Does leadership matter? A narrative analysis of men's life stories in early childhood education and care

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) and early childhood centres (ECC) vary across countries and are embedded in their wider social and cultural contexts. However, difficulty with workforce gender balance, and in recruitment and retention of men to ECEC, is a worldwide issue. The ECEC workforce is a female-dominated workforce, with women averaging 98 per cent of the staff. The lack of men can be regarded as a democratic, developmental, social, and quality problem. Previous research points to leadership as central to issues of retention and recruitment in organisations in general and to ECEC in particular. However, there is still a lack of knowledge on how leadership relates to men's career choices. In this chapter, we take a narrative approach to the life stories and graphic storylines of men working in ECEC in Australia, Norway, and Ireland. We investigate if, where, and how leadership is made relevant in their narratives and whether leadership influences the presence and retention of men in the sector. A narrative approach allows us to draw out the more subtle leadership practices embedded in interactions, relationships, and meaning making. We find that leadership can operate as a push-or pull-factor but may not be the only factor.