B.C. teachers worry over lack of men in profession

Teachers in British Columbia are concerned over the relative lack of men pursuing teaching careers. "When I started teaching some time ago, it was about 50-50 overall," Rick Guenther, a former president of the Abbotsford teacher’s union told the Vancouver Sun. "The latest statistic  . . . shows that we’re about 72-per-cent female overall." Another teacher, Grant Osborne, who is president of the New Westminster Teachers’ Union, said that for many at risk students, it is "painful to see the absence" of a positive male influence "in their lives." A look at current enrolment trends in university education programs, suggests the gap will only widen. At Simon Fraser University, for example, 80 per cent of students pursuing education degrees are women. The British Columbia Teacher’s Federation says more research needs to be done to see what is discouraging men from becoming teachers.