The Feminisation of Primary Teaching in Taiwan

Abstract

This article examines the feminisation of primary teaching in Taiwan by drawing on statistical data, official documents, and findings of local Taiwanese research and my own ethnographic study. Firstly, state policies targeted at reforming the educational system and teacher training contribute to the substantial entry of women into primary teaching training and the teaching profession. Secondly, my research evidence suggests that cultural contexts, including gender norms, teaching as a career conforming to feminine attributes, men leaving teaching, women’s increasing independence, and constructing primary teaching as women’s work underpin the feminisation of primary teaching.