Abstract
Between 1968 and 1980, the ratio of male college freshmen planning to
become a teacher fell from 12.4% to 2.4% and the share of males among
those who aspired to teach dropped from 30.6% to 19.7%. While changes
in women’s labor supply over this period have been studied extensively,
little attention has been paid to shifts in men’s careers. Using nationally
representative data on the career plans of college freshmen I find that
unrestricted access to the birth control pill bears a negative relation to the
likelihood that men plan to teach, while changes in the strength of
teacher unions are unrelated to their career plans. Men’s aspirations shift
away from teaching towards occupations that are associated with higher
average income like accounting and computer programming. These
changes in career plans occur predominantly among men of medium and
low academic ability.
become a teacher fell from 12.4% to 2.4% and the share of males among
those who aspired to teach dropped from 30.6% to 19.7%. While changes
in women’s labor supply over this period have been studied extensively,
little attention has been paid to shifts in men’s careers. Using nationally
representative data on the career plans of college freshmen I find that
unrestricted access to the birth control pill bears a negative relation to the
likelihood that men plan to teach, while changes in the strength of
teacher unions are unrelated to their career plans. Men’s aspirations shift
away from teaching towards occupations that are associated with higher
average income like accounting and computer programming. These
changes in career plans occur predominantly among men of medium and
low academic ability.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication date | 2012 |
| Number of pages | 24 |
| Publication status | Published - 2012 |
| Event | The 26th Annual Conference of the European Society for Population Economics 2012 - University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland Duration: 20 Jun 2012 → 23 Jun 2012 Conference number: 26 https://sites.google.com/site/especonference2012/ |
Conference
| Conference | The 26th Annual Conference of the European Society for Population Economics 2012 |
|---|---|
| Number | 26 |
| Location | University of Bern |
| Country | Switzerland |
| City | Bern |
| Period | 20/06/2012 → 23/06/2012 |
| Internet address |
Cite this
Steingrimsdottir, H. (2012). Why did Men leave Teaching in the 1970s: -And Where Did They Go?. Paper presented at The 26th Annual Conference of the European Society for Population Economics 2012, Bern, Switzerland. https://espe.conference-services.net/reports/template/onetextabstract.xml?xsl=template/onetextabstractandpaper.xsl&conferenceID=2907&abstractID=615987