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Sharp slump in the number of male headteachers over abuse fears
Last updated at 00:22am on 07.03.08The number of male headteachers has fallen sharply in a decade.
They made up 50 per cent of school heads in 1997 but now represent just 39 per cent.
The decline follows a slump in the number of men joining the teaching profession as salaries for graduates in private sector firms have risen.
Heads' leaders also warn that fears over false allegations of abuse and "hysteria" over paedophiles are driving men away.
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The shape of things to come: An increasing number of men are choosing professions other than teaching, resulting in a high proportion of women teachers at every level
The trend reignited concerns that a generation of boys is growing up with few role models of male authority.
The downturn in male headships emerged as separate figures showed that the number of boys achieving C grade GCSEs in all four core subjects of English, maths, science and a language has fallen to just 19 per cent from 23 per cent in 2003.
Only 38 per cent of boys are actually entered for these exams, down from 66 per cent five years ago.
The change follows the controversial decision to make languages non-compulsory for 14-year-olds.
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Blast from the past: A pupil with a male teacher. Critics say that boys need more male role models while they are being educated
Shadow Children Secretary Michael Gove, who obtained both sets of figures, said: "We desperately need to attract more men into teaching. It's crucial we get effective role models for the next generation.
"Male heads can help provide authority figures for children who desperately need boundaries and leadership."
The figures show that in 1997, 44 per cent of primary school heads were men and 56 per cent were women. This has now shifted to 33 per cent men and 67 per cent women.
The decline at secondary level has been of a similar order.
Ten years ago, 74 per cent of secondary heads were men but the figure now stands at 64 per cent. This gives 39 per cent overall.
Men are still over-represented in leadership positions compared with their numbers in rank-and-file teaching roles, where they make up 31 per cent of staff. In primary schools, the figure is just 15 per cent.
While heads' leaders stressed the importance of boys seeing women as well as men in authority, they voiced concerns over the trend for fewer male graduates to become teachers.
Martin Ward of the Association of School and College Leaders said: "It's important we don't get into a situation where all the adults who work in a school are women and there are no male role models.
"In the primary sector, men are finding it more difficult to go to work with young children because of all the hysteria around paedophilia.
"In a sense, young men tend to feel it is not safe for them to express an interest in working with young children in case they are thought to have ulterior motives."
But he also said men were previously disproportionately appointed to headteacher jobs, particularly in primary schools.
He said it was undesirable to see large numbers of men in headteacher roles, as summed up by the joke "What do you call a man who works in a primary school?" to which the answer is "The headmaster".
"It's rather unhealthy for boys to see the man in charge and women doing the other work," he said.
"It's important there are women in senior positions."
The Training and Development Agency for Schools says campaigns to attract more men into teaching are beginning to show results.
Chief executive Graham Holley said: "Both male and female authority figures play an important role in the development of young people, and we want the teaching workforce to reflect the strengths of our diverse society."
Reader views (3)
I have never and will never volunteer for any work with anyone under the age of 21. The risks are too high. All it takes is one allegation and my entire life becomes an open book, my life ruined.
No thanks.
- Trunk, US
Hardly surprising when you consider that your entire career rests on the hope that some spoilt feckless kid will not get the hump and make some baseless accusations, thus triggering immediate suspension and a police investigation. You might get reinstated after 6 months of hell and the kid might get a ticking off at worst.
- Steve, Hereford
UK schools have too much of an anti-male environment in any case: even the choice of subjects, how they are taught and what discipline is exerted. If you look at what a 5 year old has to learn, it is geared up to things like knowing not only a key event in their 'own' religion, like Christmas, but also another, like Diwali. It isn't geared up to twerping around seeing who can jump the highest, which is what boys that age tend to be good at.
- Roz, Chamonix, France
