Abstract
Male under-representation in early child care is evident across the globe. However, while literature document studies on male involvement in ECE in Europe and other parts of the world, Nigeria - the most populous black nation - seems to have little or no documented evidence of such efforts. The purpose of this study was to determine public and private school teachers’ perception of the influence of gender mechanism, working conditions, nature of training and career education influence on male involvement in early childhood education in Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State. The design of the study was basically descriptive survey. It tested four hypotheses. The sample for this study was 100 male teachers, comprising fifty (50) teachers each from the selected twenty (20) public and private pre-primary/primary schools in Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State. A validated self-constructed questionnaire was used to gather data for the study. While the simple percentage was used to describe the demographic data, the t-test statistic was used to analyse the hypotheses. The study found that: there is no significant difference in the public and private school teachers’ perception of the influence of gender mechanism on male inclusion in early childhood education; there is no significant difference in the public and private school teachers’ perception of the pay and working conditions on male inclusion in early childhood education; there is no significant difference in the public and private school teachers’ perception of the effects of nature of training on male inclusion in early childhood education; and, there is no significant difference in the public and private school teachers’ perception of the influence of career education on male involvement in early childhood education. The study concluded that all players and stakeholders should recognize that gender balance, improved working conditions, male friendly training, and sustainable career education stand the best chance of getting more men in the sector. It recommended among others that there should be a mixed-gender workforce climate in early childhood education and that there should be an improvement in the working conditions in our early childhood schools and centres, especially the privately owned, in Lagos State.