Low salary and lack of social status are obstacles in getting more men to work in kindergartens
Despite heightened efforts by Chinese schools to recruit more male teachers in an attempt to counter what education officials worry is a trend of increasing numbers of effeminate boys, male educators are still in short supply across pre-schools in Shanghai.
According to statistics from the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, there were a total of 53,352 employees in more than 2,000 Shanghai kindergartens as of 2014. However, this group comprised just 200 male teachers.
Authorities have in recent times made it easier for men to enter this industry by implementing relaxed college admission requirements and offering scholarships that come with guaranteed full-time employment in schools, but it seems that Chinese men are still reluctant to take on the roles.
Chen Yilang, one of the few male teachers working at the Jiangwan branch of the China Welfare Institute Kindergarten, said that while teachers are generally held in high regard in society, the wages earned by men in pre-schools are still considered uncompetitive. The majority of male kindergarten teachers in Shanghai earn between 50,000 and 60,000 yuan ($7,600-$9,200) annually, lower than the average annual income of employees in the city in 2014 (65,417 yuan). Those with more experience, however, stand to earn a maximum of 100,000 yuan per year.
He noted there is also the social stigma that men working in preschools are－somewhat ironically in this case－rather effeminate themselves because the education sector has always been a woman's domain.
"I chose this job not for the money but for happiness. I believe that it is important to change society's attitude toward pre-school male teachers and for men to ignore such bias. Still, many of my peers have switched careers after just a few years because of the low income and high work pressure. Some of them even face difficulties in finding a spouse because of the social bias toward this profession," said Chen.
