When the survey was conducted, only 2.4 percent of all educators in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) centres were men. The percentage of men employed in ECEC centres varied dramatically at state, district and municipal levels. At the state level, the city-states of Bremen and Hamburg had the highest percentage of men in ECEC centres in the country. The percentage was particularly low in the eastern German federal states and in Baden-Wuerttemberg and Bavaria. The study points to possible reasons for these regional variations.

• What should general learning conditions be like in respect of educator training so that men opt for such a training and can – during training – be motivated to work in ECEC centres?
• What should general working conditions in ECEC centres be like so that men opt for work in ECEC centres and (want to) remain there over a longer period?
• Is the public and political interest in more male educators also reflected among ECEC centre providers and in ECEC centres themselves?
• Are those responsible for training policy and education in these centres interested in increasing the ratio of men in early childhood education?
• Are strategies being pursued to attract men to work in ECEC centres?

In this respect, the findings of the study are unequivocal. Those surveyed held the unanimous view that the few male educators currently working in ECEC make a valuable positive contribution to the educational work of the centres. The notion that male and female educators can learn from one another’s teaching methods was also undisputed, with around 80 percent of ECEC facility provider programme directors and ECEC centre administrators and around 66 percent of parents sharing this view.