The Political Skills of School Administrators: Administrative Perspective

The present study aimed to determine the political skills exhibited by school administrators during administrative processes. It was a qualitative study based on the phenomenological research design. The study group consisted of 28 school principals, 14 were female and 14 others were male. The research data were gathered through a semi-structured interview form. The data were analysed using the content analysis method and the themes were created based on the relevant literature. It was concluded that networking ability was commonly displayed by female and male administrators during the planning process, apparent sincerity skill was additionally exhibited by female administrators, and both female and male administrators displayed the networking and interpersonal influence sub-dimensions of political skills during the organizing process. The research findings also indicated that female and male administrators exhibited the interpersonal influence, apparent sincerity, and social astuteness sub-dimensions of political skills during the coordination process. Finally, it was uncovered that female and male administrators displayed interpersonal influence and networking abilities during the supervision process while females additionally performed apparent sincerity skills. To sum up, school administrators were found to exhibit diverse political abilities during the administrative processes.

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