We’re in ongoing dialogue with the MITEY network and campaign and we’re hoping to host MITEY’s 2021 conference at Middlesex University.
MITEY is a network and campaign that was created in order to support and promote men taking up roles in the early years sector. Currently only 3% of the English EY workforce is male. This is deeply concerning given that we know that children form gender stereotypes early in life depending on what they see around them. If they only see women doing caring, they might wrongly assume that only women can care. Bringing more men into the early years might also help to relieve some of the current pressure on the sector, with workforce struggles of recruitment and retention that impact negatively on quality. By increasing the pool of applicants for any role, there is the opportunity to ease some of these struggles.