Professionalism in the Classroom: The Impact of Gender on Society’s Perception of Teachers

Abstract

The teaching profession is very important in educating and transforming the next generation of people. Not only are teachers educating their students, but they are also instilling good morals and values in them, in hopes of setting them up for success in the future. After learning that teachers across the country have been facing job insecurity due to complaints of student’s parents or school boards because of things like decorations, I became curious as to why this was happening. This research paper uses both literature and quantitative data to understand society’s perception of teachers. I used an abundance of literature to understand the regulations in place surrounding what is acceptable for teachers in the classroom, regarding decorations, personal belongings, and personal opinions. It became clear that there are very vague rules for teachers to follow, which allows for teachers to get in trouble a lot more due to different interpretations of these rules. A survey was created to understand people’s perceptions and levels of professionalism of teachers in different scenarios. The survey also helped look deeper into the topic, by having one survey with all female teachers and one with all male teachers. Because the teaching profession is dominated by women, I was curious if that had any impact on the public’s perception of the profession. This research helped demonstrate the harsher judgement placed on minority groups in the workplace and helped understand the perception of professionalism of teachers in the so-called ‘grey area’ of teacher conduct.