In the Right Place at the Right Time: Rules of Control and Woman’s Place in Ontario Schools, 1940–1980

In a recent life-history interview study of two generations of male and female principals in Toronto elementary and secondary schools from 1940–1980, respondents repeatedly said that they had moved into their administrative role because they were in the right place at the right time. I use Clegg’s (1981) configuration of organizational rules of control to question why so few women became principals in the Toronto Board during that period. The analysis illustrates how, despite pressures for change, the overall “place” afforded to most men and women in this educational organization remained unchanged. I consider how we might work within present-day organizations to alter systemic forms of control and to interrupt such persistent hegemonic patterns — which limit both men and women — in school culture.