RUNNING HEAD: LITERATURE REVIEW

Literature Review
University of Texas at El Paso
Alexandria Bustillos
RWS 1302-Nugent
10/30/2016

Abstract
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Literature Review

The field of education was not always predominantly women. Over the years
educator jobs have drastically become more feminized. These numbers are different for
elementary levels, secondary levels, and administration levels. Males ultimately are
discouraged from becoming teachers because it is not manly or macho. This limits male
role models for young boys because they do not typically see this as a job that men
normally do. There are many opportunities for males to advance in their career within
this field though. Women do not receive these same opportunities ironically. Women are
also not viewed for their success in the classroom. They are judged very harshly while
men get praised for having fun and awesome personalities. These differences may not
be widely known throughout society, but they do exist very much.

Introduction

Literature Review

Receiving an education is very important in todays society. But, who are we

receiving this education from? Are we learning from predominantly females or males? In
a world where we are trying to decrease the size of the gender gap, we still see careers
include more males or females, especially in the field of education. Although, we do not
normally pay attention to the differences in workers between levels (primary education,
secondary education, administration). In addition to looking at those differences, we will
find out why those differences exist. We will also consider if it is easier for women or
men to break the glass ceiling and to move into administrative positions. Because of this
gap, do children tend to be affected in one way or another? There are many factors to
consider when looking at the feminization of the education field.
What is the difference in numbers of female educators versus male educators at
the primary level, secondary level, and administrative level?
All throughout time, female teachers have dominated the classroom. But, it has
been more so in recent times than ever before. According to a report from the National
Education Association, there are 785,151 male teachers in public elementary and
secondary schools across the nation compared to 2.4 million women (Mayhew, 2014).
As a whole for the United States, this averages out to about thirty percent of teachers
being male.

Literature Review

http://teaching.monster.com/careers/articles/3005

Women are being persuaded to go into fields such as engineering and science, mostly
dominated by men, while the males have not been pushed towards any field remotely
dominated by females, such as teaching (Mayhew, 2014). In a survey conducted by the
U.S. Bureau of Labor, just 2.3% of pre-K and kindergarten teachers, 18.3% of the
elementary and middle school teacher population, and 42% of the high school level
teaching staff are male (Association of American Educators, 2012). While the numbers
seem to even out a bit in high school, the number of males teaching the younger
children is relatively low. Now, even though women tend to dominate in the classroom, it
seems to be the opposite at the administrative level. Numbers have actually risen in a
span of ten years from women holding 29% of leadership positions to holding 45% of
leadership positions (Cantu, 1996). But, within the public school system, males hold
most of the top administrative positions.
What is the reasoning behind the difference in numbers of female educators
versus male educators?
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Seeing by the numbers above, it is clear that women dominate the field of
education. But why is that? One reason could be the whole money aspect. Teachers do
not have that high of pay and men have the idea that they have to be breadwinners in a
family (Bloch, n.d.). They want more money to be able to take care of a family and a
teachers salary does not cut it. This is a reason a lot of males move up to the
administration level. Teaching is a profession that works well for individuals with
children. But since the males are still viewed as the primary caregivers, women
gravitate more towards the profession to work with the schedule with having children.
They can take off work for a few years to be with the child and return fairly easily (Rich,
2014). Because there are more women teachers in the classroom, a stigma has
developed that suggests academic success is for girls (Bloch, n.d.). Boys look to
people on TV for the most part and aspire to be like them. They may be less inclined to
view it as a desirable option (Rich, 2014). Studio 10 reported that if you do not have a
lot of male teachers and you are growing up as a young male and you see that is a
strong male role model in a teaching position, there are not young guys coming through
going that is a role I want to do (Studio 10, 2014). Another reporter on Studio 10
stated that because she was from a broken family, a lot of her male teachers acted like
father figures to her. The gender gap is more apparent than ever. When people look at
jobs and see that it is mostly women in that field, it becomes devalued (Rich, 2014).
Even though a profession as an educator is looked at as an easy job or something as a
last resort, it is actually the opposite. It has become devalued because of the way
society looks at it. Another major reason males tend to stray away from this profession
is because they feel threatened in a society where parents are liable to bring lawsuits

Literature Review

relate to sexual misconduct (Bloch, n.d.). Men and women both are accused of sexual
misconduct but males are put in the spotlight more than women. Parents and
administrators alike do not want to deal with the idea of male teachers, especially in the
primary grades, because of this misconception. Even though most men could have the
ability to make great and successful teachers, males are scared ofthe insinuations
that they are a threat to children (Studio 10, 2014). The public should not make
assumptions based on the very few who ruin the name for others.

https://bahslerd.wordpress.com/2010/05/18/is-there-a-difference-between-male-and-female-teachers/

