Women's Leadership Style in Special Education Cases in Jember Regency: 21st Century Skills Challenges

Abstract

Women's leadership in the education sector began to show a rising trend. This is because the glass ceiling barrier that has been turned into a maze, where more women to contribute at the leadership level, is one of the leaders in schools with special needs. Schools with special needs are schools that serve education for individuals who have differences. All children with special needs have the same rights in their needs education, where they need education more participatory and collaborative, as well as various studies that have been done are more feminist leadership characteristics. This article will discuss the leadership styles of women in special needs schools in Jember, especially in facing the challenges of the 21st century skills. This study uses qualitative research methods with engineering data in the form of in-depth interviews, observation, and documentation. Data analysis includes data reduction, data presentation, and conclusion reduction. Research informants for people who are principals in special needs schools in Jember.. The results showed that the leadership style used by female leaders in schools with special needs in Jember Regency was more to invo lve relat ional or transformational, where leadership was built on the basis of communication, relationships, and teamwork, but among these were specific instructional leadership strategies. Women leaders to pay more attention and mentoring and encourage appropriate behavior, both with teachers and students with special needs in their schools. The results of this study can be used by feminist leadership with the characteristics of caring, visionary, collaborative, courage, and intuition.