Hopeful leadership and reciprocity: one woman’s narrative as school founder, owner and leader in Bangladesh

Purpose This paper explores the phenomenon of woman as school leader and owner, in the patriarchal setting of Bangladesh, through the combined lens of hope theory and reciprocity, to consider representation and marginalisation in the international schooling sector. Design/methodology/approach A case study approach draws on data from a larger study, to focus on the work of a woman leader and one of the original founders, of English medium schools in Bangladesh. Data included observations and semi-structured interviews, analysed and thematically coded to generate findings. Findings The study identifies the hope-driven call to action, which enabled one woman to establish a school in her living room, build the leadership vision to centre students at the core of reciprocal relationships and tackle teacher retention and capacity, which challenge sustainability. Originality/value This is an original contribution to the ideas of women in leadership through its consideration of the meso phenomenon of women school owners in Bangladesh, situated against the macro of globalised marginalisation in educational leadership across the international school sector.