What Happened to Male Teachers in Elementary Education?

What Happened to Male Teachers in Elementary Education?

In the 1970s and 80s, there were plenty of men teaching in elementary schools. Today? Not so much.

From The Federalist:

Why Male Teachers Left Elementary Schools And Won’t Go Back

Men are disappearing from the education landscape in America. In 1970, about 30 percent of America’s elementary teachers were male; by 2021, the number had dipped to 11 percent. Similar or even steeper drops happened at middle and high school levels.

The absence of men creates a harmful imbalance in how America’s children are educated. Men, however, did not depart willingly. They were driven out by the increasing feminization of schools, producing a vicious cycle of female-dominated schools.

Many blame exodus on male pride. Education, especially elementary education, is, critics say, “female coded.” Teachers earn less. Jobs in elementary education are not thought to be masculine enough. “We need to break down the gender stereotypes preventing men entering these large, high-growth job sectors” like education, argues the Brookings Institution’s Richard Reeves and others.

Teachers, in fact, are paid more today than they were in 1970, in inflation-adjusted dollars. And “stereotypes” (if such they are) were arguably much stronger in 1970 than today.

Feminist ideology and the spiritual dominance of women (what author Helen Andrews calls “the great feminization”) in elementary education dissuades men from even considering work in elementary education. It turns out, not surprisingly, that men make rational decisions in the face of feminized institutions like elementary schools.

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