Men are a clear under-represented group within early years education and childcare, and discriminatory practice is commonplace. Yet the UK’s poor record on male-inclusive recruitment and retention in the sector has been allowed to continue for well over a quarter-century, and there has been little effort from successive Governments to address these challenges. This problem … Continue reading Why isn’t the UK doing more to recruit male early years practitioners?
MITEY men: 1.2% as useful as female soldiers?
In our latest article for the Early Years Educator journal (July 2023 edition) we ask a semi-serious question: How was the Ministry of Defence, in 2019, able to find £2.5 million to spend on marketing careers in the military to women, while at exactly the same time the DfE could only stump up £30,000 for … Continue reading MITEY men: 1.2% as useful as female soldiers?
Still at 3%: a quarter-century of inertia
In 1998 England’s early years workforce was 2% male. The figure is now 3% (Source: Survey of Childcare and Early Years Providers (2021) summarised on page 82 of this DFE report). So 2023 marks 25 years of almost no progress – at a national level at least – towards a more gender-diverse early years sector. … Continue reading Still at 3%: a quarter-century of inertia
Recruiting men into early years apprenticeships
Download a summary of our collaborative project (2020-22) with Kids Planet Day Nurseries, aimed at reducing gendered barriers to early years apprenticeships. This project was funded by Greater Manchester Combined Authority.
One man’s MITEY story
Sometimes a piece of feedback catches you off-guard and makes you realise that what you do is worthwhile. Below is an email we received last week, from a practitioner we’ve never met or worked with, but who has obviously been touched by our work. We share it here simply because we are really proud to … Continue reading One man’s MITEY story
Take part in a research project
“Why is there a lack of male teachers in the EYFS?” is the title of a research project being undertaken by Fletcher Clayton, a third year Primary and Early Years Education student at Huddersfield University. Find out more about the study in the participant form below. You can take the questionnaire here.
MITEY 