OPINION: What do early child care workers need? Better pay, more respect and a few good men
January 23, 2023
Home > Published Articles > OPINION: What do early child care workers need? Better pay, more respect and a few good men
Published by The Hechinger Report on January 23, 2023
Written by Calvin E. Moore, Jr., Ph.D.
Post pandemic, let’s recruit, regroup and create better working conditions for all
In an ideal world, early childhood education advocates wouldn’t need strategies for building respect for the profession. We wouldn’t need to develop arguments for why pre-K educators deserve better pay and working conditions — the country would just accept this as fact and make it happen.
Yet, the reality is we must redouble our efforts to convince the country to create better working conditions for those who serve in early education roles.
The pandemic made the situation more acute: The U.S. has roughly 80,000 fewer child care workers since the pandemic started, a loss of 7.5 percent, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
We believe that part of the solution to the workforce dilemma is higher pay. One way to foster higher pay is by recruiting more men to the field.
Nationwide, only 1.2 percent of early childhood and kindergarten teachers are men, according to MenTeach. We see this phenomenon in our efforts to promote the Child Development Associate credential, which is now widely recognized in early childhood education and is based on a core set of competency standards. Such standards guide early childhood professionals toward becoming qualified educators of young children.
The BLS says that industry and occupational segregation — through which women are overrepresented in certain jobs and industries and underrepresented in others — leads to lower pay for women and contributes to the overall gender wage gap. Its data also shows that “jobs such as child care workers, domestic workers and home health aides are mostly held by women, and all of these roles pay below average wages.” Women-dominated jobs like these (“pink collar jobs”) are less likely to include benefits than jobs predominately held by men.
Academic research has also found “substantial evidence” that the proportion of females in an occupation affects pay because we as a society don’t value work done by women. Fast Companystatedthat while “female-dominated jobs merit better wages regardless of men’s entrance, men’s participation in these jobs may enhance the job’s status and economic value.”
Indeed, research has shown that wages tend to increase after men enter jobs dominated by women, potentially because employers may more highly value the work that men do or more readily accept men’s negotiations for higher wages.
Thirty years ago, I began my own professional journey as a preschool teacher. It wasn’t my original plan, but I pursued the opportunity based on a suggestion from a family member working in the field. Her connection made the opportunity seem more plausible to me, despite starting as a low-paid teacher aide. At that time in my life, I was surrounded by strong, accomplished women who were early educators; I believe this helped me persist in a field where few men enter and stay.
The school enrolled me in a Child Development Associate credential program, which led me to learning everything I could about how children learn and grow.
Later, in my doctorial research for “The Sociological Factors That Affect the Retention of Male Early Childhood Teachers,” I reviewed the exit interviews of male teachers who left teaching. A majority of them did so for higher-paying fields. Other studies have also indicated that men are not as interested in the early childhood education sector due to lack of status, salary and benefits.
Hence, bringing more men into the profession could create a dynamic in which pay increases, helping bring more men into the profession, which further increases pay and benefits.
Beyond the theory that recruiting more men to the sector will increase overall wages and the status of the profession, there are other benefits to such a diversified workforce. In a survey of members of the National Association for the Education of Young Children, 97 percentresponded that it’s important for young children to know caring, loving men and have positive male role models.
In addition, men and women should share equally in caring for young children. We also know that the presence of male teachers often makes fathers feel more welcome and encourages them to become more involved. The more males in the child care center, the more likely we can draw men to parent meetings, teacher conferences and field trips.
Another small part of the way to address the lack of men in the field is by recognizing and praising men currently involved in early childhood education. We are planning to convene male educators to discuss topics like male teacher retention and early childhood education fatherhood initiatives. We are sharing the lessons we’ve learned with those in like-minded organizations in order to highlight the importance of bringing men to and keeping them in early childhood education. We’re doing our part. But we are just beginning.
Author Bio
Calvin E. Moore, Jr., Ph.D., was appointed CEO of the Council for Professional Recognition in May 2020. He is the Council’s first CEO to hold its early education credential, the CDA®, and a former member of the Council’s governing board. Moore learned the value of early care and education when he participated in Head Start as a child. He also has vast professional Head Start experience, having served in large and small, urban and rural, center-based and family child care-based programs, as well as programs focused mainly on Hispanic families. Throughout his career, Moore has held senior roles directing complex federal and state departments that improve outcomes for underserved children and families. Most recently, Moore was the regional program manager in Atlanta for the Office of Head Start within the Administration for Children and Families for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. His responsibilities included providing oversight, monitoring, training and technical assistance to over 350 Head Start and Early Head Start grantees with a portfolio of over $1.6 billion.
