Nursery World - Positive Relationships: Men in Childcare

One setting is bucking the norm of a female-dominated early years workforce by making the recruitment of men part of its commitment to equality and diversity, finds Meredith Jones Russell

Attracting male practitioners to roles in the traditionally female-dominated early years sector can be a desirable achievement for many settings. While recruitment and retention of male staff members can pose a challenge, this does not seem to be the case at Chapel House Day Nursery in West Norwood, London, where seven of the 22 members of staff are men, including the manager, Nick Corlett.

Mr Corlett says Chapel House always stood out to him for the relatively high proportion of male practitioners who worked there. ‘In my 13 years in the industry, I have never seen this many men in one setting. When I first joined, the majority were already here, and right from the beginning it was very interesting to see the dynamic,’ he says.

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