Ohio male majoring in Early Childhood Education (K-3)...What are my job prospects? (middle school, teachers)

[WSUBen]

Hello everyone,

I just transferred schools in Ohio (community college to 4 year) and am currently majoring in Early Childhood Education (PreK through 3) at my 4 year. I have good grades (3.6+ GPA) and work with children in a before/after school program. With all that said, I am definitely scared about my job prospects upon getting out of college (I will be done in the Winter of 2012) because of all the elementary certifications Ohio issues. Should I keep going in ECE or switch to pursue something in middle childhood education (I was thinking math and social studies). What is the job market like for male ECE majors? Will I be in demand more because I am a guy? I have tried to research these questions but have found little on the internet. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I don't want to spend all that money on college not to get a job when I get out!

[mpascal]

In my area you would definitely be more in demand as a male. Not something people like to talk about, that gender plays a role, but as a guy in elementary education, I know it always did for me. I now work in my district's social studies office and can tell you that every year we have tons more teachers looking for social studies positions than we have jobs for. Math is typically in higher demand, but lots of social studies majors are still looking for work...Again, only speaking for what I know of my district in northern VA.

[toobusytoday]

As a parent of a school child and a parent of a teacher, I implore you to teach at the level where you will personally enjoy teaching and coming to work every day. How many teachers have you had that were obviously there because they got the job in the first place and then never looked for something else? I've heard this said before, and I agree with it, Middle school teaching is a calling. If you love teaching young children then stick with that. I agree with mpascal, that you should have an edge being male for el ed.

[tgbwc]

Originally Posted by mpascal

In my area you would definitely be more in demand as a male. Not something people like to talk about, that gender plays a role, but as a guy in elementary education, I know it always did for me. I now work in my district's social studies office and can tell you that every year we have tons more teachers looking for social studies positions than we have jobs for. Math is typically in higher demand, but lots of social studies majors are still looking for work...Again, only speaking for what I know of my district in northern VA.

I am a male and also work for a district in northern VA. When I was first interviewing at my university's education job fair, the county had a sign of "critical need" areas and "areas of lower demand". Elementary ed. was listed under the latter category. I was about to pass up their table, when the recruiter stopped me and said, "Wait. You are a male in elem. ed. We would love to interview you." I had an early contract offer that day. We have very few males in the elementaries and I think the administrators are hard pressed to find males to interview for positions. So, given that everything else is equal, I would say you would have an advantage.

[Sunnydee]

You are a highly prized entity. Males in elem. ed. are in great demand especially when they really want to teach not use it as stepping stone to coaching or admin. Go with your passion and the rest will fall in place.