So much for equality: Men less likely to become primary school teachers or nurses due to gender bias, reports show

Experts warn: Gender discrimination prevents men from becoming primary school teachers or nurses.

They say that while women’s efforts to get into scientific, engineering and technical positions have been heavily publicized, job discrimination against men has not.

Biases against men in early childhood education and health care are said to be related to perceptions that women are more caring and less dangerous.

Two new studies released today by the American Psychological Association attempted to measure the impact of these stereotypes.

In an experiment with 296 participants in the United States, a group read an article that described careful research showing that employers in schools and the health care sector preferred a female applicant over a male one, even if they had the same qualifications.

Another group read an article claiming gender equality in early primary education, and a control group read nothing.

Men who read about male gender bias expected more discrimination in early elementary education and felt less belonging, less positive, and less interested in pursuing a career in the field.

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Female participants were unaffected and reported similar responses in all groups.

An experiment with 275 students at Skidmore College in New York came up with similar results. The research is published online in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied.

Only three percent of American preschool and kindergarten teachers are men, and they are more likely to be bullied at work and perceived as less nice and trustworthy.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, men make up just 3 percent of preschool and kindergarten teachers and 13 percent of registered nurses in the United States.

In previous research, researchers claimed that male nurses reported more workplace bullying than female nurses.

Male elementary school teachers reported more discrimination and were perceived as less sympathetic, less rewarding, and a greater threat to child safety than female teachers.

Lead researcher Corinne Moss-Racusin, associate professor of psychology at Skidmore College, said: “There is no evidence that men are biologically incapable of doing this work, or that men and women are inherently predisposed to different career lines not.”

She added: “It harms society when our people are still trapped in gender roles and remain on gendered career paths, regardless of whether those jobs are traditionally associated with women or men.

“It’s a powerful way to reinforce the traditional gender status quo.”

Nursing is known to be a field where bullying is more common than other workplaces.

A 2015 study found that the number of men working in HEED fields did not increase from 1998 to 2013 — as the problem went largely unnoticed.

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