Pontso's research interests revolve around issues of gender and educational leadership and leadership development broadly. Her PhD investigated challenges and constraints of female school principalship in South Africa with an interest in gender and career development, constructions of success in leadership and in addressing issues that concern equity and equality in school leadership. Pontso questions the way women (and women in education in particular) use their position of (dis)advantage to empower themselves (and others) in taking their place of leadership in society against oppressive cultural, race and gender regimes.

She has an active research profile and just completed a school leadership development study involving four African countries with publications on school leadership development; gender and school leadership and feminist leader identity construction.