Male educators in Germany: The facts

Supported: The Federal Ministry for Family Affairs has been trying since 2005 to encourage more men to take up the educator profession with various support programs such as "Boys' Day" or the initiative "More Men for Daycare Centers".

Room for improvement: Not even four percent of educators in German day-care centers are male.

Progress: For about ten years the numbers of men in childcare professions have been rising slowly but steadily.

Underpaid: Educators earn on average 2.500 Euro gross in West Germany and 2.250 Euro gross in East Germany. Since 2009 wages have risen significantly, many young people of training age are nevertheless deterred by them.

Training profession: Around 70 percent of employed educators have completed appropriate training, 30 percent are trained child caregivers or career changers from other professions. 0,5 percent of educators have a university degree in pedagogy or educational sciences.

Subjective: There is no scientific evidence that male educators make a difference in daycare settings. However, it is established that women and men handle situations differently.

Why are male educators an asset to kindergarten?

Staff shortage:

The reason is banal, but male educators are also in such demand because the demand for new daycare staff continues to rise. Men in childcare professions will simply be necessary in the future to enable comprehensive childcare coverage.

Equality:

Just as women want to take up traditionally male professions, men should also be able to work in traditional female professions. In everyday daycare the image conveyed to children is foremost: men naturally take on childcare and typical gender clichés are dispelled.

Diversity:

Male educators often bring new possibilities to daycare: in addition to reading aloud and playing, they take on rough-and-tumble play and lively physical games with the children. The different emphases of male and female educators make care more varied and diverse for children and adults.

Early childhood development:

Experts consider it proven that men play an important role in early childhood education: as caregivers and play partners they offer different perspectives than women. As more and more toddlers spend the majority of their day in nurseries and daycare centers, it becomes increasingly important that male educators are also represented in care institutions.

Why do men become educators?

This is the question many parents secretly ask themselves when they see a male educator in their child's daycare. The answer is in most cases rather unspectacular: just like women, men choose the educator profession because they enjoy working with people, because they want to give something to children, or because they want to pass on their own positive childhood experiences. Many completed an internship or the Federal Volunteer Service in a daycare center before training and found that they enjoy educational work.

Many men as career changers

For men who switch into the educator profession as career changers, appreciation often plays a role. They were not satisfied in their previous job and are looking for a task in which their efforts are immediately recognized. Often the desire to work as an educator grows in career changers after they have become fathers themselves.

Male educators – concerns and fears

When men choose a career as educators, they usually face the same problem as women: the salary is barely enough to live on, all the more so because educators are usually employed part-time. At the same time, the educator profession has a relatively low social status – paradoxical when you consider how much value is placed on optimal child-rearing and support.

A much bigger problem for male educators, however, is the initial distrust of many parents. Not a few put men who choose to work in kindergarten under general suspicion at first: What if they get too close to my child? In many institutions, men are therefore particularly reserved, do not change diapers and also avoid intense physical contact when roughhousing and cuddling. The constant caution in everyday daycare and the obvious mistrust can be downright discouraging for young educators. In general, there is still considerable need for development regarding gender issues.

Image credits

Man and children play ball © liderina - stock.adobe.com

Childcare worker doing gymnastics with children on the floor © Halfpoint - stock.adobe.com

Childcare worker paints with children using brush and paint © Halfpoint - stock.adobe.com