Men in childcare are seen as less warm, moral, and competent than women

Men remain vastly underrepresented in early childhood education and care, but why? A new study published in Sex Roles explores the stereotypes that shape public perceptions of men working in childcare and how these beliefs influence support for increasing gender diversity in the field.

The underrepresentation of men in women-dominated professions, particularly childcare, is often overlooked. Many assume men simply lack interest in these careers, rather than recognizing the societal barriers that discourage them from pursuing caregiving roles. Research has shown that men and women are perceived and treated differently when they enter gender-atypical careers, with men often facing unique skepticism and bias.

Researchers Serena Haines and colleagues conducted this study to explore three types of stereotypes surrounding men in childcare: 1) descriptive stereotypes—how men in childcare are perceived; 2) prescriptive stereotypes—how men in childcare should be; and 3) proscriptive stereotypes—how men in childcare should not be. Their goal was to understand whether misalignment between these stereotypes influences public support for male childcare workers.

The researchers conducted a study with 280 participants from Czechia, which has one of the lowest percentages of men working in childcare in the European Union, providing a context where societal barriers to men’s participation are particularly pronounced. Participants were recruited through an online panel to ensure a representative sample of Czech adults.

Each participant was randomly assigned to evaluate one of three target groups: men working in childcare, women working in childcare, and childcare workers without specified gender

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Participants completed a series of open-ended questions designed to capture their spontaneous thoughts about their assigned group’s characteristics, describing how these individuals were perceived, how they should be, and how they should not be.

This approach allowed researchers to assess descriptive, prescriptive, and proscriptive stereotypes. Afterward, participants rated their assigned group on 16 predefined traits across four categories: warmth, morality, competence, and assertiveness.

The researchers also measured participants’ overall support for men working in childcare and collected information about participants’ personal experiences, such as whether they had ever met a male childcare worker or had children themselves.

The study revealed significant differences in how men in childcare were perceived compared to both female childcare workers and gender-unspecified childcare workers. Men in childcare were rated as significantly less warm, moral, and competent than women in the same profession.

Women were seen as naturally suited to childcare roles, with participants’ descriptions of female workers closely matching their expectations of an ideal childcare worker. When evaluating child care workers with no specified gender, participants’ descriptions largely mirrored those of female childcare workers, suggesting people generally assume childcare professionals are women.

Beyond these general perceptions, men in childcare were uniquely associated with negative stereotypes. In open-ended responses, participants were more likely to describe men as potential threats, including references to physical violence or pedophilia—concerns never mentioned for female childcare workers.

Interestingly, when explicitly rating male childcare workers on predefined trait scales, participants did not rate them as particularly threatening. This discrepancy suggests that while people may not openly express concerns about men working with children in structured rating tasks, such fears can emerge when they describe their thoughts freely.

The study also found that greater alignment between how participants perceived men in childcare and how they expected them to be was linked to higher support for men in the field. However, this effect disappeared when controlling for factors such as political orientation, gender, and personal experience with childcare, suggesting that broader social beliefs play a key role in shaping attitudes toward men in childcare.

A limitation was the study’s focus on stereotype content related only to childcare workers, without comparing general gender stereotypes in broader contexts. Future research could explore how much occupational role expectations influence perceptions compared to gender norms.

The study, “Who Cares? Stereotypes of and Support for Men Working in Childcare,” was authored by Serena Haines, Sabine Sczesny, and Sylvie Graf.