Recently on Tes, there was an in-depth investigation into the underrepresentation of female leaders in international schools.

It’s an important issue: after all, half of the student body needs to be represented at the most senior level in the schools in which they are educated.

However, if I were to say that more than 80 per cent of children studying in international schools are not represented in school leadership, then you can quickly see why the issue of ethnicity in international education is of the utmost importance, too.

School leadership, and particularly headship, have been overwhelmingly white in ethnicity since the first international school opened its doors in 1924 in Switzerland.

A century has passed, and schools have moved on from Empire outposts and Embassy schools to a thriving sector with more than 15,000 settings, chiefly in the Middle East and South East Asia and with the majority of pupils local or of global majority ethnicity in the schools they attend.

Yet research I conducted from July 2024 found British international schools are overwhelmingly white in school leadership - especially in headteacher and principal representation - meaning that many pupils will never “see themselves” in leadership.

How has this happened? Given the shift in pupil demographics, should we not have seen a similar increase in ethnicity in school leadership?

Sadly not - and I have certainly been privy to statements from those running schools stating that “the board expect a white face to lead the school” or parents are paying for “full British teachers”, which is a euphemism for white.

International schools in a multipolar world

Many heads and other senior leaders will, of course, say they are not racist and keen to ensure diversity in leadership.

Yet, unless schools and their hiring committees explicitly set out to be antiracist, the situation appears unlikely to change.

The difference was made clear by Eduardo Bonilla-Silva in his groundbreaking work in 2003, titled Racism Without Racists, where he outlined that structural bias and diminished agencies will always remain if established behaviours are not called out.

Of course, schools will claim they are anti-discrimination and antiracist, but this has to permeate school culture as much as, say, anti-bullying measures - not just for social media posts or inspection optics.

Otherwise, a school may as well state on its website: “We welcome any pupils, but only white students will be future leaders!”

Need for leader mentoring programmes

One counterargument for the gross underrepresentation of global majority ethnicity staff is that they are not putting themselves forward for roles - internally or externally.

There are several counters to this, though; firstly, if it were true, that itself should raise questions as to how the sector is presenting itself and what sort of experiences it is giving to global majority applicants if they become so disillusioned as to not apply.

Secondly, many opportunities for roles are simply never available because the sector relies heavily on the “tap on the shoulder” from a mentor to point them towards a role they’re deemed right for - a nudge in the right direction rarely affords global majority staff.

To counter this, schools need to develop intentional mentoring programmes to develop aspiring leader programmes with an explicit focus on those from global majority backgrounds.

The hope is that this will create a greater number of individuals ready to push for senior leadership - whether internally or externally - and start to change the data seen above.

External applications, especially, will still require HR teams to ensure they put the right candidates forward for interview.

Fostering meaningful representation

I wonder, though, how often hiring teams never see applications, because they are sifted at the application stage - perhaps by HR staff looking for those who look or sound more akin to the type of leaders that have always been employed?

One could hope artificial intelligence will make this less likely - although early research suggests (quelle surprise!) that AI is also prone to bias and discrimination.

Schools could prove they are not falling prey to these sorts of issues by publishing information on applications received for jobs - especially those in senior posts - that lists the gender and ethnicity of those who applied.

If not made public, schools should, at the very least, reflect internally after any recruitment data and ask critical questions if such applications are low.

To be clear, this is not about box-ticking. It is about meaningful representation that would more accurately reflect the reality of the world, the sector itself and, most importantly, the society in which pupils are growing up.

For example, a female with a headscarf as a headteacher in a Muslim majority international school - of which there are many in West and South East Asia - would be such a powerful role model for gender and ethnicity alike.

Increasing styles of leadership

Above all, more promotions of global majority leaders would allow more styles of leadership to emerge.

After all, women are not expected to adopt masculine mannerisms in school leadership. So too leaders of global majority ethnic backgrounds could bring new styles and ideas with authentic leadership that may benefit the sector as a whole.

But until representation improves, this will never happen, and those from the global majority will remain, depressingly, in the minority of leadership roles.

Kausor Amin-Ali is principal of Frontline International School, Ajman, UAE and chair of governors at Robert Miles Infant School, Bingham, UK. He is also the author of A-Z of School Leadership, A-Z of Teaching and A-Z of Learning