Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help increase the retention of female teachers in male-dominated subjects in schools.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​The government has a central mission to break down barriers to opportunity and boost life chances for every child. ​High-quality teaching is the factor that makes the biggest difference to a child’s education, with teachers helping to shape the lives of young people. Yet this government has inherited a context of poor recruitment and worsening teacher retention resulting in shortages of qualified teachers across the country. This is why the government has set out the ambition to recruit 6,500 new expert teachers across our schools, both mainstream and specialist, and our colleges over the course of this parliament.

​​The department is focused on retention alongside recruitment to ensure teachers, no matter their gender or background, stay and thrive in the profession. As of 14 October, eligible early career teachers in priority science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and technical subjects can claim targeted retention incentive payments worth up to £6,000 after tax, with payments made available to college teachers in key STEM and technical subjects for the first time.

Ensuring people from all backgrounds can thrive as teachers is also a question of social justice, a priority for the government, ensuring that all individuals have equal economic and social opportunities. It is important that the teaching profession reflects the communities it serves and that children see themselves reflected in the role models around them.

Improving the experience of the profession for all teachers, for example through the department’s programmes on flexible working, wellbeing and workload, can also remove barriers to a successful career for many groups of teachers. Groups who may benefit in particular include those with caring responsibility, those with disabilities or teachers within particular age groups who require more flexibility in their working lives. For example, teachers can undertake their planning, preparation and assessment time remotely.

The department is also delivering a programme focused on embedding flexible working in schools and multi-academy trusts (MATs). This includes the delivery of supportive webinars and peer support provided by flexible working ambassador schools and MATs.

We have also made available a range of resources to help address teacher workload and wellbeing, including the ‘Improve workload and wellbeing for school staff’ service, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/improve-workload-and-wellbeing-for-school-staff, and the ‘Education staff wellbeing charter’, available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/education-staff-wellbeing-charter.