Men in early childhood education: suspicious glances and segregation attempts

The teaching of children is a profession occupied predominantly by women in Brazil and in other countries. In this article, we analyze the initial stage of the professional career of men who have chosen to teach in early childhood education, in a public school with only seven men in that position. The methodology used was inspired by their life stories, and interviews were conducted with all the men working at the time of data collection. The career paths were analyzed from the perspective of gender studies, observing that entering and remaining in the profession were marked by difficulties characteristic of the field and by questions and attempts at segregation arising from hegemonic notions of masculinity.

Teaching; early childhood education; gender; masculinity