Gender stereotyping in the eyes of preschool teachers and teacher candidates

The purpose of this study was to discover what male preschool teachers and preschool teacher candidates face in the field of early childhood education. It was a qualitative study involving interviews with 10 volunteers: Five were preschool teachers and five were preschool teacher candidates. Four main themes emerged from the results: responses of participants’ parents, difficulties at the university, difficulties in the profession, and prejudices of children\u27s parents. The results of the study also showed the following: (a) Teachers faced gender stereotypes, and teacher candidates believed they would eventually face them; and (b) if male teacher candidates could not perform their jobs easily or if they experienced any difficulty, they and their parents thought pursuing careers as a vice-principal or principal at a school was an acceptable option