The fact that men make up only 3% of the early years workforce in England (and 4% in Scotland) is the starkest of reminders that despite decades of progress, we still have a long way to go before we achieve anything approaching full gender equality in the UK.
But why should we care? What are the benefits for children of being cared for and educated by men as well as women? What difference could men make?
Here at MITEY HQ we don’t pretend to know all the answers – and it’s clear that more research will be needed, as more men join the workforce, to understand what they can bring to the table (and what they can’t, or shouldn’t).
But we DO know that a lot of the rhetoric and arguments one hears about men in the early years seem to be based on questionable assumptions about supposed differences between men and women – and that if left unchallenged, they could hinder our attempts to diversify the workforce.
So we’ve put together 10 Myths about Men In The Early Years….to stimulate discussion and hopefully get us moving in the right direction.
You can download it for free below. We hope you find it useful. It could be a great ‘way in’ to get your team reflecting on gender in a team meeting, perhaps.
MITEY 