There is a scarce amount of men in the field of teaching on a national level, which is reflected in a gender disparity in OU’s College of Education.
The gender gap in the Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education is found in its enrollment numbers. In fall 2018, there were 1,057 women and 292 men enrolled, according to the 2019 OU Factbook.
Corey Peltier, a special education professor at OU, said that he thinks the lack of men in education is a complex issue but also thinks that money keeps men from becoming teachers.
“I think the pay would be a huge thing that could be persuading a lot of men out of the profession,” Peltier said. “Particularly, if you're thinking about men feeling like they need to be bringing in money to support an entire family.”
However, Peltier said that he also thinks the way society sees men’s relationship with children has a lot to do with it.
“There’s also another side to it, which is the views of teaching from a societal perspective because we see society portraying women as good with young kids,” Peltier said. “If you look at the proportion of males to females across the college in early childhood education, you're going to have way more women, but once you start looking at the secondary routes, people interested in teaching high school, you begin to see more men enrolling.”
In 2017, 20.7 percent of elementary and middle school teachers were men, but 41.5 percent were secondary school teachers, according to MenTeach.
Connor Jackson, an early childhood education junior, said that he thinks the reason there is a lack of men who are teachers is because of the low salary.
“I believe part of the reason is due to the lower income teachers make and men wanting to be the ‘breadwinners’ of the house, where their passion is overcome by chasing a dollar sign, because the world we live in associates contentment, success and comfort with money,” Jackson said. “Or it could be the stigma that teaching is a female profession, which drives men away.”
The national average salary of teachers in public elementary and secondary schools was $58,950 in 2016-17, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
Along with that, male teachers have a much larger wage penalty, which is teacher pay compared with the pay of other career opportunities for potential and current teachers, than female teachers. In 2017, female public school teachers made 15.6 percent less than comparable female workers, but male teachers made 26.8 percent less than comparable male workers, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Matthew Mairet, an early childhood education senior, said that he thinks the lack of male teachers comes from trends throughout history but also thinks it has more to do with how men perceive themselves than the salary.
“With early childhood, I'm not sure it's as much money as it is, ‘Am I comfortable with myself enough to do this and to be silly and walk around on all fours like a donkey?’” Mairet said. “It’s the question of are you comfortable enough with yourself? If you can do that, then the money aspect is not going to play much of a role.”
Research has shown that there is a stigma of a lack of masculinity in men who teach earlier grades and that sexism and status are the main reason for the lack of male teachers, according to the Association of American Educators.
Mairet said that he thinks there is more of a stigma attached to men in the field of education than a stereotype.
“I don’t think it’s necessarily a stereotype, but I do think there is kind of like a stigma that goes along with it, especially in early childhood education,” Mairet said. “I've got a big beard, so if there is a stereotype of men in the teaching profession, I am not that. But, I've definitely had some moms that really wanted to get to know me before they dropped their kid off at the preschool that I was working at.”
Jackson said that he is one of only two men in his major, but that has not discouraged him from pursuing a career in education and being a positive influence on future students.
“Pursuing a career in education is important to me as a man because I have seen firsthand the impact a teacher can have on a child’s life,” Jackson said. “Sadly, there are so many students who lack a strong male figure in their life, and that can have an impact on their development. I hope to be there for those that need me and to show the world that education can be fun, interactive and lively.”
Mairet said that he feels it’s important to be a man in the field of early childhood education in order to give kids a positive male role model early on in their lives.
“Unintentionally, I'm going to be a positive male role model in the lives of children that may or may not have a lot of those,” Mairet said. “They're going to have a lot of female teachers, and they're going to have a lot of great female teachers, but generally, they're not going to have a great male role model in a school setting until they get to high school.”
Jackson said that he was inspired to pursue a career in education because his mom is a teacher.
“My mother, who is a teacher here in Norman, opened up many opportunities for me to help out in classrooms, and after two years of doing so, I found my true passion, which is working with children,” Jackson said.
Mairet said that he is a nontraditional student and decided to pursue a career in early childhood education after being a nanny for his nephew. He was then given a job at the preschool he was taking his nephew to.
“I was taking (my nephew) to a small, local preschool, and I just really enjoyed it there,” Mairet said. “I decided I wanted to learn more about it because I was having fun, but I also felt like I could be giving these kids more by knowing more about how they learn and how to teach effectively.”
Peltier said that he decided to become a teacher because of a male teacher he had in first grade.
“I specifically remember in first grade I had a male first-grade teacher, which is super rare, especially in the younger grades,” Peltier said. “I remember it was just amazing, and he was the initial person that got me to really love school. I think that I've always been interested in helping kids see the value in education and the path that it could open for you later on in life.”
Peltier said that it is crucial for education professors to encourage their male students to continue their education journey by building relationships with them in order to bring more men into the field of education.
“My standpoint is just to keep them in it, and to convince them to keep going,” Peltier said. “I also think we need to do a better job of actually trying to recruit men to the field. So, I think the biggest thing is to build relationships with the men that are in the classes and help them see that there are other men interested in this field, so they know they’re not an anomaly.”
