Is there a desire for more male teachers in elementary schools? Would this affect the hiring process?

Question

I am a sub and in many of the elementary schools i teach at there are rarely any male teachers. The ratio of female to male teacher is prob around 6:1 (just an estimate) would males have any edge in the hiring process?

Answer 1

Many elementary schools are making an effort to hire males in order to give students positive role models. Yes, a male may have an edge as schools try to hire a balanced and diverse staff of both males and females PROVIDED they were equally qualified.

Answer 2

As a female retired teacher I would say that there is a desire for more male teachers in elementary school. They are sometimes perceived as having better discipline with older students, are less apt to take time off for sick children and are often on a track to be administrators. I am not saying that these generalizations are always true. I think it would affect the hiring process. Usually the male teacher have sixth grade or fifth grade. I just never happened to work with a male teacher who was not motivated to do a very good job and was very good at content areas. I realize this may not be always true.

Answer 3

Yes there is a desire for more male teachers in the school system. There is a desire for more male presence in education in general i.e. the demand for books with themes for boys and boys as the main character. Often boys are neglected and we cater to the girls in the school system.

No, it won't affect the hiring process, even though school systems want more men on their staffs. If you have the qualifications for the job (which isn't that much) then you will get it because the school systems want teacher in general, not just men. They allow anyone to teach our children these days.

The profession is one of most abandoned; many people only teach to put themeselves through school then go on to what they really want to have a career in. Therefore, the school system is willing to hire just about anyone because teacher are scarce. There aren't too many young adults heading off to college to become a teacher, a major reason being it the pay isn't all that good.

But, it is my opinion, that if more men became teachers then the pay for teachers would increase dramatically. If it became a male dominated profession the pay would be extremely lucrative. Take a look at any male dominated profession you will see that they get paid. Then take a look at the profession dominated by woman.

Answer 4

My daughter had a male teacher in third, fifth and sixth grade. My son had a male teacher in third and sixth grade. All of them were excellent teachers. In fact, the teacher my daughter had in both fifth and sixth grade may have done more in advancing her academically than any other teacher she had prior to that point. My husband was gone a great deal of the time when my children were very young (military and then a job that kept him away for weeks at a time) and having a male teacher provide a positive role model was a huge benefit to them. One of the big benefits of public education is that children learn how to deal with a large variety of people. While women may be considered to be more nurturing, it would be a darn shame if women were the only teachers our children had. Having a male teacher exposed my children to a different perspective. The only teacher I ever was concerned that my children would get was a woman who was nearing retirement. She had a tendency to scream, remove children from the classroom for hours at a time rather than deal with issues that arose, and played movies all day on Friday.

Answer 5

While in college, I was told repeated how easy it will be for me to get a job since I'm a guy wanting to teach 3rd-5th (and not as a PE coach).
They were right.
I was offered my choice of grade and subject my 3rd week of student teaching.
By the way, in a k-5 school of 1,200 students there are 68 teachers and only 7 are guys (6 are 4th and 5th grade teachers).

Answer 6

There needs to be more males teaching at the elementary level. There needs to be more Africn-American males teaching at the elementary level. I believe being a male would give you an edge when compared with someone equal with your talents and experience.

Answer 7

Go for it! You'll be hired immediately if you're certified!