Thursday, April 24, 2008
Gender justice from a certain point of view
In response to a federal initiative to redress alleged "gender injustice" in math, science, and engineering:
I want to see aggressive investigation into the shortage of male elementary school teachers. The absence of male role models damages children, especially those from impoverished female-headed homes. The usual excuses: "Men aren't interested," "People don't feel comfortable having their kids around men," etc., are just prejudice. We need to break down those walls of exclusion.
Indeed, the long-term social consequences of the gender imbalance in primary education are almost certainly greater and harder to remediate than in any professional field.
10 Comments:
By 
Georg Felis, at
Thu Apr 24, 06:59:00 PM:
Could there also be a reluctance of male teachers to accept an underpaid position where they will inevitably be accused of sexual discrimination by immature and sexually overcharged adolescents who see it as an easy way to avoid actual study? Well, at least at the middle and high school levels.
By 
, at
Thu Apr 24, 07:38:00 PM:
If you get out of college with a lot of student loan debt, it's difficult to accept a job that starts at 30k a year (if you are lucky). Teaching used to be a good middle class job. Not so much these days.
By , at
Thu Apr 24, 09:30:00 PM:
Nice post, TH. It's not just teachers, though. Parents should check out the gender balance at the next PTA meeting. If you go, that is...
By , at
Thu Apr 24, 11:25:00 PM:
"Could there also be a reluctance of male teachers to accept an underpaid position where they will inevitably be accused of sexual discrimination by immature and sexually overcharged adolescents who see it as an easy way to avoid actual study?"
Of course. Obviously, male teachers must be paid more than female teachers. Likewise, students and colleagues who accuse them of harrassment should be required to undergo sensitivity training to understand male behavior and confront their own unacknowledged anti-male sexist bigotry.
By randian, at
Fri Apr 25, 12:26:00 AM:
"Likewise, students and colleagues who accuse them of harrassment should be required to undergo sensitivity training to understand male behavior and confront their own unacknowledged anti-male sexist bigotry."
Are you seriously arguing there isn't a whole lot of unacknowledged anti-male sexist bigotry out there?
Since there isn't a shortage of applicants for teaching positions, I don't think they're underpaid. Teachers should get paid the minimum necessary to clear open positions. The "underpaid" meme is a lie promulgated by the teacher's unions.
Men might reject a job paying what a teacher gets, but that's because few men can attract a mate if they don't make enough money to satisfy the desired lifestyle of their prospective wife-to-be (or, God forbid, make less than she does). Women marry up, which every man understands notwithstanding women's PC protestations that they don't really care what a man makes.
As for potential false accusations of sexual misconduct, no amount of money is sufficient to compensate for that risk in today's legal climate. The witch hunt will destroy you personally and professionally even if you're cleared.
By , at
Fri Apr 25, 01:18:00 AM:
I was told my child and all the other children had mastery of the second grade material and had therefore be promoted into the third grade. Normally when the word "mastery" is used it denoted the abality to understand at a level necessary to convey the concepts to others (i.e. teach). In theory, any third grader should be able to teach second grade math (or at least any high school grad). So why are people going 30k in the hole to get a college degree to teach elementry?
By Gary Rosen, at
Fri Apr 25, 01:34:00 AM:
I understand completely, and agree with, the point Glenn is making about the ludicrous charge of "gender injustice" in math, science and engineering. But hasn't elementary education, at least K-6, *always* been overwhelmingly female dating back long before any glimmerings of the women's lib movement? Of course there are historical reasons for this, and one might legitimately wonder if we wouldn't be better off with more balance.
By , at
Fri Apr 25, 09:11:00 AM:
Demands for "gender equity" in math and science are bull.
Women are only "underrepresented" in certain fields of math and science. When it comes to biology and the life sciences, I daresay (anecdotally, however) that women form a majority in the field. It's physics and math where there is "underrepresentation".
By Dawnfire82, at
Fri Apr 25, 11:58:00 AM:
Much of that has to do with interest. Go into an upper division computer engineering class (for example) and count how many women are in there.
Likewise, go into a similar Education or Nursing class and count the men.
I wouldn't want to be a teacher because I don't particularly like kids. I barely like mine. It's really that simple.
By , at
Fri Apr 25, 12:29:00 PM:
Gary Rosen said:
But hasn't elementary education, at least K-6, *always* been overwhelmingly female dating back long before any glimmerings of the women's lib movement?
According to the NEA :
The percentage of male teachers in elementary schools has fallen regularly since 1981 - that year, it reached an all-time high of 18 percent. Today, a scant 9 percent of elementary school teachers are men. Likewise, the percentage of males in secondary schools has fluctuated over the years, but now stands at its lowest level (35 percent).
Some have claimed that the percentage of men in teaching was higher in the past than it is today because of some men becoming teachers in the 1960s to avoid the draft. Certainly, some men avoided the draft in the 1960s in that manner. However, that the peak of male elementary school teacher occurred in 1981 and not in the 1960s or early 1970s would tend to discredit the hypothesis that the peak in male elementary school teachers occurred primarily because of men avoiding the draft.
My guess is that the peak occurred with “ feminist” men.. “ free to be…” back then.
George Felis said:
Could there also be a reluctance of male teachers to accept an underpaid position where they will inevitably be accused of sexual discrimination by immature and sexually overcharged adolescents who see it as an easy way to avoid actual study? Well, at least at the middle and high school levels.
Three decades ago a male high school teacher told me of a female student who offered her “charms” to get her grades back up. As the student had fallen behind, and needed tutoring, his solution was to have another teacher in the room when he was tutoring the “charming” student.
