Fears over teaching’s gender gap as women still outnumber men in applications

27th March 2015, 2:31pm

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Fears over teaching’s gender gap as women still outnumber men in applications

https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/fears-over-teachings-gender-gap-women-still-outnumber-men-applications

More needs to be done to attract men into teaching, the head of Ucas has said, after figures revealed that women are still more than twice as likely to apply to enter the profession than men.

Statistics published by the university admissions service show “striking differences” in applications for teacher training courses, with fewer than 10,000 male candidates gaining a place.

The figures reveal that 54,015 people applied for training courses in 2014. Of these, 28,070 secured a place - an acceptance rate of 52 per cent.

But there was a wide gender gap, with five women accepted on to a course for every two men. This was largely down to application rates, with twice as many women (around 36,000) applying as men (around 18,000).

The numbers have led Ucas chief executive Mary Curnock Cook to call for greater efforts to be made to encourage men to pursue a career in the classroom.

“The most striking differences are between male and female applicants,” Ms Curnock Cook said. “More women apply and they also achieve higher offer and acceptance rates. This results in five women placed through Ucas Teacher Training for every two men - nearly 20,000 women against 8,500 men.

“Teachers are self-evidently important to the entire education system, a system that is showing increasingly wide differences between men and women in the Ucas undergraduate admissions scheme.”

Ms Curnock Cook added: “The continuing predominance of women in acceptances for teacher training does seem to indicate a need for further consideration about whether the full potential of men to pursue a career in teaching is being realised.”

Related stories: 

More than 1,700 female headteachers ‘missing’ from England’s schools, says research - 8 February 2015

 

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