The Recurrent Problem of Civilization

"The recurrent problem of civilization is to define the male role satisfactorily enough . . ." ~Margaret Mead"Man's role is uncertain, undefined, and perhaps unnecessary." ~Margaret MeadAs a man in a field that is overwhelmingly women, I've often been asked, "Why aren't there more men in early childhood education?"My knee-jerk answer has typically been that it's about money. It's a defensible surmise given that preschool teachers are notoriously low paid ($38,140 a year/$18.34 an hour) and men (in heterosexual couples at least) are still the primary breadwinners. Indeed, the only reason I've been able to work in this profession all these years is because my wife has out earned me. That said, the pay gap has closed dramatically in recent decades. Today husbands are the primary income earner in barely over half of all marriages (52%), so that means my answer is shakier than it once was. For one thing, there's the chicken-or-egg question of what came first? After all, every profession in…