Male shortage a world wide issue

1 October 2007

New Zealand is not alone among developed nations in having low levels of male participation in early childhood education. OECD figures for the 25 most industrialised countries showed that, in 2003, 96% of the pre-primary workforce was female.

A headline in the Times of London earlier this year bemoans the fact that "nurseries are opening the gender gap by failing to let boys be boys." Media coverage in the US has also highlighting shortages of men in teaching through the elementary (or what we call the primary) education sector and pointing to the detrimental affect his can have, especially with a good proportion of young Americans growing up in solo mother households.

As long ago as 1992, the European Union was recommending member states encourage and support increased participation by men in the care and upbringing of children. Despite this, the recruitment of men into the field has been slow but the European Union's declaration of 2007 as Year of Equal Opportunity, including the promotion of diversity in the workforce, has seen member governments putting in place targets for men in early childhood education. In the UK, the target for men in the workforce is 5 %. Denmark and Belgium have already achieved that figure and Norway is close to achieving it.

Money has been made available to allow them to mount a major push to attract more men into early childhood education. A poster campaign proclaims "Boys can do it too!" and there has been a drive in schools and through employment agencies to ensure boys are aware of early childhood teaching as an option. Another initiative is to provide onsite pre-training to young men interested in entering the profession. If they decide the job is for them that period can be counted towards their training.

Australia, too, has been taking action. The federal government amended its sex discrimination legislation several years ago to permit more favourable treatment for men to address the lack of male role models in schools and in early childhood centres, where around 2% of teachers are men.

In the United States, a survey in 2002 of childcare providers in Washington State resulted in a number of strategies that could be used to increase the number of men in their workforce. They included: placing "men encouraged to apply" or "men welcome" messages in job ads; placing those ads under the 'recreation' rather than 'childcare' section on the employment pages; recruiting and training men through high school and college work study programmes; and. offering work experience during school vacations.

Meanwhile, a special forum will be held in Hawaii next year to discuss strategies for increasing male participation in the early years of education.