Breaking Barriers: Investigating Male Educators’ Participation in ECD Education in Bulawayo Province

This study examines the intertwined cultural, economic and intersectional factors that constrain men’s participation in Early Childhood Development (ECD) teaching across Bulawayo Province, Zimbabwe. Grounded in Gender Role Theory and an interpretivist paradigm, an exploratory qualitative design was employed, involving semi-structured interviews with thirty male ECD teachers and twenty school administrators drawn from urban and peri-urban centres. Teachers were selected via purposive and snowball sampling to reflect diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, ethnicities and institutional contexts, while administrators were stratified by district and governance type. Participants reported that hegemonic masculinity, entrenched gender stereotypes, low ECD salaries and community scepticism (especially among working-class, Ndebele-speaking populations) deter men from entering or remaining in the field. Many male educators nevertheless described profound vocational fulfilment and innovative pedagogical practices, yet felt professionally isolated and overlooked for leadership or training opportunities. Administrators recognised recruitment and retention challenges but lamented the absence of clear policy mandates, systematic outreach and sustained mentorship structures. The study recommends embedding explicit male-recruitment targets within national and provincial ECD policies, introducing teacher-training modules on positive masculinity and cultural competence, establishing formal mentorship networks with evaluation mechanisms and aligning ECD remuneration with local economic realities. Future research should adopt longitudinal and comparative designs to track male educators’ career trajectories over time and assess the impact of tailored interventions across Zimbabwe’s provinces and neighbouring countries.