By Mrs Gibson, Headmistress

Last week I spoke to our Lower Sixth students as they prepare to apply for leadership roles in the Girls’ Leadership Group (GLG). It is always one of the most satisfying moments of the year: that subtle but significant shift when a cohort begins to see themselves not simply as students, but as potential leaders and example-setters for others. I can genuinely see it in their faces as they consider how they want to lead and what they want to achieve. 

Female leadership has always been deeply personal to me. I was raised by a mother who, despite being academically able, was encouraged to leave school at sixteen rather than pursue A-levels or university. Her opportunities were limited by the expectations of her time. Mine were not – because she made sure of it. She may never have held an obvious leadership title, but her unwavering belief in education and independence shaped my path profoundly. Her missed opportunities became the fuel for my ambition. It is a reminder that leadership often begins quietly, at home, in values rather than positions.

When I was growing up in the 1980s, visible female leaders felt rare. Margaret Thatcher was the dominant political figure and, however one views her legacy, it mattered symbolically that a woman held the highest office. Yet she also reflected the constraints of her era. She promoted very few women and famously took voice coaching to sound more traditionally authoritative. Leadership for women at that time often meant adapting to male norms rather than reshaping them.

Today, our daughters see leadership expressed far more broadly. They can look to figures such as Jacinda Ardern in politics, Shonda Rhimes in television, Mary Earps in sport, Greta Gerwig in film, and Priya Lakhani in technology and ethical AI to name just a few. Leadership now comes in many forms and doesn’t conform to a rigid set of ideals..

Research reinforces why this matters, organisations with women in senior leadership often show stronger collaboration, higher engagement and improved performance. Yet women still lead only a small proportion of the world’s largest companies, and the well-documented “authority gap”, explored by Mary Ann Sieghart, reminds us that women are not always granted credibility as readily as men. Giving girls leadership opportunities at school is therefore not simply about badges or titles; it is about practising voice, judgement and authority in a supportive environment.

This week I was privileged to hear Jeanette Cochrane, the new CEO of the Girls’ School Association (GSA), talk about the power of female leadership and her reflections sharpened this thinking. She argued that leadership must be taught as something learned rather than bestowed, and that girls need explicit preparation for the realities they will face. We must build rhetorical power – teaching them to persuade, disagree and decide under pressure. We must protect ambition from perfectionism and model sustainable leadership, because a pipeline built on exhaustion will not endure. Above all, leadership must be inclusive; if only one style of leading is recognised, inequity is simply reproduced.

As parents, you are partners in this work. Your daughters do not need to be perfect to lead. They need courage to step forward before they feel completely ready, and reassurance that leadership is a practice, not a prize for flawlessness. Collectively, we can make sure that each generation has the option to define what female leadership looks like for them; it is exciting to be part of this progression, because every time one of our girls chooses to apply, to speak, to chair or to challenge, she narrows the authority gap and widens the possibilities for those who follow. As Jeanette said “We want to raise girls who can lead, not following the patriarchal script, but by changing systems and not just surviving it”. I couldn’t agree more!