Spring Sign The MITEY (Men In The Early Years) Charter

As a provider of childcare steeped in history, we know that children thrive when they have key role models of both men and women in their lives. Because of this, we’ve been recruiting men into our settings for many years and we’re proud that 6% of our workforce across the UK today identify as male. Whilst this number is low, it is shockingly double the national average across England and Wales (3% in England and Wales and 4% in Scotland). We know this is because of historic gender stereotypes that exist in our society about the role of men and women take in looking after children – not only the UK but worldwide – and this, sadly, is transferred to the number of men seeking a career in childcare and early education. We’re on a mission to challenge those stereotypes and bring gender equality across all our settings.

It is a core part our strategy to increase the number of men in our settings – an ambitious plan that will take a gargantuan effort – but we see every day the positive impact that mixed genders in our team bring to the children. We’ve signed the MITEY (Men In The Early Years) charter – which aligns completely with our values and beliefs. We’re really excited to broadcast our commitment to the men in our society who will make excellent practitioners, managers and leaders at Spring! Watch this space to hear more from the men across our settings who are all working hard to challenge gender stereotypes, be wonderful role models and provide fun learning opportunities for the children in our settings.

The MITEY charter is a pledge for nurseries, pre-schools, childminders, nannies and other early years education settings across the UK.

By signing the charter, we publicly state that:

• We value men’s capacity to care for and educate children, both within families and as professionals.
• We value the benefits to children of being cared for and educated by a diverse, mixed gender early years workforce.
• We acknowledge that early years education should benefit from the talents of all, so we are actively seeking to create a workforce that includes men, women and people with other gendered or non-gendered identities.
• We are committed to removing the obstacles that stand in the way of a mixed-gender early years workforce, including low pay and status, limited career progression and gender discriminatory treatment.
• We view early years education as a critical context in which to address gender inequality and stereotypes, for the benefit of children and wider society.

The MITEY campaign is run by the Fatherhood Institute and supported by the Department for Education. At Spring, we are proud and excited to support the campaign.

If you would like to pursue a career working with children in their early years, do get in touch at [email protected] . We’d be really happy to connect you to your local Spring Nursery or Out of School Club where you can come along and see what we’re all about.