Last November 27th, 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 sexes in primary and secondary school classrooms shows a clear female hegemony. Some studies carried out in recent years assure that The male presence on the teaching staff has fallen by 45% although men have never been the majority in the world of primary education and, in secondary education, in few cases.
Currently, the male teaching staff represents only 25% of the presence in schools. How can this drastic trend be explained?
If we thought that the differences in relation to sex were disparate, the results of the last year in Primary and Secondary Education provided by the Ministry of Education are surprising, to say the least. And the fact is that, nothing more and nothing less than, today, in Spain, a whopping 98% of school teachers between the ages of 3 and 6 are women
This phenomenon clearly conflicts with the idea that men and women behave in the same way. Now, what is the reason for this clear trend? Does it have to do with something cultural, and with the residue that traditions have left in the way of thinking of several generations?
Higher education, more male professors than female professors
Another fact to take into account and that explains part of the matrices that mark society to differentiate between sexes in education at a general level is that, the more specialized the study or degree of education, the greater the percentage of men there are teaching. The trend is reversed, and the witness is picked up by the male gender: The older the student, the more men on the teaching staff
All while still being a minority, male teachers increase in age for high school and compulsory secondary education. In this sense, 40% of the teachers in this part of the education section are represented by the male sex. It seems that the greater the professional academic demand, the more men occupy the position. The same thing happens with higher positions of responsibility, such as center directors; Men are also the majority. So, this difference between men and women It is also reflected in the salaries to which you can opt
How can this phenomenon be explained?
Everyone has in their retina that teacher who marked their childhood or adolescence, where she 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 extension between the mother and child relationship. And the truth is that For centuries, teaching has been something that is attributed to the female gender, since it is associated with the care of boys and girls and, consequently, with an extension of parenting. 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 has been internalized that women represent the qualities of patience, tenderness and empathy with the little ones, and that these characteristics are defining of the feminine. 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 is, the more gender differences become accentuated when choosing a job: in countries like Iran, for example, a woman is more likely to choose to study engineering ( In the aforementioned country, 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 sufficient material resources, men and women opt for professional careers that are more consistent with gender stereotypes.
Worrying data according to the European Union
What worries the Spanish Ministry of Education little or nothing, represents serious damage according to the European Union and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The disparity between the sexes of the cases exposed 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 OECD.
With the proportion being 1 man for every 5 women in primary education, the European organization warns that the lack of a male reference in this area could be a turning point for children, since This models in their conscience the stereotype most labeled in women To be clear, students end up determining their preference for professions according to sex.
The reality is worrying for a large number of gender equality scholars. In some cases, universities have gone out of their way to give lectures or bring in experts on gender awareness, to awaken the interest of students, without much success, of course. Perhaps the educational model should be influenced at its roots from 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 education teacher is 33,000 euros gross per year, while one dedicated to secondary or higher education is around 38,000 euros respectively.
