Teachers and Teaching - Teaching's Gender Gap

Throughout the period shown in the graphic, female teachers outnumbered male teachers. There were nearly as many women in front of the blackboard as there were men from 1870 to 1880. But from 1880 onward, the classroom grew increasingly more feminine. By 1996, there were nearly three times as many female as male teachers.

The rise in the number of women in teaching remained fairly steady throughout the years. However, from 1930 to 1940, the number of female teachers declined by 22,000. This same decade, the number of male teachers increased by 55,000. This continued the increase in male teachers that started in 1920. There were 47,000 more male teachers in 1930 than in 1920. Another period that saw a drop in the number of female teachers was from 1976 to 1981. During this 5-year period, 12,000 fewer women worked as teachers. Again, more men became teachers from 1976 to 1981, but the numbers were smaller than they were in the 1920s and 1930s. There were only 1,000 more male teachers in 1981 than there were in 1976. From 1991 to 1996, both male and female teachers saw a decline in their numbers (about 110,000 each). However, the numbers of male teachers had been declining since 1981.

Increases in the number of male teachers came after both World Wars. There was an increase from 1920 to 1940, and a second increase from 1950 to 1971. There were 102,000 more male teachers in 1940 than there were in 1920. This increase coincided with an increase in college enrollment that started in 1910². Just over 1 million more students attended college in 1940 than did in 1910. This is a nearly 5-fold increase from the previous 30 years (1880-1910), when student enrollment went up by only 241,000. The second increase in the number of male teachers was more dramatic. In the 21 years from 1950 to 1971, the number of male teachers increased by 609,000. During these two decades the number of college students also rose dramatically: 6.3 million more students attended college in 1970 than in 1950.

However, the relationship between the growth in college enrollment and more men choosing the teaching profession doesn't seem to hold for the years after 1971. College enrollment continued to rise dramatically, but the number of men choosing to teach either remained steady or declined during this period. (The number of female teachers fluctuated during this period, but trended upward.)

Why did teaching suddenly become unappealing to men? Perhaps men prefer to advance into supervisory roles. Male principals outnumbered female principals in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1988, the ratio was 3.1 to 1 (58,585 men compared to 19,118 women). By 1994, the ratio dropped to nearly 2 to 1 (52,114 men compared to 27,505 women). Therefore, this may only partially explain the drop in the number of male teachers over this time period. There was no drop in the number of female teachers even though more were moving into supervisory roles.

As we will see in the next panel, more and more teachers held advanced degrees during the 1980s and 1990s. However, some men may feel that the rewards of the private sector are much greater for those with an advanced degree. The next table touches on the issue of salaries for teachers. Salary data are in 2000-2001 constant dollars.

Teacher Salaries and Supplemental Income, 1988 and 1994³

	1988		1994
Age	< 30	30-39	< 30	30-39
Average base salary	28,812	36,577	29,117	34,452
Hours spent on teaching duties per wk.	49		49
Supplemental school year contract
Salary	2,814	3,182	2,092	2,546
% of teachers	41.5	35.4	44.0	39.5
Supplemental summer contract
Salary	2,813	2,635	2,141	2,286
% of teachers	19.0	18.0	20.0	19.8
Non-school employment (% of teachers)	36.7	22.6	18.6	18.2
3 Data for hours spent on teaching duties per week are from 1986 and 1996, respectively. An example of a supplemental school year contract: coach of the football team. An example of a supplemental summer contract: summer school teacher. Supplemental contract jobs are done in addition to regular teaching duties.

Sources: U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics. Digest of Education Statistics, 1992, 1996, 1999 and 2001.U.S. Bureau of the Census. Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Years to 1970. U.S. Bureau of the Census. Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2001.