Gender

Convenors:

Prof. Dr. Tim Rohrmann, University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Hildesheim, Germany
Dr. Joanne McHale, Technological University Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

together with:
David Brody, Senior Advisor, Jerusalem, Israel
Halah Gaber Elkarif, University of Cairo, Egypt
Ricardo Goncalves, Örebrö University, Sweden
Birgitte Ljunggren, Queen Maud University College of Early Childhood Education, Norway
Yuwei Xu, University of Nottingham, UK

Purpose

For some years now, researchers from several countries have formed an international network on issues of gender in ECEC. Since 2010, members of the network organised research symposia on the annual conferences of EECERA. In 2012, the network initiated the Special Interest Group Gender Balance within EECERA.

The SIG focuses on gender issues with a special focus on the ECE work force, on the important role gender plays in adult-child-relations, and on gender in the context of diversities. This includes strategies for a more diverse and gender-mixed ECE workforce. In the past decade, several research projects were conducted, and during the past years it has become a global issue, with researchers from countries worldwide focusing on these issues. Although some government funded programmes have tried for bringing more men in the profession, the transfer from research to policy remains a challenge.

We believe that the involvement of men in children’s lives is crucial for the future development of our societies. Thus, we support the aim of increasing the proportion of male ECEC workers towards a diverse and gender-mixed work force. At the same time there is a need for a more differentiated view. Research is necessary e.g. on the significance of ECEC workers’ gender for children’s development, the interrelations of gender balance in the workforce and the promotion of gender equality, on gender-sensitive strategies for recruitment for ECE training and work, on recruitment and retention of men in the ECEC workforce, and on global perspectives in the context of gender equality and children’s development in ECEC in general.

The SIG focuses on the links of research, practice and policy, intends to provide an academic forum for the promotion, development and dissemination of research, and facilitates cooperation and collaboration between researchers in the field.

More information about the SIG, presentations, publications and projects can be found at http://www.siggender.eu

Report

Click here to view the 2024-25 report (pdf)
Click here to view the 2022-24 report (pdf)
Click here to view the 2020-21 report (pdf)
Click here to view the 2019-20 report (pdf)
Click here to view the 2018-19 report (pdf)
Click here to view the 2017-18 report (pdf)
Click here to view the 2016-17 report (pdf)
Click here to view the 2015-16 report (pdf)
Click here to view the 2014-15 report (pdf)
Click here to view the 2013-14 report (pdf)
Click here to view the 2012-13 report (pdf)

News & Events

For additional information on any upcoming SIG meetings, please contact the convenors.

Events

Does gender matter? 14th SIG gender research conference – in hybrid mode

Funchal/Madeira & Online, | Tuesday, 25th August 2026, 9.00 – 11.45 (BST/UTC)
Room: to be announced

In a world of escalating conflicts and struggles for basic resources, gender issues in ECEC might seem to be only academic or irrelevant. However, researchers continue to discuss gender gaps in education, gender disparities in the work force, and the underrepresentation of men in the early years. The EECERA Special Interest Group (SIG) Gender invites you to its 14^th research conference, connected to the 34^th EECERA conference in Funchal/Madeira.

We ask Does gender matter? and will discuss this question in several contexts:

Tensions of masculinities and femininities between caring professions and militarisation.
Relevance of gender in pedagogical content and practice in ECEC.
Reassertion of gender stereotypes generated by artificial intelligence (AI).
A gap between academic gender discourses and the reality of how people experience gender in everyday life in education and care.

The SIG gender research conference has enabled and supported open dialogue since its beginning. It has developed as a safe and productive space for discussing issues of gender equality and diversity in ECEC on a global level. The SIG is giving room for progressing the participants’ individual research development by mutual support of well-experienced colleagues as well as early career researchers.

We welcome you to join our next conference. As many colleagues will not be able to travel to Madeira, we decided to arrange the conference in hybrid mode. Small group sessions will be conducted partly on-site, partly in online breakout rooms via zoom.

