehabilitation and training programs to improve the situation of women and make selection of leaders on objective basis instead of ambiguous criteria followed upon appointment of people in leadership positions. This would be in line with the principle of equal opportunities, thus increasing women’s confidence in themselves to assume leadership positions.