How Does Gender Affect The Teaching Profession?

     As I look back at my time in elementary, middle, and high school, I have come to the realization that I can count on my fingers the amount of male teachers I had. Growing up in the education system, it was very rare that I came across male teachers, and when I did, they were typically physical education teachers or principals. As a result from this, it has been brought to light that there is a huge split in education when it comes to gender. Because of this divide, when people think about teachers, they often think about women being the gender that plays this role. In the EdCast with Jennie Weiner, she talks about the roles of which women are placed into by society and one of those roles is that women should be the primary care takers of their young children. Because of this role placement of women in society, female teachers often struggle with being a primary care taker while often having a full time job because they are not being offered paid leave or cheap child care. As she continues talking, Weiner also mentions how men often fall into a leadership positions and that women are not as often placed in leadership positions because they do not possess the characteristics of a male, some examples being strong and dominate. This definitely sets back the gender aspect of the teaching profession because it is, in a way, placing people into stereotypes based on what society thinks should be the correct way but in reality, gender should not matter in the teacher profession. The only thing that should matter is that the students are being taught sufficiently. 




Comments

  1. Bella CarballoMarch 24, 2023 at 7:18 PM

    Hello Sophie! You did a wonderful job with this blog post and your insights on the topic. As you said, I think in total I only had five or six male teachers. Just enough to count on two hands. And you are right, unfortunately, most caretakers from teachers to nurses, are women. This semester I have started my major-specific courses such as this one. And in all four of my current courses, I have a single classmate that is male. The problem with these stereotypes is not only that we don't see representation but that there is this pressure on women to not only be a caretaker at work but at home as well. While many women do enjoy forming a family, they receive little to no help from the system. The US is one of 8 countries that have yet to offer national paid maternity leave for women, although there is substantial evidence that it helps the country overall. I hope to see more men in our profession, especially with the younger ages.

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  2. Ellie CantuMarch 24, 2023 at 7:26 PM

    Hey Sophie! I loved reading your blog post and agree with everything you said. All my years of education I have only had a couple of male teachers until college. I think as women we have to deal with the stereotypes that we are caregivers and the men are the breadwinners, and that is what we will deal with for a while. What really stuck out to me was when Weiner said that men are given higher spots in occupations because of their "dominant" and "strong" characteristics. I hate that this is true because I believe any gender can be strong and dominant. I know that women can be just as good, or even better, principles, bosses, CEOs, etc. As future teachers, we should not have to get used to the comments about only women being teachers or women being the ones who take care of children. Again, great post Sophie and thank you for sharing your thoughts.

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