Marginalization

When I was an undergraduate student at UNCC, I was usually the only male in most of my Elementary Methods courses. Many, many times, professors treated myself and other males who were interested in teaching elementary school with skepticism. One such case was an Early Childhood Literacy course I took.

As was normally the case, I was the only male in this course of 30+ students. Our professor was extremely outspoken about her feelings regarding males not having the ability to be nurturing enough to teach below 3rd grade. I took much offense to this blanket assertion, but worked extremely hard to prove that I could be an effective primary grades teacher. I worked with classmates on our assignments, always getting input to make sure I wasn't putting too "male" of a perspective on them. Regardlesss, I ALWAYS received lower grades on projects. It was a running joke that any of them could put THEIR name on MY assignment and receive a higher score.

This professor used a points system for grades. Points were given for projects, presentations, participation, etc. For homework assignments my points (Ex 8 out of 10 or 12 out of 15) always were lower than my peers, even though they would give me feedback constantly. We had assignments such as doing a book talk, creating a book and binding it ourselves, using puppets and skits to act out literature, etc. I tried to go over and beyond to prove I had the ability to reach primary students. Never were "participation" grades or "presentation" grades shared. The only grades we were told were our projects and homework.

At the end of the semester the professor gave me a C-. I was SHOCKED. I went to her and asked for a breakdown of my points and grades. She willingly shared them with me. With her there I divided the total points by the possible total points to get an average of 83.8. This was FAR lower than I felt I deserved, but still not a C- by normal grade scales. She expressed that she did not follow the traditional grade scales. I went to the department chair with the information and he agreed and spoke to the professor. They agreed that I could do a culminating activity, of her choosing, and it would be factored in to my grade. This final grade, using her grading system would be the grade I received.

Eager to prove the discrimination and her bias, I went over and beyond, even going as far as having the department chair preview my work before turning it in. I turned the assignment in, and the grade she gave me was.... an 80. She left my grade as a C- and told me, "I don't think any 83% student should be working with students.

I felt discriminated against solely because I was a male trying to get into a largely female dominated field. When I became a teacher, I purposefully taught 2nd grade to prove to myself and others that gender wasn't a hinderence to good teaching. How many other males may have never entered the field because of being marginalized in a similar manner by biased professors or colleagues?