Where Are All the Men in Primary School Teaching?
Walk into any Irish primary school and you may find that male teachers are a rare sight. Men have become an endangered species in Ireland’s…
Walk into any Irish primary school and you may find that male teachers are a rare sight. Men have become an endangered species in Ireland’s primary classrooms. In the 1970s about one in three primary teachers in Ireland were men; today it’s closer to one in six. The latest data show roughly 7,300 men among 46,600 primary teachers nationwide — just 15%.
This gender gap has sparked concern, not least because many pupils (especially boys in one-parent families) might go through early school years without ever having a male teacher as a role model.
We have a habit in Ireland of living in a bubble with things that we consider normal like uniforms, denominational education and single sex schooling being completely abnormal in the vast majority of other countries, but is the lack of male teachers an international issue?
In this case, Ireland’s situation is not unique. Other English-speaking countries show a similar imbalance in their primary schools. In the UK, only about 14% of nursery and primary teachers are male (DfE, 2023). Nearly a quarter of primary schools in England have no male teacher on staff (BBC, 2023). Australia faces the same issue: roughly 18% of primary teachers there are men, down from about 30% in the 1980s (ABC News, 2019). Canada also reports fewer than one in five male teachers at the elementary level in many regions (e.g. just 16% in Calgary).
Why are so few men going into primary teaching? Research points to several factors:
Gender stereotypes: There’s a deep-rooted cultural notion that educating little kids is “women’s work.” Many boys don’t even consider primary teaching as a career path because they’ve never seen a man in that role.
Pay and status: New primary teachers in Ireland start on modest salaries and face a very slow wage progression — it takes 24 years to reach the top of the pay scale. Men are statistically more likely to prioritise earning potential when choosing a career.
Fear of false allegations: The 2006 Trinity College study Facing Extinction? Why Men Are Not Attracted to Primary Teaching found that fear of false accusations was a common concern among male trainee teachers (Irish Independent).
High entry barriers: The CAO points race, combined with a compulsory Irish language requirement, deters many potential male candidates who may not have strong Leaving Cert grades in languages. As a result, only around 10% of those entering primary teaching are men.
The lack of men is only part of the picture. The typical Irish primary teacher remains “overwhelmingly white, Irish, settled, Catholic and female” (The Irish Times, 2020).
Ethnicity: 99% of student teachers in Ireland are White Irish, compared to 85% of the general population.
Traveller representation: In one recent year, only 1 out of 2,437 applicants to primary teaching came from the Traveller community.
Disability: Fewer than 5% of new trainee teachers have a disability, vs 13.5% of the national population.
Religious background: With 88% of primary schools under Catholic patronage, and many requiring Catholic religious training certification, candidates from minority religions (or none) can and do feel excluded.
This matters because a more diverse teaching workforce benefits everyone — not just children from minority backgrounds. Diverse staff challenge stereotypes, bring broader perspectives to the classroom, and ensure all children see themselves represented in public life.
Right — so we know we have a problem, so how do we solve it? Several international efforts offer promising ideas:
1. Visibility Campaigns
Public campaigns to normalise male teachers in primary settings — such as the UK’s call for more “dad-like” figures in schools — have helped challenge stereotypes (BBC, 2018).
2. Financial Incentives
In Wales, the government introduced bursaries to attract teacher trainees from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds (Welsh Gov).
3. Reducing Barriers
In Manitoba, Canada, places in teacher training courses are being reserved for Indigenous and minority students to boost representation in schools (Canadian Centre for Men and Families).
4. Teach First & Fast-Track Schemes
In England, Teach First rebranded teaching as a high-status profession and successfully attracted more men and diverse graduates into schools (Teach First).
5. Mentoring and Retention Networks
Support networks for minority and male teachers, once in the system, help them feel less isolated and more supported — essential for retention.
If we want to see more men — and more diversity in general — in Irish primary classrooms, we can’t simply hope the problem solves itself. We need to act: by breaking down structural barriers, funding real outreach, and showing that teaching is a vital, respected and inclusive career. Children deserve to learn from teachers who reflect the full spectrum of Irish life.