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A gender-segregated caregiving profession is not optimal for children.

Most U.S. children today grow up in a dual ecology, spending significant time in both home and daycare. Child daycare in the U.S. is a messy hodgepodge of arrangements varying in quality, size, and scope as well as in their philosophies, goals, affiliations, and regulatory status. Yet one central unifying characteristic remains: Male caregivers are virtually nonexistent. This is a problem for several reasons.

Children may have a hard time finding a male role model to look up to in the classroom.

Statistics show women greatly outnumber men as educators, a trend that is seen in classrooms across Greater Victoria.

Dave Eberwein, superintendent of the Saanich School District, recognises that students need to be able to relate to their teachers but does not think biological sex is much of a factor. “The most important thing is having at least one adult a child can relate to, that they trust and that believes in them.”

My name is Eliza McWilliams and I am an Ed.D. candidate at Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. As part of my doctoral research, I am conducting a study on male teachers working in early childhood education (prekindergarten) in public schools. The study will focus on the problem posed by the lack of male teachers in ECE in conjunction with the need for more male teachers to serve as positive role models for young children, particularly those from fatherless households.