Thu 13th October, 2011
Female secondary school teachers in England are more likely to have to choose between a career and having children than their counterparts in France.
This is according to Dr Marie-Pierre Moreau, a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Education Studies and the Institute for Research in Education (IREd) at the University of Bedfordshire, whose book on the subject has just been released.
The book, called Les Enseignants et le Genre (Teachers and Gender), is a cross-national comparison of gender inequalities in the secondary teaching profession. It was released by renowned publishing house Presses Universitaires de France and is available to buy in all French-speaking countries.
Dr Moreau found that in both countries women were under-represented in more prestigious teaching roles, but that French women were less likely to work part-time and to take a career break than English women, despite also having more children. This is because the provision for working mothers is more developed in France. Also, because French secondary school teachers do not have to be in the school outside of their teaching hours, juggling the demands of teaching and those of a family was easier than for English teachers.
She said: “My research shows that French women have much more in terms of state support, such as free nurseries for young children, or longer school days for older children. I also found that the teaching profession in France is more subject-specialised, so that their time is not taken up with pastoral care or other concerns.
“However, I noticed that the higher level of gender equality found in the teaching labour market was not necessarily reflected in the domestic sphere. Actually, the flexibility of French teaching often resulted in an unequal division of domestic labour, as women were more likely than men to use that flexibility for domestic or care work.”
The research took Dr Moreau four years and 60 teachers were interviewed in England and France. She said: “I’m really proud of the book – it was hard work but to have it published by such a distinguished publishing house is fantastic. It’s odd to finally see it in print actually, but I think it’s a great achievement.”
Latest news» 2011» October» English school teachers more likely to choose between career and motherhood
