SIMILARITIES BETWEEN INTERVIEWS
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN INTERVIEWS
CONCLUSION
My project, specifically the interviews, concluded that there is indeed female dominance in this profession. However, after comparing my interviews I realized that it may not be as much of a problem as I thought it was. 'While it would be great to get more men involved in the teaching profession, the lack of men is not hindering the learning or work environment. I still think it is beneficial to get the word out to men about the rewarding experience of becoming a teacher, and providing them with positive information to outweigh the negative stereotypes.
These results compare to what I read in the book Women and the Teaching Profession: Exploring the Feminisation Debate because all of the interviewees addressed concerns with the same things mentioned in the book. The book did not conclude an overall consensus like I was able to do with my interview responses, but rather it laid the groundwork for what concerns appear to be an issue and that they should be addressed.
I was overjoyed with the interest I received from these teachers when asking them to participate in my interviews. Many of them said this issue is something they had previously considered and they were anxious to see/hear what other teachers had to say. One of the teachers I interviewed has a masters in Women Studies, so she warned me she may be VERY bias, but I actually found her responses to be the most beneficial and relatable. She was able to provide examples to support her responses that further related to information I had learned in class.
- 8 out of 8 interviewees confirmed there are more women than men in their field of work/study
- Interviewees concluded that this is because of underlying negative stereotypes that are associated with teaching
- Men are not capable of compassionate, soothing interactions with children like women are
- 8 out of 8 interviewees agreed that they do not think this ratio needs to be changed. If teachers respect each other and value the differences in teaching styles, the work environment and learning environment can be positive and effective no matter what the sex of the teachers.
- All interviewees also concluded that they did not know what could be done to change the ratio, other than to inform men of the career opportunity and to not stay away from it because of stereotypes.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN INTERVIEWS
- The interview results were split, interestingly enough, between men and women, when it came to if the imbalance of men and women in the profession effecting the learning environment for students and the work environment for professionals
- Women that were interviewed stated they DID believe it effected the learning environment because they thought children needed to see both male and female teachers as role models and that only seeing female teachers could be limiting.
- Men that were interviewed stated that they DID NOT believe it effected the learning environment or work environment because the sex of the teachers doe not matter, it just matters if the teacher's work to build meaningful, individualized relationships with their students, and focus on doing their job, TEACHING
CONCLUSION
My project, specifically the interviews, concluded that there is indeed female dominance in this profession. However, after comparing my interviews I realized that it may not be as much of a problem as I thought it was. 'While it would be great to get more men involved in the teaching profession, the lack of men is not hindering the learning or work environment. I still think it is beneficial to get the word out to men about the rewarding experience of becoming a teacher, and providing them with positive information to outweigh the negative stereotypes.
These results compare to what I read in the book Women and the Teaching Profession: Exploring the Feminisation Debate because all of the interviewees addressed concerns with the same things mentioned in the book. The book did not conclude an overall consensus like I was able to do with my interview responses, but rather it laid the groundwork for what concerns appear to be an issue and that they should be addressed.
I was overjoyed with the interest I received from these teachers when asking them to participate in my interviews. Many of them said this issue is something they had previously considered and they were anxious to see/hear what other teachers had to say. One of the teachers I interviewed has a masters in Women Studies, so she warned me she may be VERY bias, but I actually found her responses to be the most beneficial and relatable. She was able to provide examples to support her responses that further related to information I had learned in class.