Increasingly fewer men becoming teachers in Flanders
Statistics from the education ministry show that, while an equal number of men and women are studying teaching, only 30% of male graduates are accepting secondary school positions
Image change needed
In secondary education, women are in the majority as well, at 62%. What is most notable, however is that less than 10% of beginning teachers in primary education are men.
Enrolment figures for secondary school teaching studies at universities show that a full half of students are men. But the percentage for beginning teachers is only 30%. “This may indicate that male graduates are less willing to accept the unstable situation for starting teachers,” Flemish MP Jos De Meyer, who requested the statistics, told De Standaard.
“The increasing female dominance in education is not a good thing,” declared Marianne Coopman of the Christian Teachers’ Union (COC). “Education benefits from mixed teams, also socially, since it provides a broader view of society.”
According to education experts, women are more attracted to the profession because it offers a stable career that can be easily combined with a family life. Men, on the other hand, feel they miss career opportunities and wage bonuses in the teaching profession.
Another problem is that the prestige associated with the profession has decreased. Flanders’ education minister, Hilde Crevits, is now preparing measures to make the profession more appealing in general.
In higher education, female lecturers are also in the majority at university colleges. Only at universities are there more male lecturers.
