Gender-Typed Occupations

Gender-Typed Occupations

A fourth grade teacher probes a question asked by many teachers before: "What do you want to be when you grow up?" One little girl responds cheerfully, "I want to be a teacher!" "So do I" chimes in another girl. The trend continues with six other girls. When one boy by the name of Ryan raises his hand and firmly states "I want to be a teacher, too!" the class begins to snicker. "Boys are supposed to be athletes or firemen, not teachers," a student harshly replied. A very embarrassed Ryan sits in his seat and listens as other young boys exclaim their desire to be football players, policemen and pilots. Ryan grows up to be a successful businessman, but still feels a void in his life. The emptiness in his life could have been filled, if only he would have ignored the snickers many years ago.

This scenario has occurred for thousands of young boys who had a passion for teaching, yet gave up on their dream because based on society rules, only women can become teachers and men are tied to careers as athletes and firemen. Today's culture has provided numerous stereotypes that have led just about everyone to believe that men are incapable of teaching children. Experts in psychology have also proved that women are naturally born to care for children. But does this mean that men are forever inadequate to teach children? What people may not know is that having a variety of male and female teachers, children are able obtain various techniques of learning, which can essentially benefit children. What society may also not know is having a lack of men in the teaching field promotes these stereotypes to children and can have effects on children, especially young boys who want to pursue a teaching career much like Ryan, or young girls who do not want to be type- cast as a teacher or held down as taking care of the children.

Decade after decade, society has had set ideals for an ideal teacher. The ideal teacher is nurturing, understanding and, with no surprise, a woman. It does make sense. After all, women are known for being affectionate, responsive and patient, especially with young children. Men on the other hand can be seen as aggressive and unemotional, characteristics that are unfit to care for children. Psychologists have studied for years why people have made this assumption of the different sexes. Those who have studied this subject have come to conclusions that have dated hundreds of thousands of years ago. Evolutionary theorists have discovered that "the adult life of our male ancestors was oriented toward competing for mates, that of our female ancestors toward rearing children" (Berk 382). Thus meaning, males are "genetically primed for dominance and females for intimacy and responsiveness" (Berk). An experiment done by scientists in 1998 further explained the genesis of a centuries-old perception. The experiment was done with animals which revealed that "prenatal administered androgens (male sex hormones) increase active play and suppress maternal caregiving in many mammals", including humans (Berk). Eleanor Maccoby, a child psychologists added "hormones also affect human play styles" (Berk). This explains why boys, born with hormones such as androgens, tend to play rough as opposed to the quiet, calm play of girls. The natural maternal instinct that women have allows women to succeed in the teaching field. To be known for having a lack of patients and an urge to be aggressive, men have difficulty proving that they have the ability to teach young children. Based on biological studies, stereotypes of men's behavior have developed, and male teachers are struggling everyday to prove the stereotypes false.

It is true there are men who do have a desire to teach. They love children and want to be involved in their learning experiences. And as much as they would like to, men have three basic fears that prohibit them from teaching. "Men fear teaching is viewed as a low-paying, low-status career, a 'woman's work' and being wrongfully accused of their actions towards children" (Helmer). These fears are based on the fact of assumption that a "typical" man should make the most money in the family and have a "masculine" occupation.

Since the 1900's, the source of income in the family came from the man. The man went to work and made sure the family always had money. Despite the change in the woman's workforce, for some indefinable reason, most men still take pride in being the breadwinner of the family. For men who want to become teachers, one of the many things that they consider is the low-paying salary. On average, "a teacher is paid approximately $47,000 a year" (Jackson). This would not be so terrible if men did not feel they had to be the primary source of income in a household. However, men do feel that they are the ones who are responsible for providing for their family and "$30,000 a year can not support a growing family" (Shortage of Male Teachers). This means that either the woman must have a career that pays more than her husband or the man must give up his dream of becoming a teacher and pursuing a career that has a more "masculine" pay such as a doctor or lawyer. Men most definitely choose to become doctors or lawyers because they do pay more and because they are considered masculine careers.

Teaching young children, based on psychological studies, has been proven to be well suited for women to do. The Journal of Men's Studies suggests that "nurturing is a major component in pre-school and primary education, which associates with 'motherhood'" (Sargent 173). This explains the strong "belief that schools have become a feminized domain", explains Kathy Roulston of Oxford Review of Education. When men decide to teach, there is a fine line they have to walk in order to "to be seen as 'real teachers' by parents and other teachers, and 'real men' by peers" (Sargent). A man who applies for a teaching position can be questioned by their potential employer of their intentions of working with children. If a man does prove to be efficient in having a career in the teaching field, he may not be given the job as a teacher, but an administrator or a principle. More men are offered these positions because "they are seen as disciplinarians and focus on justice, rather than being sympathetic", which is how a woman might treat an issue with children (Ward). Sometimes, a man can display too much of "normal markers of masculinity and can be characterized as inadequate in caring for children or dangerous" (Sargent).

It seems simple enough for a man to avoid portraying any