Where have all the male teachers gone?

Should it matter whether a teacher is male or female? Research out on Monday from the Education Policy Institute shows that teaching is becoming an overwhelmingly female-dominated profession. Men are far less likely than women to become teachers in the first place and those that do take the plunge are much more likely to quit the classroom than their female colleagues.

Primary schools have long been dominated by women. For the past five years the proportion of male primary teachers has remained constant at around 14 per cent of the workforce. But it is the ‘exodus of male teachers’ from secondary schools that is raising concern. The proportion of men in secondary schools has fallen year on year since 2010 and now stands at just 35.5 per cent.

We know that girls have been outperforming boys at school for almost three decades now. Last year, 72 per cent of female students achieved a