'I Changed My Management Style': The cross-gender transition of women headteachers in mid-career

The current article outlines the experiences of women school principals in their mid-career stage and explores what happens to women principals' managerial styles after several years in the career, and whether the managerial styles change or stay consistent throughout the career. Through the inductive analysis of life stories data, the study revealed that 13 women principals experienced cross-gender transition in relation to their managerial styles, whereas 12 did not change their managerial styles at all. The results show that women principals may undergo a change from 'masculine' to 'feminine' managerial styles or vice versa in their mid-career change. The practical implications of our results are discussed in the article.