The role of gender in the emotional intelligence and balanced leadership responsibilities displayed by the principal

The purpose of this study was to determine if differences in emotional intelligence levels are related to balanced leadership responsibilities as well as differences in leadership effectiveness between women and men high school principals. The research questions guiding this quantitative study were: 1) Is there a difference between the emotional intelligence profiles of female and male high school principals? 2) Is there a difference between the balanced leadership behavior profiles of female and male high school principals? Although no significant differences were found between balanced leadership responsibilities and emotional intelligence as sorted by gender, individual item analysis revealed weaknesses and strengths with regard to both emotional intelligence competency and balanced leadership behavior between genders. Implications for leadership preparation are important.