Some of my best friends are men. More importantly, some of my best teacher friends–sounding boards, inspirations and educational soul mates–are men. But men are a diminishing force in teaching, a distinct cause for alarm when you consider that half the pool of prospective teachers is men. Newsweek and CBS took up the cause of gender balance in teaching last week, citing low pay and stereotyping.
If there were ever a profession where demographic representation is meaningful, it’s teaching. We work with the youngest members of society, after all, who somewhat uncritically see their teachers as role models, often simply because they’re pretty, funny or willing to tie their shoes. In a position so influential in shaping lives, it’s critical to have some gender–and ethnic–equity. We are rapidly approaching a 20/80 split in male/female teachers–and don’t even ask about our sorry recruitment rate on racial diversity.
The usual argument about men rejecting or abandoning teaching because of low pay was trotted out in both articles. No disagreement there, although the back end of that line of reasoning is the fact thatMale_elementary_teacher some women are still willing to work for peanuts, even with vastly expanded career opportunities in the past 3 to 4 decades. I’m not so sure that a significant across-the-board jump in teacher salaries would change the male-female ratio, however. I think the exodus of men has as much to do with power and image as money.
The usual argument about men rejecting or abandoning teaching because of low pay was trotted out in both articles. No disagreement there, although the back end of that line of reasoning is the fact thatMale_elementary_teacher some women are still willing to work for peanuts, even with vastly expanded career opportunities in the past 3 to 4 decades. I’m not so sure that a significant across-the-board jump in teacher salaries would change the male-female ratio, however. I think the exodus of men has as much to do with power and image as money.