Men rarely work in early education – does it matter? Blog news from elsewhere

We reblog this research update, written by journalist Jack Graham and published on the BOLD blog.

In an early childhood classroom, male teachers are a rare breed. Around the world, numbers range from barely more than 0.2 percent of early childhood teachers and caregivers in Israel to 9 percent in Norway. Often having to cope with stigma from traditional social norms, men find it difficult to enter and remain in the profession.

Alongside the various social issues this raises around gender equality, however, the situation begs another important question: What difference, if any, does having a male early educator – usually working with children aged three to five – make for a young child’s development?

Read this blog message in full.