Our data on the state of male teachers comes principally from three sources:

(1) The National Teacher and Principal Survey (and its progenitor the Schools and Staffing Survey) is a nationally representative survey of teachers and principals conducted periodically from 1987 to 2020 by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The most recent NTPS in 2020-2021 sampled 9,900 public schools and 68,000 teachers and 3,000 private schools and 8,000 teachers. These surveys were used to understand the share of male teachers in various grades and subjects as well as their prior work and levels of satisfaction.

(2) The NCES’ Baccalaureate and Beyond longitudinal study ran from 2008 to 2018 and tracked a nationally representative cohort of college graduates for ten years following their college graduation in 2008. The initial sample was approximately 19,000 students. We used this to track the career trajectory of a single cohort of teachers over time.

While these analyses are meant to be nationally representative, the sample size for particular cuts of data may be relatively small and corroboration from other surveys and studies would be beneficial. Analyses with large standard errors have been noted.

(3) The NCES’ Digest of Education Statistics also provides tabular data on a range of education topics including bachelor’s degree attainment by field of study and degree completion rates.

From the National Teacher and Principal Survey 2020-21:

• Q7-7q. Agree or disagree – generally satisfied being a teacher at this school by Level of students taught by teacher (elementary/secondary) and Q9-1. Gender. Sum of Strongly agree and somewhat agree
• Q7-9a. Agree or disagree – teaching not worth it by Level of students taught by teacher (elementary/secondary) and Q9-1. Gender. Sum of Strongly disagree and somewhat disagree
• Q7-7b. Agree or disagree – satisfied with salary by Level of students taught by teacher (elementary/secondary) and Q9-1. Gender. Sum of Strongly agree and somewhat agree

From the Baccalaureate and Beyond 2008/18:

• “Type of position held in education after leaving teaching position”, as of B&B:08/18 interview by Gender.
• Reasons left teaching, as of B&B:08/18 interview: Main reason left teaching by Gender.

From NCES: “Respondents whose main reason for leaving teaching was they left the classroom but remained in education and were in either of two groups who left teaching: 1) respondents who taught as a regular classroom teacher between the 2007–08 bachelor’s degree completion and the B&B:08/12 interview and were not a regular classroom teacher between the B&B:08/12 interview and B&B:08/18 interview, or 2) respondents who taught as a regular classroom teacher between the B&B:08/12 interview and B&B:08/18 interview and were not a regular classroom teacher at the time of the B&B:08/18 interview.”

• ¹ While career and technical education (CTE) is traditionally seen as a male-dominated curriculum of shop and construction courses, the decline of manufacturing and the growth in healthcare, hospitality, and other service industries in the broader economy has shifted the composition of CTE courses. This change, described in a report on CTE by Nat Malkus at the American Enterprise Institute, may account for some of the decline in male CTE teachers. For more on CTE and its benefits, especially for boys, see our policy brief, “How CTE can help close the gender gap in education.”
• ²  This follows a similar effort by scholars at the Brown Center for Education Policy at Brookings to examine the racial diversity of the teaching workforce.
• ³ See page 24 of this 2016 report by the Learning Policy Institute that notes “High rates of delayed entry are evident in some fields such as physical education and elementary education, but a recent study using national data found that almost all newly prepared mathematics and science teachers entered teaching within a year of graduating.” 
• ⁴ Not shown in figure, but based on author’s analysis of National Teacher and Principals Survey (Public Teachers, 2020-21).