Why are there fewer and fewer men among teachers?

On November 27, Teacher's Day was celebrated in Spain. Although for many, it should already be called "Teacher's Day".

It turns out that for a few years, the distribution of the sexes in the classrooms of primary and secondary schools shows a clear female hegemony. Some studies carried out in recent years ensure that the male presence in teaching staff has fallen by 45%, although men have never been the majority in the world of primary education and, in secondary education, in a few cases.

Currently, the male faculty represents only 25% presence in schools. How can this drastic trend be explained?

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The teachers, the vast majority in kindergartens

If we thought that the differences in relation to sex were uneven, the results of the last year in Primary and Secondary Education provided by the Ministry of Education are at least amazing. And it is that, nothing more and nothing less than, to this day, in Spain a whopping amount of

98% of the members of the school faculty that includes the ages of 3 to 6 years, are women.

This phenomenon clearly conflicts with the idea that men and women behave in the same way. Now, what is this clear trend due to? Does it have to do with something cultural, and with the residue that traditions have left in the way of thinking of several generations?

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Higher education, more male teachers than female teachers

Another fact to take into account and that explains part of the matrices that mark society to differentiate between the sexes in education The general level is that the more specialized the study or level of education, the higher the percentage of men there are teaching. The trend is reversed, and the baton is picked up by the masculine gender: the older the student, the more men on the faculty.

Everything and to continue being a minority, the masculine teachers increase in the age of the institute and compulsory secondary education. In this sense, 40% of the teaching staff in this part of the education section is represented by the male sex. It seems that the greater the professional academic requirement, the more men occupy the position. The same occurs with senior positions of responsibility, such as the directors of the centers; Men are also in the majority. So this difference between men and women It is also reflected in the salaries that you can apply for..

How can this phenomenon be explained?

Anyone has in their retina that teacher who marked their childhood or adolescence, where she herself was like our second mother. That adorable person who taught at school what your parents couldn't give you in the family environment. Without further ado, the teacher was the direct prolongation between the mother and child relationship. And the truth is that teaching has for centuries been something attributed to the female gender, given that it is associated with the care of boys and girls and, consequently, with an extension of upbringing. But that does not mean that in practice it is only them who carry out this profession.

There are some explanations derived directly from the family model in the society in which we live. You could say that the school is the reflection or the mirror where the roles between both sexes are projected. This means that, at a general level, the idea that women represent the qualities of patience, tenderness and empathy with the little ones, and that these characteristics are defining of what female. In this sense, teachers are asked to be more maternal than professional.

On the other hand, it is a proven trend that the more complete the welfare state, the more gender differences are accentuated when choosing work: in countries like Iran, for For example, a woman is more likely to choose to study engineering (in the country mentioned, 70% of science and engineering students are women), compared to richer countries, such as Spain. It seems that, in most professions, with certain guarantees of being able to live with material resources enough, men and women opt for career paths more consistent with stereotypes of gender.

Worrying data according to the European Union

What is of little or no concern to the Spanish Ministry of Education represents serious harm according to the European Union and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The disparity between the sexes of the exposed cases is a pending subject (pun intended) in the Spanish State, since it is located right in the middle of the table headed by the countries that are part of the O.C.E.D.

Being the proportion of 1 man for every 5 women in primary education, the European organization warns that the lack of a male referent in this could be a turning point for boys scope, since this models in his conscience the most labeled stereotype in women. Being clear, the students end up determining the preference of the professions according to the sex.

The reality is worrying for a large number of scholars in gender equality. In some cases, the universities have taken great pains to give lectures or bring gatherings experts in gender awareness, to arouse the interest of students, without much success by the way. Perhaps the root educational model should be influenced by public institutions, proposing a new selection model for future teaching professionals.

A direct consequence of these public policies is the salary inequality that this causes between male teachers and female teachers. The average for a primary school teacher is 33,000 euros gross per year, while one dedicated to secondary or higher education is around 38,000 euros respectively.