1 / 20

Is gender relevant for primary school teachers?

Is gender relevant for primary school teachers?. Professor Pat O’Connor, University of Limerick, Emeritus and FESTA Visiting Professor, Geary Institute UCD. What is Gender?.

parley
Download Presentation

Is gender relevant for primary school teachers?

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Is gender relevant for primary school teachers? Professor Pat O’Connor, University of Limerick, Emeritus and FESTA Visiting Professor, Geary Institute UCD

  2. What is Gender? Gender has been defined as a system of social and cultural practices which creates and maintains differences between men and women, and uses these differences as the basis for defining relationships of inequality • Differences far exceed the biological ones • They also will vary across time and space • Differences are used to create inequality

  3. Basic facts • Primary Teaching: predominantly female (86%) • Denmark: One third are men…. • 65% of Principals are women (DES, 2016) • Early 1980s it was 49%- so increasing….. • Men still disproportionately likely to be principals • Men make up 14% of teachers but 35% of principals • Are men more likely to be ‘Walking’ Principals?? • 56% of school managers are men (Walking?)CSO 2012

  4. Does women’s parity share of principalships matter? • Symbolically? Challenging stereotypes? • Social justice? • School priorities? Other appointments? • Culture, policies and procedures in school? • Morale? Role models for teachers? Children? • Getting best person? Other reasons??

  5. Gender: at different analytically distinct levels • Individual level:identity, characteristics, attitudes • School level: policies, procedures, culture • System: • Statein terms of managerialism; bureaucratisation; • Society in terms of e.g. stereotypes • INTO- terms and conditions for female professions

  6. 1) Individual level • Identity: who we are as men/women • Gendered expectations surrounding importance of caring: both family and face-to-face with students • ‘Appropriate’ kinds of ambitions • ‘Appropriate’ levels of confidence and entitlement • Socially constructed- and vary (time; place) • Organisations/systems can reinforce/challenge these

  7. So..arewomen ‘the problem’… • Men and women had similar attitudes to family life • But women more likely to see caring as a barrier • Family friendly/flexible working as enabler (36% v 19%) • Majority of men and women were ambitious… • 81% of men V 64% of women but women more likely • To see self confidence/ambition as enabler (31% v15%) • 1/4 of women and over 1/2 of the men hoped to become principal (INTO 2016) • 1980s-1/6 of women and 1/2 of men..

  8. Individual level: • Reasons for such gender differences as exist • Women wont apply unless they meet ALL the criteria • Defer until children at second level: then seen as ‘too old’ • Classes taught may have suppressed expectation • Gendered levels of confidence and entitlement • Fear of taking on a big school (unwillingness to delegate?) • Greater enjoyment of classroom situation • Gendered variation in perception of likelihood of success

  9. 2) Organisational level • Promotional posts e.g. principal • Criteria: words used, qualities, experiences • ‘Local logics’ or fit (Lynch et al, 2012) • Homosociability (choosing people like oneself) • Sponsorship of particular candidates by BOM • Overvaluing external male applicants • Facilitatingfamily friendly/flexible working or not • Content of role (bureaucratic rather than creative?)

  10. Organisational level • 40% of teachers are in promotional posts • Men more likely than women to be in them • Of those in promoted posts, 25% of the women and 57% of the men were principals • Proportion of women in other promotional posts (e.g. Deputy/Assistant principal) reflects their parity share • 53% of female principals were internal candidates versus 25% of the men (INTO 2016) • Why do you think that might be???

  11. 3) System level Valuation by the state: of female professions • In terms of Salaries? • Proportion of Promotional posts? • Proportion of casualized workers? • Relative to predominantly male careers Other ‘perks’ e.g. rent allowance; clothing etc • Studies by INTO on these???

  12. Other issues?? • Managerialism • Bureaucratization • Cuts • Gender Stereotypes • Fociifor INTO campaigns?

  13. System level: INTO 1980s • Challenging Myths; Presenting facts • Women 9.5 yrs to principalship; men: 5 yrs • Focus then on Campaigns: changing attitudes • Individual Teachers • Selection Boards and Boards of Management • Societal attitude to women in power • Will you apply for a principalship? • Working towards gender balance in text books…

  14. More recently: Big Issues?? • Scarcity of male applicants (2004; 2006) • Implications? Higher valuation of male applicants • Men were more likely than women to get a permanent post immediately after qualification • 38%versus 24%(INTO, 2016) • Not surprising… since men have been defined as a scarce and valued resource… • INTO (2016) focus is mainly on individual attitudes…

  15. What is going on?? • Patriarchal dividend:‘Bonus’ for maleness: • ‘in terms of honour, prestige and the right to command. They [men] also gain a material dividend.’Connell, 1995 • Public Patriarchy:a system of social structures and practices which to varying degrees advantage men (e.g. resources, status, power) • ‘Female’ professions less valued than ‘male’ ones • In female dominated professions men are valued

  16. Other career issues? • Are men more likely to be ‘walking’ principals? • In bigger Schools-more highly paid… • Do men get principalships quicker than women? • No data on this…. Should there be??? • Men are more likely to get a permanent post immediately after qualification… an issue?? Individual level also? 29% of women v 65% of the men would enjoy the challenge of running a big school

  17. Focii for INTO…. • Comparing careers of men and women • Yearsto principal; ‘Walking’ principals? • Comparing female dominated careers with male ones: conditions and ‘perks’… • Challenging systemic impact on construction of role of principal • Moving away from focus on attracting men..

  18. What willyou do- perpetuate/challenge? At the Individual level? • Students?Colleagues?Your own career? At the Schoollevel? • Procedures? Appointments At the System level? • Content of principals role; impact of cuts?

  19. Summary and Conclusions • Gender not only as difference but inequality • Primary teaching: predominantly female profession • Yet patriarchal dividend: individuals and professions • Gender: at individual; school; system level • Challenging it needs to be done at all three levels • By you as individuals and by INTO… • Including clarifying % of women who are non-teaching Walking principals- and reasons for this…

More Related