The campaign particularly targets men and people from ethnic minorities.
Early years partnerships have been set the strategic goal of increasing the proportion of men in the workforce to 6 per cent.
Although men account for nearly 3 per cent of the workforce, the figure is inflated by the numbers of men in after-school and holiday clubs catering for children aged up to 14, according to Claire Cameron of the Thomas Coram Research Unit. 'For the under-threes group, the figure is still around 1 per cent and has not changed in the past ten years.'
One step the Government has taken is to appoint childcare partnership managers to all Jobcentre Plus offices. These specialist staff will boost recruitment to the childcare workforce while giving information on childcare options for parents returning to work.
The challenges facing Catherine Ashton are identified in a study which says recruitment practices are often poor and providers rely upon word-of-mouth to advertise vacancies, thus perpetuating the female-dominated workforce.
The project, funded by the Department for Education and Skills and led by Helen Rolfe of the National Institute of Economics and Social Research, reports that managers across the sector support increasing diversity in the childcare workforce to enrich the quality of children's experience.
However, they see it as an issue for the Government to address through advertising, careers education and guidance.
The report, Recruitment and Retention of Childcare, Early Years and Play Workers, says, 'Very few providers had given consideration to how their practices might influence who applies. Many of them did not even have best practices in place such as monitoring of applicants. Even when data on gender, ethnicity and other characteristics of applicants was collected, it was not analysed.'
To recruit successfully, settings need to know who to target and how (see box). While some young men are now choosing a career in childcare, Kenny Spence, project manager of the Edinburgh-based Men in Childcare, says men often want to switch careers to join early years, perhaps after becoming fathers and discovering how much they enjoy childcare.
Chris Pritchard, a director of both Jancett Day Nurseries and its sister company Jace Training, gears advertising to men. 'We put adverts in programmes at Fulham and Crystal Palace football matches but didn't get fantastic results. We also adjusted our leaflets to appeal to men with a picture of a nice-looking man and child and the slogan, "So, you want to work with children?"'
Sharron Baroudi, Sheffield Children's Information Service early years recruitment co-ordinator, believes that some settings, having attracted male candidates, fail at the interview stage. She explains, 'I had a lovely lad who is a qualified nursery nurse and I sent him for one or two interviews and they took the mickey out of him. They asked questions that were inappropriate and if they had asked a woman the same questions she would have been up in arms.'
From current evidence, it is clear that many settings need to review their recruitment procedures, and seek advice or training to help them in their review. And, it can be argued, they should be given the funds to allow them to do this.
Charlie Owen, senior researcher at the Thomas Coram Research Unit, argues in his briefing paper Men's Work? that 'targets alone are not sufficient: there has to be discussion and agreement as to what is needed to meet those targets, resources need to be identified and people need to be given responsibility. Most of all, there has to be commitment to the goal of increasing the number of male childcare workers.'
Kenny Spence agrees the momentum of any recruitment campaign has to be maintained. 'In Scandinavia, when men in childcare was actively promoted, with public money and resources, men came forward. As soon as they took the foot off the gas, the numbers dissipated.'
INFORMATION
For information on careers in childcare contact the DfES helpline: 08000 322252 or visit www.childcarecareers.gov.uk
* Men's Work? by Charlie Owen, Daycare Trust briefing paper available from the Daycare Trust, tel: 020 7840 3550 or visit www.daycaretrust.org.uk
* National Childcare Week is part of National Sure Start Month, www.nationalsurestartmonth.com
* Fathers Direct, www.fathersdirect.com
* Men in Childcare, tel: 0131 315 2370, www.meninchildcare.co.uk
* Men in the Nursery: Gender and Caring Work by Claire Cameron, Peter Moss and Charlie Owen (Paul Chapman Publishing, 18.99)
* Recruitment and Retention of Childcare, Early Years and Play Workers: Research Study by Helen Rolfe, Hilary Metcalf, Tracy Anderson and Pamela Meadows of the National Institute of Economics and Social Research www.dfes.gov.uk/research/