Is it harder for female educators to move up to the administrative level rather than
male educators?
While women dominate within the classroom, it is men who dominate at the
administrative level. In the United States, 14% of superintendents were female, 1,984
out of 13,728 (George, 2013). Superintendents and principals come from individuals
within the teaching position. So, if there are more women teachers in the classroom,
why do men tend to move up faster and more common than women? Females tend to
overpower males within the elementary level as teachers. This is even so at a higher
level as female administrators are accepted and employed at the elementary level but
underrepresented at the secondary school level (Krumm, Kruse, 2016). Women also
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Literature Review

tend to spend more time in the classroom teaching before moving up than men. At the
same position, 40% of male superintendents spent five or less years in the classroom
while 40% of women superintendents had over 10 years (George, 2013). Most
superintendent get moved up from a position like a principal in a secondary school,
which are predominantly male. Women do not tend to hold positions that lead to moving
up the ladder (Glass, 2000). Women are not as experienced either. Education boards
want someone who will deal with budget and financial decisions by using skills and
experiences in these areas as key hiring criteria (Glass, 2000). Another point is that
women do not desire to move up to higher positions. Most teachers have children and
do not want to work long hours. Younger teachers prefer a better balance between
work and family life (Glass, 2000). Most men in leadership positions have a family with
a wife and children while women are normally single with no children. Many women do
want the married life so they do not wish to fulfill these administrative positions.
(George, 2013). We also see some sexism. It is not that women are not able to handle
the work load, it is that 43 percent of the male superintendents agreed that school
boards tend to view women as incapable of managing a school district (Glass, 2000).
Most women also enter the field of education to teach children, not to work in an office
and administer. All of these barriers, environment, culture, family, sexism, and
characteristics can affect why or why not a male or female decides to climb their way up
to higher positions within school districts like principals or superintendents.

Literature Review

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1359983/Women-boardroom-companies-increase-faceGovernment-quotas.html

Does whether having a male or female teacher affect children?

Believe it or not, whether having a male or female teacher does affect children. I
do see favorites often. We have a few male teachers that the kids absolutely love. We
teach the same curriculum, but I have gotten told before that they do not like me, they
like Mr stated Jana Guillen. Jana is a third-grade teacher at Logan Elementary
School is El Paso, Texas. I try and be as fun as I can while still teaching the students
everything I can. But, I am a woman! Go figure (Guillen). Jana is not the only female
teacher to be ridiculed for just being a woman. In a study from the popular college site
RateMyProfessor.com, students mainly described male faculty as brilliant, awesome
and knowledgeable. While females are seen as bossy and annoying, and beautiful or
ugly (Zaino, 2015). This can hurt professors classes because these reviews can either
encourage or discourage other students from taking their class. Surveys for online
classes also showed higher marks for male professors than female professors (Zaino,
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Literature Review

2015). In an article on The Telegraph (2015), it shows that professor Benjamin Schmidt
conducted a study from RateMyProfessor.com that shows words describing a teacher,
sees how many times it appears in reviews and the gender the word describes. Some
studies saw that students can be biased against female teachers, with students giving
higher rates to male teachers - even if they taught an identical class to female teachers
(Sanghani, 2015).

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/11402552/Female-teachers-are-bossy.-Male-teachersare-awesome.html

Conclusion
Women hold the majority of positions of classroom teachers at an elementary
level, while it is seemingly even at a secondary level. Ironically, males predominantly
hold the majority of positions at the administrative level. Males hold these positions

Literature Review

because they are viewed more as leaders and women tend to want to stay in the
classroom rather than move up. Men have strayed away from teaching in classrooms
because they are ridiculed more as pedophiles or sexual offenders. They themselves do
not want to be labeled as such and administrators and parents to want to have to deal
with any problems that could arise. Because more men are straying away, it is a woman
dominated field. Society tends to devalue careers run by women, because they are
mostly run by women. And finally, having a male or female teacher can affect your
children. Female teachers are described by looks (beautiful, ugly) while males are
viewed on personality (funny, awesome). Even though they could be teaching the exact
same thing, women are seen as bossy or strict while men are called powerful and
knowledgeable.

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Literature Review

References

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http://www.scholastic.com/administrator/mar06/articles.asp?article=MaleTeachers
Bossy Teacher Graph. (n.d.). Retrieved from
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Cantu, L. (1996, March). Women in Education Fields. Retrieved October 10,
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ducation_ Fields/
Difference Between Male and Female Teachers. (n.d.). Retrieved from
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Female Vs. Male Teachers. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://teaching.monster.com/careers/articles/3005
George, R. (2013, November 18). Examining the Journey and Experiences of
Females Who Become Oregon School Superintendents (Unpublished doctoral
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article=1032&context=edd
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L. (2012, June 05). The Teacher Gender-Gap. Retrieved October 10, 2016, from
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Rich, M. (2014, September 06). Why Dont More Men Go Into Teaching?
Retrieved September 27, 2016, from
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http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/07/sunday-review/why-dont-more-men-go-intoteaching.html?_r=0
Sanghani, R. (2015, February 10). Female teachers are 'bossy'. Male teachers
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/11402552/Female-teachers-arebossy.-Male-teachers-are-awesome.html
Shortage of Male Teachers [Video file]. (2014, October 09). In YouTube.
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Zaino, J. (2015, February 23). Gender Bias in Student Evaluations. Retrieved
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