Feminization of Teaching
Why Men Left but Women Stayed
Teaching is one of the oldest profession known to mankind. Everyone has been taught in some form. Children are taught to walk and talk; teenagers and adults are taught a trade. Everyone is a learner, and everyone is an educator. There is the unregulated school of life and there is the formal school that millions of children in the United States attend each day. The concept of formal schooling has changed drastically over the centuries. There was the unregulated homeschool done by parents, there were dame schools so young girls could learn to be proper ladies, there were private tutors hired by affluent families teaching children Latin and French, there was one room school houses where …show more content…
Montgomery in her 2009 article, “Why Men Left: Reconsidering the Feminization of Teaching in the Nineteenth Century.” She tracks the change in the profession from 1820, when there were no female teachers, to the early twentieth century and the shift to all female teachers. The Civil War and the lack of working age men, allowed women to have a job outside the home. The want of a job for young, single women had been growing for a few decades. Demographic shifts in society allowed young women to work outside the home. Mothers had less babies during this time and did not need their older daughters to help care for the young ones. Needed less at home, women gladly accepted the vacant teaching positions. When women applied for the teaching positions they knew they were making less than their male counterparts. It was understood at this time that pay was not equal for men and women. Although women still wanted a job and the school board was more than willing to pay the women less, especially when they did not complain. Women on average were paid a third or half of what male teachers made. The school then used the saved money to promote school reform, improving the school. Moreover, females tended to be more committed to teaching. Men would leave once something better came along, but women wanted to …show more content…
Historians Myra H. Strober and David Tyack explored the school reform taking place that led to the feminization of teaching in their article, “Why Do Women Teach and Men Manage? A Report on Research on Schools.” Along with a longer school year, more reform was taking place. With the increase of urbanization and less companies allowing child labor, there was an increase of school enrollment. The increase of enrollment directly correlated with the increase need for teachers. By this time, the late nineteenth century, less men were applying to become teachers, so the new positions were filled by women. Furthermore, the influx of students put a strain on the budget for the school. Women were cheaper to employ so school boards tended toward hiring
Why Men Left but Women Stayed
Teaching is one of the oldest profession known to mankind. Everyone has been taught in some form. Children are taught to walk and talk; teenagers and adults are taught a trade. Everyone is a learner, and everyone is an educator. There is the unregulated school of life and there is the formal school that millions of children in the United States attend each day. The concept of formal schooling has changed drastically over the centuries. There was the unregulated homeschool done by parents, there were dame schools so young girls could learn to be proper ladies, there were private tutors hired by affluent families teaching children Latin and French, there was one room school houses where …show more content…
Montgomery in her 2009 article, “Why Men Left: Reconsidering the Feminization of Teaching in the Nineteenth Century.” She tracks the change in the profession from 1820, when there were no female teachers, to the early twentieth century and the shift to all female teachers. The Civil War and the lack of working age men, allowed women to have a job outside the home. The want of a job for young, single women had been growing for a few decades. Demographic shifts in society allowed young women to work outside the home. Mothers had less babies during this time and did not need their older daughters to help care for the young ones. Needed less at home, women gladly accepted the vacant teaching positions. When women applied for the teaching positions they knew they were making less than their male counterparts. It was understood at this time that pay was not equal for men and women. Although women still wanted a job and the school board was more than willing to pay the women less, especially when they did not complain. Women on average were paid a third or half of what male teachers made. The school then used the saved money to promote school reform, improving the school. Moreover, females tended to be more committed to teaching. Men would leave once something better came along, but women wanted to …show more content…
Historians Myra H. Strober and David Tyack explored the school reform taking place that led to the feminization of teaching in their article, “Why Do Women Teach and Men Manage? A Report on Research on Schools.” Along with a longer school year, more reform was taking place. With the increase of urbanization and less companies allowing child labor, there was an increase of school enrollment. The increase of enrollment directly correlated with the increase need for teachers. By this time, the late nineteenth century, less men were applying to become teachers, so the new positions were filled by women. Furthermore, the influx of students put a strain on the budget for the school. Women were cheaper to employ so school boards tended toward hiring