Margaret Simms
I can count on one hand the number of male students I have taught in all my years of lecturing on Early Years, Childcare and Parenting Programmes. Has anything changed since the year 2000? I very much doubt it.
Most men simply are not interested in work with babies and young children; the ones that are have to run a gauntlet of prejudice and torment from peers at school when they are making choices about their careers and in college when they enrol on childcare courses. Then, if they get as far as work placement, they may be held under suspicion by some staff who wonder why they want to work with children.
Okay, I know that we can all cite the odd case where a man has gained the respect of his peers and colleagues but these are comparatively rare.
Ask the children if they like having a man around and the answer is likely to be a resounding, "YES!"
Will men in childcare help raise the pay and the status? Maybe. Or it may just be that most men are just not cut out for work with babies and young children.
I wonder though if times they are a changing. Will today's house husbands and stay-at-home dads become tomorrow's men in childcare?
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