Exploring Career Trajectories of Men in the Early Childhood Education and Care Workforce by Brody, David L.; Emilsen, Kari; Rohrmann, Tim;

Short description:

Achieving greater diversity and gender balance in the workforce has proved a challenging goal, despite concerted efforts on the part of individuals, institutions, and governments around the world. This book explores how men in the field make their career decisions to remain in or leave the profession.

Long description:

The role of men in early childhood education and care is crucial for the future of all children growing up in a gender sensitive world. Achieving greater diversity and gender balance in the workforce has proved a challenging goal, despite concerted efforts on the part of individuals, institutions, and governments around the world. Many men remain reluctant to enter the profession, and once they choose this work many leave. This book explores how men in the field make their career decisions to remain in or leave the profession.

Taking a broad international perspective and exploring the role of gender in these career decisions, contributors from around the globe unpack how gender concepts influence men’s career trajectories. Through their collaborative research, the team of 17 gender and early childhood researchers investigate various critical and relevant factors such as professionalisation, workplace environment, leadership, day to day interactions in the workplace, societal considerations, internal motivations, agency, masculinities, and critical moments in career decision making. Using cultural, racial, ethnic, and social class lenses to examine men’s career decisions over their professional lives, the contributors’ unique approach uncovers the complexity of the issue and offers evidence-based recommendations for policy both on national and local levels. These include practical suggestions to directors and managers who care about achieving a gender-mixed workforce.

Accessible and enlightening, this is a unique resource for scholars, policymakers, and any others in the education community who support boosting the inclusion of men in early childhood education.

Table of Contents:

1. Introduction  2. Theoretical perspectives on men’s choices to remain and to leave  3. A diversity of cultural and institutional contexts  4. Researching men’s career trajectories in ECEC: A ross-cultural inter-researcher approach  5. Professionalization and Gender Balance  6. Workplace environment: Leadership and governance  7. Experiences of workplace relationships as factors precipitating or preventing dropout of male educators in ECEC  8. Societal factors impacting male turnover in ECEC  9. Intrinsic motivations as a factor in men’s career decisions in ECEC  10. Agency as a determinant of men’s decisions to leave or stay  11. Masculinity, sexuality and resistance  12. Why men stay  13. Critical moments in men’s career trajectories  14. More men in ECEC: Towards a gender-sensitive workforce – summary and conclusions