Male teachers lacking in the classroom

LAYTON — The fifth grade students in Brad Ericksen's class know what their teacher will be doing after school today. They can tell by his outfit — a navy blue shirt and khaki pants.

He'll be working at Walmart.

"I work there to make ends meet," says Ericksen, whose wife stays home with their three kids. The fifth-grade teacher at Lincoln Elementary School works between 20 and 25 hours a week at his second job on top of working at least 40 hours a week as a teacher. And he's been doing this for more than two years.

"I'm not rich, but I'm happy," said Ericksen, who is one of two male teachers at the school — a pretty typical setup in elementary schools around the state, nationwide and even internationally. In Utah, just 11 percent of elementary teachers are male, according to '08-'09 data from the state. And the numbers are even bleaker for the earlier grades: Out of the 14 teachers in pre-K in the state in '08-'09, none were male.

Ericksen says part of the reason he believes more men don't go into teaching is because of the salary.

The other two main reasons are fear of false accusations and stereotypes, said Bryan G. Nelson, director of MenTeach, an international organization that works on creating a more diverse educator work force.

"There's a stereotype that men don't have the capacity to be patient," Nelson said. "There is a societal message for them to not enter the field."

Nelson has gone to different high schools around the country, asking young men what their parents would think if they told them they wanted to be an elementary teacher or nurse or go into another traditional female occupation. Often before he has time to finish his sentence, the boys start laughing.

"It is considered outrageous for men to enter jobs that have traditionally been considered women's work, but not for women to enter jobs that have traditionally been men's work," he said earlier this week. There are many incentives for women to go into engineering or medicine but not many for men to go into teaching, he said.

Yet, many Utah teachers and principals, both male and female, believe it's important for there to be a more equal number of male teachers in schools. In Utah, just over 25 percent of teachers are male.