7 Key Facts about Male Teachers

Summary

The share of male teachers in public K-12 education is shrinking, as shown in our previous brief on “Missing Misters”. Here we dive deeper using survey data from the National Center for Education Statistics to examine changes in the share of male teachers by school level, finding the most dramatic declines at the secondary level. We also describe gender differences in subject teaching areas (men now comprise a minority of CTE teachers) and the routes men and women take into and out of the teaching profession (men are more likely to choose teaching as a second career).

Key Takeaways

• The share of male teachers in secondary schools has dropped from 48% to 36% since 1987.
• In 1987 men accounted for 75% of career and technical education teachers: by 2020 this share had dropped to just 45%.
• Just one in four undergraduate education degrees are awarded to men.
• Men are 11 percentage points more likely than women to be ‘career switchers’ into teaching (25% v. 14%).
• Nine out of 10 male teachers are satisfied with their job, as are female teachers.
• Men leaving teaching are most likely headed for another career, while women leave for personal reasons, including care responsibilities.
• Male teachers are three times more likely than their female peers to switch into a leadership role (60% v. 19%).

Overall, the share of male teachers in public schools (both elementary and secondary) has declined from 30% in 1987 to 23% in 2022. In elementary schools (pre-kindergarten to 6th grade) the male share has always been low, and has dropped further, from 14% to 11%. In secondary schools (7th to 12th grade) the share is higher but has fallen more significantly, from 48% to 36%.

The traditional path into teaching typically involves earning an undergraduate education degree, followed by licensure and a teaching job. Men are less likely than women to take each of these steps towards a career in the classroom.

We examine gender gaps at four key points in the teacher pipeline, using longitudinal data from the Baccalaureate and Beyond 2008/18 study²:

• Going to college: Almost all teaching positions require a 4-year degree. In 2004, only 40% of men enrolled in a four-year college immediately after high school, compared to 49% of women. (This gap has widened over time—by 2022 only 38% of men enrolled in a 4-year college compared to 51% of women). Completion rates for men also lag, with only 33% of men and 42% of women in the 2004 cohort completing their degrees within four years.
• Getting an education degree: Among college graduates, three times as many women as men earned an education degree. This gap should be seen in light of a general decline in the attainment of undergraduate education degrees. In 2008-09, 21,000 (21%) of 102,000 education degrees were awarded to men. By 2023, the overall number dropped to 89,000, with just 15,000 (17%) going to men.
• Entering Teaching: Overall, only 47% of men who graduated with an education bachelor’s in 2008 were working as a regular teacher in 2009, compared to 54% of their female peers. By 2012, the gender gap had closed, with 63% of both men and women with education degrees having entered the profession. The reason for this difference in timing is unclear but may involve a combination of personal preferences—men in particular may be more sensitive to pay and opportunity costs—and differences in demand by teaching subject.³
• Staying in teaching: Once in the profession, male teachers are at least as likely to remain as female teachers. Sixty percent of men who went straight into teaching from college are still in the profession ten years later, compared to 54% of women.

The good news is that both men and women in the teaching profession report high levels of job satisfaction (note that the data is from 2020-21). Nine out of ten teachers are satisfied with their positions, and three in four say that “teaching is worth it.” Satisfaction with pay is lower, but perhaps surprisingly is slightly higher among male teachers (54%) than female teachers (48%).

Male teachers who leave their current position are three times more likely to do so for a leadership role than female teachers who are changing roles (60% v. 19%). A third of female teachers switching roles (33%) are opting to become academic specialists within the school: almost no men take this route.

Conclusion