Decline in male teachers

Primary teachers, male teachers, University of Tasmania, principals

Currently, male teachers make up 18% of teachers in primary schools.  This includes principals and specialist teachers. During the eighties, 30 per cent of primary school teachers were male.

Vaughan Cruickshank, University of Tasmania, conducted research and found there were three major challenges that male teachers faced:  fear and uncertainty around physical contact; expectations to take on a masculine or gendered roles and social isolation.  Efforts to encourage more males to take up the profession has had limited success.