Schools Working Hard to Attract More Male Teachers

By Linda Orlando

For decades women have bee campaigning to be welcomed into careers that have been traditionally dominated by men throughout history. Now the tables have turned. With the new academic year fast approaching, school districts, universities, and education groups are looking for innovative ways to attract more men into becoming teachers, a field that has been dominated by women since public schooling began. The goal of boosting the numbers of male teachers is twofold—to provide more male role models to children in classrooms, and to diversify the labor pool of dedicated teachers.

Only 21% of all teachers in the United States are men. In elementary schools the scales are even more unbalanced—only 9% of the teachers in early grades are men. Many educators believe that because men and women have different styles and approaches to teaching, a more balanced mix of female and male teachers in early grades will be of great benefit to students as they advance into middle grades and beyond. According to the National Education Association, the largest teachers’ union in the U.S., the proportion of men teaching in the country today is at its lowest level in over 40 years.

Bryan Nelson is the founding director of MenTeach, a nonprofit organization that actively recruits men into the teaching profession. His group works to provide men who want to be teachers with mentors, stipends, and special training. According to Nelson, men must overcome several perceived barriers to the teaching profession, not the least of which are concerns about salary, the perception that teaching isn’t a manly career, and even parental fears that male teachers can be a threat to younger children. Nelson believes that increasing the number of male teachers will help add balance to school life for children while showing them that society values education over gender stereotypes. In his seminars and training classes, Nelson stresses the importance of having men in the classroom by appealing to their pride. "I tell them, 'Can you imagine what you're doing for these kids? You're a pioneer. You're teaching kids how to read. You're setting up their future."'

Many school districts are limited by federal anti-discrimination laws that limit their recruiting and hiring practices. Teachers should be hired based on skills and ability, but if two teachers have pedigrees that differ by only a minute margin, schools should be able to consider gender as a positive if it means they can increase the number of male teachers on staff. But federal guidelines prohibit any gender considerations when deciding which teachers to hire. "Your applicant pool is going to be tainted by your recruiting techniques if there's a gender bias," says Lisa Soronen, a staff attorney for the National School Boards Association. "The real way to get teaching to be a more attractive profession is to change the societal norms and structure of the profession. But no individual principal can do that."

There are beginning to be signs of change in the teaching profession that may start the ball rolling toward a more gender-balanced system. According to a Gallup analysis, teaching has re-emerged as one of the top career picks for teenage boys. But the same report noted that male teachers remain scarce in poor urban areas where school-aged children have no father or male role models at home. Clemson University has instituted a program titled Call Me MISTER, which partners nine schools in helping young black men become public school teachers. The students in the program get academic support, tuition assistance, and internships at local schools. The program’s director, Roy Jones, says that since many of the students never had a male teacher during their 12 years in public schools, they know firsthand what is missing in today’s classrooms. "There's just a difference—whether it's in style, voice intonation, just the presence of having a male in the classroom—that many boys respond to best," says Jones. So far, 15 men have finished the program and begun teaching in elementary schools throughout South Carolina. The National Education Association is working with the Call Me MISTER program in an effort to increase that number o 200. "It destroys stereotypes," Jones says. "There are young men out there, developing into professionals, who do want to pursue teaching, who do want to work with children. They just needed to find a vehicle."