Merely increasing the number of male teachers is not going to address the label (or stigma) of teaching as ‘women’s work’. Undoing this stigma calls for a disruption of the patriarchal discourses and norms, which perpetuate marginalisation and minimisation of women, in order to centre a male worldview.
Why are there far more women teachers than men? Research confirms that although men and women are often motivated by similar altruistic reasons, they enter the teaching profession for different reasons. Female teachers may be more motivated by the perceived intrinsic aspects of teaching, or value the ability to combine teaching with parenthood, and hence opt for the profession as their first choice.
As a result, there are calls for the masculinising of teaching. Improving the number and presence of male teachers is often ̶ unquestioningly ̶ constructed as a positive for male learners. The assumption is that in order for male learners to achieve academically, or excel at sporting codes, to be “disciplined”, or become “men”, they need to have male role models. But is this the correct call?
On the one hand, women might believe and buy into traditional conceptions of themselves as primary carers, and hence as teachers, and not aspire to occupy positions of leadership or administrators, such as curriculum designers, institutional managers or directors.
There are many reasons ̶ some more complex than others ̶ for the low number of male teachers in schools in most liberal democracies. Merely increasing the number of males is not going to address the label of teaching as “women’s work”.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Time to end the silence: film puts spotlight on gender-based violence scourgeAward-winning film-maker Anant Singh and his movie production house joined the fight against gender-based violence with his latest production.
Read more »
A call to unite against the scourge of gender-based violence
Read more »
Why doesn’t she leave? Message of Hope for victims of gender-based violence“All I knew was – my heart was broken. And I felt trapped in a life I didn’t choose”.
Read more »