MITEY is run by the Fatherhood Institute. It is a national network and campaign which works to bring more men into the early years education workforce, and support them once they are part of it.
We launched this website in May 2019, having secured £30,000 of funding from the Department for Education to produce a series of resources (all hosted here) on behalf of the UK early years sector. This included a national MITEY conference, which we held in central London in September 2019.
The foundations for MITEY were laid in 2013-15, thanks to an earlier DfE-funded project, and in 2017-2019, following a local project we ran in east London, funded by Trust for London.
For more about MITEY’s history, see What we do.
Although the two projects are separate, MITEY has synergy, and is working closely with, the GenderEYE study (funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (2018-20) and based at the University of Lancaster).
Project lead
MITEY is led by Dr Jeremy Davies, Head of Communications at the Fatherhood Institute, and a member of the Global Equality Collective and Diverse Educators. Jeremy was Deputy Chair of the Department for Education’s Gender Diversity Task and Finish Group (2017-18), sat on the Fawcett Society’s Commission on Gender Stereotypes in Early Childhood (2019-20) and was Co-Investigator on the ESRC-funded GenderEYE (Gender Diversification in Early Years Education) study (2018-20). Jeremy also leads the FI’s #timewithdad campaign, and is collaborating with Dr Helen Norman at Leeds University, on an ESRC-funded study into links between early paternal caregiving, and children’s primary school outcomes.
Steering group members
David Wright, Owner of Paintpots Nurseries Southampton; Founder of Southampton Men in Early Years and of the Families First charity; and former Chair of the DfE GDTFG.
Dr Jo Warin, Reader in Gender and Social Relationships in Education at the University of Lancaster Department of Educational Research, and Principal Investigator on the GenderEYE study.
Professor Averil Macdonald OBE, Emeritus Professor of Science Engagement at the University of Reading, former Regional Director of the HE STEM Programme and former Director and creator of resources for the WISE Campaign.
Shaddai Tembo, Postgraduate Researcher at the University of the West of Scotland, Trustee for Early Education, Writer at Critical Early Years and former Director of the Bristol Men in Early Years Network.
Marcus James, Early Years Consultant, former Chair of London Early Years Foundation Men in Childcare, former Nursery Manager of five nurseries, with a passion for action research.
Nicole Ponsford, CEO and Co-Founder of the The Gender Equality Collective. Nic is an educational and technology thought leader, Harvard author (TechnoTeaching), award-winning teacher, TES columnist and EdTech50 Judge.
Nick Corlett, Senior Manager for the London Early Years Foundation, chair of its Men in Childcare forum and working with the University of Wolverhampton on Action research on Men in the early years. Nick presented at the EECERA 2019 conference on past action research, and is currently leading on a new project on an all male apprentice cohort.
MITEY 