Why Men Become Elementary School Teachers: Insights from an Elementary Teacher Education Program

Abstract

Male teachers are in demand in U.S. elementary schools and elementary teacher education programs. The 2002 National Education Association's Representative Assembly approved a measure to “identify, recognize, recruit, and retain” more male teachers, with an emphasis on elementary and minority teachers. The present article reports on a qualitative multiple-case study that explored the factors that influence men to enter the field of elementary education, as described by nine male students enrolled in a predominantly female elementary teacher education program at a Midwestern university in the United States. The data were collected through interviews and documents, and the QSR NVivo software program was used to analyze the data.