Why are most K-6 grade school teachers women?

At one time, women who were well educated, intelligent, and professional still couldn’t get good jobs in professional fields, dominated by men. But being a teacher was one profession open for them, as men didn’t get involved much with children.

Also, women, being more maternal, were thought to be more natural around children than men are. Today, it is still thought of as a women’s profession because children tend to bond more with their mothers than their fathers, due to their nurturing nature.

Men who are especially creative or imaginative or nurturing do very well with children; men who are too businesslike or ‘manly’ don’t bond well with children.

My 4th & 5th grade teacher was a man, oddly enough he had a few piercings and was heavily tatted with full sleeves all the way to his knuckles. Poor guy was required to cover them as much as possible, even if it was 115° he’d wear long sleeve shirts. From 6th -12th grade only 6 or 7 of my teachers were females.

My guess is part of the reason is pay and part of the reason is men have less patience with small children. That’s just generalizing though, of course some men are great with young children. My 4th and 6th grade teachers were men.