The EECERA Special Interest Group Gender embraces contributions to all aspects of gender relevant in the field of ECEC, with a special focus on gender issues in the ECEC work force. The conference is the annual meeting of the SIG, and as such it is open to all interested researchers. Participation in the conference is free of charge.

Who can attend?

The event is free and open to all interested participants. Click here to register.

Program

9.00 On-site Reception and welcome Joanne McHale & Tim Rohrmann, conference chairs
9.30 Start of hybrid session – round talk – recent developments
10.00 Small groups & Breakout Rooms

1. On-site: Relevance of gender in pedagogical content and practice in ECEC (Moderation: Ricardo Goncalves, Sweden/Brazil)
2. Online: Reassertion of gender stereotypes generated by artificial intelligence (AI) (Moderation: Halah Elkarif, Germany/Egypt)
3. Online: A gap between academic gender discourses and the reality of how people experience gender in everyday life in education and care. (Moderation: Konstantina Rentzou, Greece)
4. On-site: Tensions of masculinities and femininities between caring professions and militarisation. (Moderation: N.N.)

11.00 Break
11.15 Plenary round – report from small groups & discussion
11.30 The next steps & final round
We discuss possibilities for collaboration and the further development of the SIG.
11.45 End of conference

We are looking forward to meeting you in Funchal and online!
Joanne McHale (Ireland), Tim Rohrmann (Germany) & the SIG team.

SIG Gender conference 2026 Madeira | hybrid – download the PDF.

Newsletters

SIG Newsletter December 2025

SIG Newsletter April 2025

SIG Newsletter December 2024

SIG Newsletter March 2024

SIG Newsletter December 2025

SIG Newsletter January 2023

SIG Newsletter AUGUST 2022

SIG Newsletter JUNE 2022

Activities & Publications

If you plan to submit a paper on gender issues on the 34th Annual EECERA conference, and are interested to join in an Self-Organized-Symposium, please contact Tim Rohrmann.

Early Career Researchers Group

More info: Please contact Halah Gaber Elkarif.

Collaborate research

Mentoring of Men in ECEC–Visit the webpage here.

Multilingual evaluation of a picture book for children about an intersex child–Visit the webpage here.

Publications

Some recent contributions on gender balance in ECEC

Boadu, Patrick K. & Asiama, Aikins A. (2026). “Early Childhood Education or Nothing”: Motivations and Experiences of a Male Teacher in Female-Dominated Early Childhood Education: a Case Study in Ghana. Early Childhood Education Journal, 54, 2049-2060. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-025-01983-y
Coles, Laetitia; Xu, Yuwei; Sullivan, Victoria & Thorpe, Karen (2026). At the margin and in the centre: how men working in early childhood education and care frame their role. Community, Work & Family, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/13668803.2026.2621909

Ezeugwu, Chika R.; Ogunleke, Sunday; Akpovino, Charity U.; Oluwatosin, Alimi; Olaseni, Janet T. & Oyekola, Adebunmi O. (2026). “A woman’s job?” Gendered perceptions of preschool teaching in Nigeria. Journal of Early Childhood Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/1476718X261417796

Gonçalves de Sousa, Ricardo (2026). Physical touch as a pedagogical action for male preschool teachers and children in ECEC. Early Years, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/09575146.2026.2640053

Our recent publication lists features research on men in ECEC in China, Ghana, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain and other countries. Have a look!

Gender Publication lists 2013-2025

Unfortunately, the use of AI generated fake sources in scientific papers has become an issue in academia. We found several cases also in the field of gender research, some of them disseminated by Academia.eu and ResearchGate. If you find fake sources in a publication featured on our lists, please inform us instantly.

Publication list SIG Gender Balance 2026 (May)

Presentations

The SIG Gender has organised symposia at the EECERA Annual conferences since 2009 and SIG research conferences since 2013. All presentations from these symposia and conferences are available on www.siggender.eu, subpage ‘documentations’. Feel free to have a look!

Links & Partners

Researchers interested in the issue of gender balance in the ECE workforce, and the important role gender plays in adult-child-relations, can join our Facebook group SIG Gender EECERA.