Few Men’s Land: Inquiries Into Male Elementary Teachers’ Gender(Ed) Assumptions and Practices

Only 9% of elementary school teachers are currently male, despite the fact that men make up roughly half of the United States population. This under-representation of male elementary teachers presents many questions and challenges for schools and society. This study hopes to further educators’ understandings of some of the specific challenges that male elementary school teachers confront in their daily lives as well as of their insights and suggestions to address such. This study posits the importance of these educators’ being able to share their thoughts, perceptions, and questions about their work, including how they have tended to position themselves as male elementary school teachers. Using qualitative research methods, eight male elementary teachers (retired, veteran, experienced, and novices) were interviewed in order to examine their perspectives and assumptions regarding “maleness” as well as the factors that primarily have impacted their decisions to remain teaching at the elementary level. Analyses and interpretations of participants’ responses yielded recommendations for attending to these insights in order to inform teaching recruitment, induction, and varied other policy decisions