He is the author of “The Thinking Book Curriculum: For Early Childhood Professionals,” “Men Do Stay: Recruiting and Retaining Qualified Male Early Childhood Teachers,” and many other books. Moore has received a literary award from AIM and New Light Ministries for his book “Agape Declarations,” the Maria Otto Award for Leadership from the National Family Child Care Association and the Billy McCain, Sr., Memorial Award from the Alabama Head Start Association.
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Elisa Shepherd is the Vice President of Strategic Alliances at the Council, where she leads initiatives to advance the Council’s mission and strategic plan through designing, managing, and executing a comprehensive stakeholder relationship strategy.
With over 25 years of experience in early childhood education (ECE), Elisa has dedicated her career to developing impactful programs, professional development opportunities, and public policies that support working families, young children, and ECE staff. Before joining the Council, Elisa held numerous roles within the childcare industry. Most recently, she served as Associate Vice President at The Learning Experience and as Senior Manager at KinderCare Education, where she influenced government affairs and public policies across 40 states.
Elisa’s commitment to leadership is reflected in her external roles on the Early Care and Education Consortium Board of Directors, the Florida Chamber Foundation Board of Trustees, and as the DEI Caucus Leader for KinderCare Education. She has been recognized as an Emerging Leader in Early Childhood by Childcare Exchange’s Leadership Initiative.
Elisa earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a focus on child development from Pennsylvania State University in State College, PA.
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In Janie’s prior role, she was the Vice President of Administration at Equal Justice Works, where she was responsible for leading human resources, financial operations, facilities management, and information technology. She was also accountable for developing and implementing Equal Justice Works Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion strategy focused on attracting diverse, mission-oriented talent and creating an inclusive and equitable workplace environment. With more than fifteen years of private, federal, and not-for-profit experience, Janie is known for her intuitive skill in administration management, human resources management, designing and leading complex system change, diversity and inclusion, and social justice reform efforts.
Before joining Equal Justice Works, Janie was the Vice President of Human Resources and Chief Diversity Officer for Global Communities, where she was responsible for the design, implementation, and management of integrated HR and diversity strategies. Her work impacted employees in over twenty-two countries. She was responsible for the effective management of different cultural, legal, regulatory, and economic systems for both domestic and international employees. Prior to Global Communities, Janie enjoyed a ten-year career with the federal government. As a member of the Senior Executive Service, she held key strategic human resources positions with multiple cabinet-level agencies and served as an advisor and senior coach to leaders across the federal sector. In these roles, she received recognition from management, industry publications, peers, and staff for driving the creation and execution of programs that created an engaged and productive workforce.
Janie began her career with Verizon Communications (formerly Bell Atlantic), where she held numerous roles of increasing responsibility, where she directed a diversity program that resulted in significant improvement in diversity profile measures. Janie was also a faculty member for the company’s Black Managers Workshop, a training program designed to provide managers of color with the skills needed to overcome barriers to their success that were encountered because of race. She initiated a company-wide effort to establish team-based systems and structures to impact corporate bottom line results which was recognized by the Department of Labor. Janie was one of the first African American women to be featured on the cover of Human Resources Executive magazine.
Janie received her M.A. in Organization Development from American University. She holds numerous professional development certificates in Human Capital Management and Change Management, including a Diversity and Inclusion in Human Resources certificate from Cornell University. She completed the year-long Maryland Equity and Inclusion Leadership Program sponsored by The Schaefer Center for Public Policy and The Maryland Commission on Civil Rights. She is a trained mediator and Certified Professional Coach. She is a graduate of Leadership America, former board chair of the NTL Institute and currently co-steward of the organization’s social justice community of practice, and a member of The Society for Human Resource Management. Additionally, Janie is the Board Chairperson for the Special Education Citizens Advisory Council for Prince Georges County where she is active in developing partnerships that facilitate discussion between parents, families, educators, community leaders, and the PG County school administration to enhance services for students with disabilities which is her passion. She and her husband Randolph reside in Fort Washington Maryland.
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