Quoted Text

Low pay, stereotypes result in shortage of male teachers
Charles Cummins, Ed.D., is a retired school administrator. Send questions to him at: cacummins818@gmail.com

   In the late 1950s, we “discovered” that many children went through the first eight years of school without every seeing a male teacher in front of the classroom. This was about the time of Sputnik, the grapefruit-sized satellite put in space by the Russians, and it helped launch interest in education and numerous innovations. One was a concerted effort to get more men teachers, especially elementary teachers, into our nation’s classrooms.
   Most of the men from that era have retired and we have returned to predominantly female elementary classrooms.
   That statement must not be construed as suggesting that female teachers are not competent or are in any manner shortchanging our students.
   What it says is that we have returned to the period when many elementary students will not have a male teacher or even see one until they reach middle school. And that is not good.
   Why? For one thing, the absence of men in the classroom plays into the outdated gender stereotype that teaching is “women’s work,” suggesting that women are better at nurturing young children. In addition, the dearth of men in our classrooms deprives children of the healthy role model they can provide in children’s lives.
   A 2004 NEA survey shows that the number of male public school teachers now stands at a 40-year low. This survey reveals that only 21 percent of the nation’s 3 million teachers are men. “Male elementary school teachers are even more scarce,” the NEA reports. Their numbers have dropped to an alltime low of 9 percent today.”
   The statistics for minority students are, as you might expect, troubling. The NEA report shows: “Teachers of color make up 16 percent of the teaching population, and some 42 percent of public schools have no minority teacher at all.”
   That means a lot of students, minority or otherwise, never see a minority teacher of either sex during their entire school experience.
ECONOMIC FACTOR
   What is the problem? In a word, economics. A report in the OECD Observer, a publication of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, shows that the ratio of starting teachers’ salaries to per capita GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in the United States lags all but three of 12 European countries. That means we simply are not spending enough to attract quality teachers to the profession. (That we may be paying poor quality teachers too much is a different matter.)
   Low starting teacher salaries lack the prestige or social value of other professional opportunities. Consequently, many men do not see the teaching profession as a way to justify their college education or to provide for their families.
   Too many men who do prepare for a teaching career often leave within five years. Unless they want to pick up the additional college credits for administrative certification (more expense), many men simply do not see their family financial picture improving if they stay in the classroom.
   In addition, the literature suggests that while men make their career choices, including teaching, differently than women, many college courses are designed with women in mind. Men bring different backgrounds to their preservice college preparation. They also have different perceptions about their roles. The literature also suggests that males decide to enter teaching much later than females.
   Perceptions are important, and the perception many male students have is that teaching is a woman’s job — and that job doesn’t pay very well.
   There is a measure of job security in teaching, but there are few opportunities for advancement beyond the salary schedule increments enjoyed by everyone regardless of their classroom skill, knowledge of subject or student rapport. In other words, individual effort will not bring prestige or promotion.
   This may also explain why there continues to be a shortage of both male and female teachers nationwide.
SEEKING ANSWERS
   We need to know the reasons. We need to encourage more men to become teachers. We need to ask our politicians, as we did back in the late 1950s, to finance programs that promote and support men becoming teachers.
   Finally, we need to ask educational professionals to develop programs that provide differentiated pay for teachers “in the classroom” with distinctive levels of expertise or responsibility. Programs designed to keep teachers in the profession and in the classroom will go a long way toward attracting more men.