The United Kingdom Equality Act (2010) is designed to protect nine characteristics from discrimination: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. A public sector duty requires local authorities to give "due regard to the desirability of exercising [its functions] in a way that is designed to reduce the inequalities of outcome which result from socio-economic disadvantage" (HM Government, 2010, Part 1, 1.1). Despite historic and current legislation designed to ensure sex equality in education and employment, in England and elsewhere in the UK, women continue to be underrepresented in secondary school headship (principalship) in all four home countries of the United Kingdom (Fuller, 2013). There is considerable regional variation within England where, in 2010, women held headship posts in high proportions of schools in Luton, a non-metropolitan district (83.3%); Knowsle...
