Nursery World - Recruitment, Part 6: Diversity

What can settings do to attract more men, as well as more people from diverse ethnic backgrounds – and why is this important? Charlotte Goddard reports

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In the UK, 49 per cent of the population are men. Yet in an average nursery, just 2-3 per cent of the workforce is male. The DfE hasn’t even – until now – collected statistics on the number of men in childcare. Following the Workforce Strategy, which flagged this as an issue, and the men in childcare campaign, it will collect this data for the next instalment of its bi-annual survey, due in November. When it comes to ethnic minorities, there is limited data on them too.

Chrissy Meleady, chief executive of Early Years Equality, says, ‘The early years workforce requires a diverse range of people and talents to meet the multiple and holistic needs of children, and to reflect diversity in our multicultural identity. This also aligns to the duty to give due regard to British values.’

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