Many primary school kids will never have a male teacher, and experts say that's a problem

Ryan Brown never saw primary school teaching as even a remote career path, but now believes he's found his "calling".

"I can't express how fun it is, how rewarding it is," he said.

"I've found something I'll do for the rest of my life, and having done a bunch of other jobs, I'm so glad I found it."

But Mr Brown is a rare breed — one of just two male classroom teachers at his Canberra primary school.

For the majority of his Year 5 students, it's the first time they have ever been taught by a man.

"This is not an easy option for a job as a male — you really have to be able to relate to children … and I think sometimes men struggle to be vulnerable," he said.

The proportion of male educators in Australia has been falling for decades.

Men now represent just 17.6 per cent of primary school teaching staff, and 38.5 per cent of high school teachers.

Without steps to remedy the disparity, researchers say those numbers will continue to dwindle.

What's driving the decline?

Education researcher Kevin McGrath from the Australian Catholic University said the declining trend was the result of two key forces.

"Firstly, there is a large economic factor, and that is, on average and compared to women, men can earn more in other industries," Dr McGrath said.

"Second, there are social expectations around who belongs in the teaching profession — teaching is often associated with stereotypical traits of being caring and nurturing."

And there are fears that recent explosive allegations of abuse within the childcare sector will also act as a deterrent for male educators.

"A female teacher can hug their students for comfort," Mr Brown said.

"The relationships are different."

Associate Professor Matthew Brown from the University of Canberra's education faculty said the pervasive undervaluing of teachers also played a major part.

"If you've got society basically not rewarding and not recognising the value of teaching as a profession, then young people, men, boys, will be thinking, 'Well, I'll go into another profession'," he said.

That rings true for Ben Weir, who is accustomed to people questioning his decision to become a high school maths and science teacher.

"Particularly to men … [it's seen as] a lesser career, one that you're choosing by sacrificing other careers you could be having," the Canberra student said.

"That was really something that was prominent in my undergraduate degree — 'you have all this potential and you're only using it to teach'."

Why we should care

Experts agree that having more diversity in the classroom benefits both students and staff.

As schools grapple with staff shortages, Dr McGrath said finding ways to attract more men into the profession should be part of the solution.

"It's unlikely that we can address the teacher shortage that we experience here in Australia while such a significant portion of the population fails to see teaching as a suitable career choice," he said.

He said Australia's failure to address the decline of male teachers was a glaring gap in its gender equality goals.

"Boys and girls have both told us in research that they would like to be taught by both men and women," Dr McGrath said.

"For boys, it's important that they see teachers who they perceive understand them.

"For girls … they tell us that having male teachers is important for them because the absence of male teachers actually contributes to their anxieties around interacting with men more broadly."

He said research also showed job satisfaction among female teachers was higher in schools with a greater gender balance.

Associate Professor Brown said it was important for students to be exposed to more men in both caring and leadership roles.

"We need more men in the teaching workforce so that we can allow children and young people to see positive role models for men," he said.

Can the trend be reversed?

Dr McGrath said a range of initiatives to attract men to teaching, including scholarships and gender targets, had been floated or trialled over the years.

"These have either been blocked by union groups or dropped when there has been no progress or no quick wins that have been made," he said.

He said it was time to revisit those ideas — and commit to them long-term.

"Scholarships for people considering a career in teaching are actually the single most effective recruitment initiative that we could use," he said.

In a statement, Australian Education Union president Correna Haythorpe said the union supported scholarships, placements and development opportunities for "all aspiring teachers".

"We have a teacher shortage crisis and fixing the underlying issues in the profession is the best way to improve diversity and bring more men, and more people generally, into teaching," Ms Haythorpe said.

"Reducing excessive workloads, ensuring competitive pay and conditions, providing high-quality professional development, and guaranteeing appropriate mentoring and career support are some of the changes that will encourage more people — including men — to consider teaching as a long-term career."

Associate Professor Brown said there was no quick fix to increasing the number of male teachers, but said reframing the conversation was essential.

"This particular problem took decades to create and it's going to take some time, possibly decades, to repair," he said.

"It's not that we need fewer women — we need the same number of women, if not more women. And now we need more men."

'Maybe I would have found it sooner'

Back in the classroom, Ryan Brown said his situation was a simple case of you cannot be what you cannot see.

"It took me so long to figure out I wanted to be a teacher, whereas if it had been more common or if more people had stated this was an option for me, maybe I would have found it sooner," he said.

"Some of my students — and it's very sweet — talk about how they want to be teachers, and I don't know if the boys would've said that before they had me as a teacher."

Ben Weir is eager to start working in the classroom full-time next year as he completes his teaching program.

"Through the work I'm doing as a learning support assistant, you're really seeing how a male role model for these students is really important," he said.

"[I want to be] someone they can talk to and relate to and see how being a male in a community or a society, you should really conduct yourself and treat others."