As we outlined last week the “motherhood penalty” is leading to a huge loss of female teachers aged 30-39, with 8,965 leaving the profession in 2022.
It’s an issue we need to understand and fix if we are to stop this exodus. So why do these teachers leave - and what could help make them stay?
A survey of 500 in-service teachers, as part of work by the Maternity Teacher Paternity Teacher Project (MTPT) - followed up by qualitative interviews with teacher-mothers - revealed four key areas where schools can improve and help retain these staff members.
1. Avoid pregnancy discrimination
The most common incidents of pregnancy discrimination reported occurred in the third trimester, with many saying they were made to feel as if their contributions had no value because they would not be physically present the following academic year.
Teachers also said they were often hesitant to apply for new roles because they believed their maternity leave, which would mean a delayed appointment or interruption to service soon after the role started, made them unsuitable. This was a perception sometimes validated by colleagues or members of the recruiting team.
Regardless of whether they will take an active role in school or departmental plans, a colleague’s experience and quality of ideas are not invalidated by a pregnancy.
Equally, discouraging a pregnant or expectant colleague from applying for a promotion, or denying them a position because of their pregnancy, is discriminatory. If proven, both instances can result in union involvement and legal consequences.
Of course, creative thinking is required to work around the obvious logistical challenges presented by both examples - with some trusts pushing the boundaries to show hiring for a position with a long-term view can be beneficial for all involved.
But simple solutions such as listening and valuing colleagues’ ideas right up to their departure, planning and using keeping in touch (KIT) days to continue their contribution to school life, should be easy wins to make teacher-mothers feel valued and excited to return.
2. Get communications ‘just right’
The amount and type of communication colleagues had with their schools during their maternity leaves was a hot topic too - with some feeling harassed by too much and others feeling ignored by too little.
Clear processes that establish means and frequency of communication ahead of a teacher’s maternity leave are therefore an essential part of a school maternity, adoption or shared parental leave policy.
Consider a third trimester meeting with HR and the colleague’s line manager where the legalities around contact and KIT days are explained, and the colleague’s communication preferences agreed upon.
3. Celebrate ‘maternity CPD’
One overwhelming difference between the maternity leave experiences of women aged 30-39 who had stayed in teaching, and those who had left, was the pursuit of “maternity CPD”.
This term, coined by the MTPT Project in 2016, describes the professional and personal development that teacher-parents choose to complete around the needs of their new babies.
In the interviews with “stayers”, there were numerous examples of mother-teachers talking enthusiastically about the reading, training and networking they had completed during their maternity leave, and how this had made their time away from school fulfilling and enjoyable.
Among the “leavers”, there were references to work and pressure to complete tasks for school, but very little mention of positive experiences of professional growth or learning.
It is important for school leaders to know that there is a fine line between asking an employee to work during their maternity leave (permitted as agreed on KIT days), and an individual’s choice to partake in training and development activities.
Denying an employee training or development opportunities while pregnant or on maternity leave is discriminatory, but choosing to undertake professional learning is solely the individual’s choice.
As far as schools are concerned, broaching the subject ahead of leave, signposting colleagues to communities such as the MTPT Project, WomenEd or subject-specific networks, and ensuring access to events when interest is expressed, makes maternity CPD an opportunity but not an obligation.
4. Childcare support
The cost of childcare in the UK is notoriously high and in recent years, critics across all industries have slammed the government for insufficient funding for working parents and early years practitioners.
The early start times, and often late finishing times, of teaching and school leadership present the additional issue of access to already stretched services. A breakfast club that opens at 7.45am is no help to a teaching parent who has gate duty at 7.50am.
Schools that can support with childcare costs and logistics, therefore, offer teacher-parents a benefit that will both attract and retain them while their children are young.
This could be arranging discounts with local childcare providers, flexible working to allow for late start and early finish times, or even establishing an on-site creche.
Some teacher-mothers said they were given a 30-minute grace period to manage morning logistics - a simple change that helped them stay in the profession.
Overall, short of any monumental improvements to childcare costs and provision, schools that are able to offer additional employee benefits linked to childcare costs are likely to become popular employers.
When our need to retain experienced teachers is so high, it makes sense for school and multi-academy trust leaders to take action - whether in the form of small steps or bold strides - to address the motherhood penalty that continues to damage our education system.
Emma Sheppard is a lead practitioner for English and the founder of the Maternity Teacher/Paternity Teacher (MTPT) Project
