Nursery World - Recruitment - How early years can man up

Why are there so few men in the early years, and what can be done to improve recruitment, ask David Wright and Simon Brownhill in an extract from their book

The male CV arriving in response to a job advert in a pre-school typically represents one of two things: either it is a novelty or an aberration. In the latter case, it is dismissed. This is not an individual who is like us; he has a different gender. In the case of the former, while there may be keen interest in acquiring ‘a man’, what values are used to assess him against, consciously or subconsciously, in terms of fitting within our organisation?

Are we expecting new group members to adapt to our culture – the way we do things around here, or how far are we willing to change to accommodate somebody different? We could equally apply this challenge to those of other races, religions, beliefs, practices and culture. For some of us it is enriching and educational to absorb new ideas; for others it can be a challenge.

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