Developing an Equity-Focused Framework for Recruitment, Retention, and Succession Planning for International School Headships

This Dissertation-in-Practice (DiP) confronts the problem of practice of a persistent underrepresentation of leaders from historically marginalized backgrounds and identities in international school headships. With the identified problem and solutions put forward in this DiP, I aim to move my organization beyond current recruitment practices that often fail to support the appointment of individuals from historically marginalized and nondominant groups. The central goal is to create and embed this framework at Sustainable Development Goals School (a pseudonym), offering a practical model for other international schools striving for more equitable leadership. The DiP is grounded in my positionality as an internationally educated, new Canadian immigrant from a historical marginalized group. As an educator and leader I see limited representation in international school headships and this observational conclusion is supported by robust secondary research. This DiP presents a theoretical framework, integrating servant leadership's commitment to empowering others and culturally responsive leadership's awareness of diverse contexts. The appreciative inquiry model informs a collaborative and strength-based approach to change. The implementation plan is structured by Kotter's eight-step change management model and is augmented where appropriate by the ADKAR model, providing a comprehensive strategy for organizational transformation. With this DiP, I seek to provide a viable and sustainable blueprint for fostering equitable leadership in international schools.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Education

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Education

Grantor dc:publisher

The University of Western Ontario

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Naik, Tanay U.

• international schools
• equity
• underrepresentation
• recruitment
• culturally responsive leadership

Statement dc:rights

• Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14721/38687

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:uwo.scholaris.ca:20.500.14721/38687