An exploratory study of gender and male teachers in early childhood education and care centres in China

Xu, Yuwei; Waniganayake, Manjula

Abstract

This paper explores the impact of gender on the employment of men in early childhood education and care (ECEC) centres through the voices of male and female early childhood teachers (ECTs) working in China. Gender imbalance in the ECEC workforce is a global phenomenon, and there has been little research about it in countries such as China. This study was based on online interviews with 16 ECTs from three major cities in China. Findings indicated that ECTs’ perceptions conformed largely with traditional gender stereotypes in Chinese culture. Western expectations that men’s participation in ECEC could challenge traditional gender stereotypes and promote gender diversity were not reflected in either Chinese academic literature reviewed or the participants’ views captured in this research. The appreciation of masculinity in Chinese culture and implied disadvantages are considered within a global context of empowering women and girls.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 17, 2017
• Online Publication Date: May 17, 2017
• Publication Date: Jul 4, 2018
• Deposit Date: Dec 15, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 16, 2021
• Journal: Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education
• Print ISSN: 0305-7925
• Electronic ISSN: 1469-3623
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 48
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 518-534
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2017.1318355
• Keywords: China; early childhood education and care; gender; male early childhood teachers; masculinity
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/7019631
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03057925.2017.1318355
• Additional Information: This is an Accepted Manuscript version of the following article, accepted for publication in Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education. Yuwei Xu & Manjula Waniganayake (2018) An exploratory study of gender and male teachers in early childhood education and care centres in China, Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 48:4, 518-534, DOI: 10.1080/03057925.2017.1318355. It is deposited under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.