Men in Early Years Settings

Building a Mixed Gender Workforce

This book explores the role of male professionals in early years settings and provides guidance for early years practitioners, managers and policy makers on building a more mixed-gender workforce by successfully attracting, recruiting, retaining and developing men in their teams.

Men make up less than 2% of the early years workforce in England. This book considers the reasons for the current situation, asks whether there is a case for change and suggests ways of achieving a more mixed-gender early years workforce. The voices of male and female practitioners, providers and parents help to illustrate the barriers to men entering and successfully working in the sector, whilst also suggesting ways these barriers can be broken down.