Have your say on men working in early years and childcare

Surveys for both early years managers and practitioners run by GenderEYE (Gender Diversification in Early Years Education) have been extended to 20 December 2019 to allow more contributions to be made.

The study is run by the department of educational research at the University of Lancaster and the Fatherhood Institute, and funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.

Figures from the Fatherhood Institute’s Men In The Early Years campaign (MITEY) have suggested there are considerable geographical variations in the numbers of men working in early years education in the UK.

In England and Wales, just 3 per cent of early years staff are male, while in Scotland the figure is 4 per cent.

Although local breakdowns of official data are not available, estimates collated by MITEY suggest that proportions of men are much higher in some areas.

In Bristol, around 10 per cent of early years practitioners are reported to be male, bringing the city in line with Norway, the world leader in building a mixed-gender workforce.

London Early Years Foundation (LEYF), employs a workforce of just over 6 per cent men across 750 staff members in 38 nurseries, while some individual nurseries claim higher figures, with Forest Schools Kindergartens in Sheffield employing 33 per cent of men at one of its two nurseries and 13 per cent at the other.

Dr Jo Warin, from Lancaster University, principal investigator on the GenderEYE study, said the surveys would provide important insights into how the UK might improve its record on gender diversification.

‘Some areas seem to be doing much better than others,’ she said. ‘We’re extending the deadline for our surveys because the more data we can gather about what’s happening in settings across the country, the better we will understand the factors involved in supporting a gender-diverse workforce.’

• You can take part in the survey here https://gendereye.org/survey/