A systematic review of principals’ leadership identity from 1993 to 2019

There is growing interest in the role that principals play as school leaders. Exploring how principals build their professional leadership identity is crucial to understanding their influence on school performance. A systematic review was conducted to examine how educational leaders develop their professional identity. Our objectives were: (a) to identify the factors that determine how educational leaders develop their professional identity; (b) to identify shared traits of educational leadership identity; and (c) to describe the implications that the results obtained may have for research and professional practice. A literature search on Web of Science (WOS), SCOPUS and Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) yielded a total of 38 articles published in international journals. Thematic analysis was conducted using the Nvivo software package. Emerging topics include: leadership identity of school principals as the key to educational success; influence of politics and context on the construction of principals’ professional identity; race- and gender-based barriers to the development of leadership identity; and the influence of experience, training and transition on the construction of a professional leadership identity.