Capuozzo quoted on rarity of males in early childhood education

Bob Capuozzo, a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Educational Theory and Practice, has always been outnumbered by women in the educational field, even when he was a student in college. And according to several male students at UGA today, not much as changed.

"I have always been the one guy out of 25 women," said Capuozzo in a recent issue of The Red & Black. "Then in my teaching positions it was always the same, so I've grown accustomed to it."

According to a Georgetown University study cited in the article, an overwhelming 97 percent of the early childhood education field is comprised of women, with only three percent comprised of men.

Capuozzo, who also serves as a professor-in-residence at J.J. Harris Elementary Charter School in Athens, Georgia, said he switched his major in college from health services and administration to early childhood education because he wanted to pursue something he actually enjoyed.

Since males are rare among early childhood educators, Capuozzo now serves as a mentor to senior Matthew Tatman, who, like many of his male peers, felt some initial discomfort at being one of the only boys in his predominately female classes. Like Capuozzo, he hopes to one day serve as a role model to other males in the early childhood education field.

"I've counted out in the elementary school [where] I student teach, and there are five or six guys," Tatman said.