The principal is female, in almost every school. As a result, in the upcoming competitions for the role, the aim will be to bring more males back to the head of schools. It is a matter of restoring the gender balance, which as of today seems decidedly far from being achieved: out of 700 thousand tenured teachers on the tenure track, in fact, as many as 580 thousand are women. In what ways will attempts be made to shorten the gap? By giving male candidates priority, with equal merit, over a female candidate. Only Sardinia remains out, where the differential is below 30 percent, and in that case the preference title will not be applied. The prevalence of women is a well-known trend that has been going on for 20 years if not more. Female teachers are 83 percent of the total, and in 2001 they were 78 percent. In 2021-2022, therefore, the largest share of women in education has been reached. In preschools and elementary schools, teachers are almost all women: above 99 percent in the former and over 96 percent in the latter. In middle schools and high schools, the number of male teachers has always been higher, compared to other grades of education, but men are decreasing here as well: the presence of female teachers in middle schools exceeds 78 percent of the teaching staff while in 2001 it was 75 percent. In high school it has reached 67 percent, so there are 2 out of 3 women in the professorship, compared to 59 percent recorded in 2001. According to Eurostat surveys, Italy is among the countries in Europe with more female teachers.
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