Education experts have called for urgent action to halt the decline in male teachers, warning it threatens workforce sustainability and boys’ engagement in school.
Researchers from the Australian Catholic University’s Institute for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education told a federal parliamentary inquiry into educational attainment that the number of male primary school teachers had fallen for more than five decades.
“Across Australia, education systems increasingly emphasise belonging, inclusion, diversity, and workforces that reflect the communities they serve,” their submission said.
“Yet the declining representation of male teachers is rarely addressed within these workforce strategies.”
Why men shun teaching
The inquiry was initiated in April by federal Education Minister Jason Clare to examine differences in learning outcomes between boys and girls.
The role of cultural and linguistic diversity, and socio-economic status in educational attainment will also be examined by the inquiry.
“This inquiry will examine the factors that support positive educational progression, as well as the challenges faced by students, particularly those from disadvantaged or under-represented backgrounds,” the inquiry’s chairman, Labor MP Tim Watts, said.
However, many submissions focused on the lack of male teachers and its link to boys struggling in schools.
Primary school principals blamed low pay, a lack of professional respect and social stigma on men working with young children for the long-term decline of male teachers.
The Australian Government Primary Principals Association called for male-only teaching scholarships and targeted recruitment of men into primary teaching.
“In many primary schools, boys may go through their entire primary education without a single sustained male role model in a teaching or leadership role,” the submission said.
“This matters not as a question of ideology, but as an evidence-based concern about boys’ engagement, sense of aspiration and belonging.”