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Original poster

Do you think this is a feminist issue?

32 replies

Sleeperandthespindle · 23/08/2016 07:38

Long term lurker - I don't post in here much.
Just been thinking after a discussion with DH. I'm a teacher, have been for a long time, and although I'm very experienced and efficient now, I still do many hours of work outside classroom hours. Nowhere near as many as I used to (could be a 60-70 hour week when I was young!). This out of class work is necessary and an essential part of the job. You can't do the job at all if you don't do it.

My contract (full time) says 32 hours. It is accepted by all that it doesn't mean this. There are certain 'directed hours' which require you to be in school if the headteacher wants you there. The children are in school for 31.5 hours.

Anyway, the point (as I'm lying in bed on holiday while DH goes to work), he often says 'Well if my contract said 32 hours, that's all I'd do unless they paid me overtime'. This is not true - he's a doctor and often works unpaid overtime but also lots of well paid overtime. Then I started thinking about the fact that the vast majority of the teaching workforce are women and perhaps this expectation of unpaid drudgery is because of that? I know there are exceptions, of course.

OP posts:
ladyvimes · 23/08/2016 14:36

No I do not think it is a feminist issue. Both myself and my husband are teachers and he works much more overtime than I do.
I actually think in general teachers' pay is reasonable and extra hours are an expected part of the job as it is salaried rather than paid hourly (you don't work 32 hours a week during the 13 weeks school holidays).
Many of my friends in professions that are salaried (nurses, doctors, solicitors, etc) all work over their 'standard' hours.

caroldecker · 23/08/2016 14:30

Vestal They are still professional jobs where unpaid overtime is expected. If you add in the extra childcare required for non-teaching jobs, then I would expect them to pay less than teaching.

VestalVirgin · 23/08/2016 13:05

Lawyers and doctors earn more than teachers, though. Not sure about accountants.

The fact that ordinary teachers who haven't been promoted to any fancy position, and who don't even want to be promoted, are expected to work overtime, may well be a feminist issue.
Though probably one of the less obvious ones. I wouldn't choose it as the profession to point at with regard to wage gap. Nurses are in a worse position than teachers, I think.

caroldecker · 23/08/2016 12:56

Every profession requires unpaid overtime - I've not met a lawyer, accountant or doctor that doesn't do it. And for many more weeks than teachers.

Original poster
Sleeperandthespindle · 23/08/2016 12:37

Thanks. So, would a profession that is male dominated to the extent that this one is female dominated work in this way? Would men be prepared or expected to put in this much unpaid work?

OP posts:
ThatStewie · 23/08/2016 10:59

It very much is a feminist issue as pay is gendered. Teachers are simply not paid according to their training or experience. They are expected to put in free labour that simply isn't expected in most professions - the exceptions being things like investment banker, director and medicine which are all much higher pay employment.

FreshwaterSelkie · 23/08/2016 09:12

Hmm, it might be a feminist issue. I'm not a teacher so I don't know how it breaks down within the profession specifically. However, it's my experience that when you reach a certain level in any professional career, the hours in your contract are pretty nominal, and you're expected to do whatever hours are necessary to get the job done. So it's not necessarily a feminist issue in and of itself - though it certainly becomes more so in terms of women's ability to commit to those sorts of jobs as their home lives may not permit it due to caring responsibilities. That is definitely the feminist element in it.