Boys’ Underachievement: Male versus Female Teachers

Educationists believe that one of the causes of boys’ underachievement is the dominance of female teachers in the teaching profession resulting in the feminization of teaching. This paper presents findings from interviews with secondary school teachers on their perceptions towards role modeling, preference for teachers based on gender, effectiveness of male teachers versus female teachers, recruitment policy and suggestion towards a one gender school. Generally the findings indicated mixed results on teacher preference and effectiveness agreement towards increasing male teachers, support for a co-education system, and the need for developing teacher professional development program.