Social Disabilities for Constructing and Establishing a Leader Identity: Group Prototypicality, Minorities, Social Stereotypes, and ‘‘Quasi-Organizational Capitalism’’ in Greek Primary Education — Oak Academic Publishing
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Social Disabilities for Constructing and Establishing a Leader Identity: Group Prototypicality, Minorities, Social Stereotypes, and ‘‘Quasi-Organizational Capitalism’’ in Greek Primary Education
Department of Education, Frederick University, Nicosia, Cyprus
1 Department of Education, Frederick University, Nicosia, Cyprus
This paper attempts to interpret the exclusion of minority specialty teachers from the administrative hierarchy of Greek public primary education, ex amining their obstacles and the intervening social, institutional, cultural, and systemic factors. Qualitative methodology was used in this research, as the researcher carried out 43 telephone semi-structured interviews from the whole country. The underrepresented subgroup, internalizing the specialty stereo types, struggle s to transform their vulnerable, susceptible, and controversial Professional, and Social Identities in to powerful, positive, and influential Lead er Identity, constantly hitting against a glass ceiling, thus feeling unable to confront the hegemonies formed with multiple criteria. Although there are several studies that separately explore the social status and the Professional Identity of marginalized specialty teachers, this is the first time they are considered as one social group, expressing their views about their exclusion from the administrative hierarchy. I debate the formation of the new term “quasi-organizational capitalism”, which resembl es the classification of financial capitalism, from a symbolic aspect, refers to the existence of an irreversible organizational status quo, being structured in such a way as to serve the aims and interests of the privileged quasi-capitalists, reproduces their domination and impedes the administrative advancement of the deprived quasi-proletarians, even in public and non-profit organizations. Organizations and poli cy-makers should ensure social equality and organizational justice by focusing on strengthening the administrative role of minorities, and socially stigmatized subgroups having low Social Identity status, multiple barriers, and social disabilities for constructing and establishing a Leader Identity.
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