The dating world is vast and complicated. Recently when chatting with my friends studying with me in McGill’s Faculty of Education, we were recounting some icks (a very sudden and intense turnoff) and rather unsettling instances of online dating they had encountered. The most recurrent theme in this conversation was surprising yet not really— we found a common experience in our chosen field of study and the insidious comments or questions that arise from it in our dating lives.
The issues with dating as an education major are way too real, and something’s got to change.
It’s no secret that the field of education is largely female-dominated— according to Statistics Canada, 84% of Canadian teachers identify as female. In turn, women are often seen as fitting a conventional, dull mould in pursuing Education as their career. Their work or study is then often undervalued. Today, predominantly female teachers are the norm.
“Why wouldn’t you pursue STEM subjects? That’s where the money is.”
Then, there’s the salary discussion. Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, a lot of media attention has been turned towards educators and their salaries. Don’t get me wrong— teachers, being a pink-collar profession, are underpaid and overworked, as well as desperately in need of better working conditions.
Still, Quebec teachers make $52, 954 as an entrance salary, and can go up to $92 027 a year. Considering the average base salary of someone with an undergraduate degree is $40,000, safe is to say the teacher salary should be the least of your worries, especially after a few texts on a dating app. Keep the negative salary talk for a serious relationship, please.
“Do you actually plan on working?”
Female education majors are often faced with this question. Stay at home parenting and marriage are a vocation for many, but is far from being on every Education major’s radar. Many of us aren’t even considering parenthood— most of us are completing this degree, reading up on the latest research, and dreaming about our future classrooms, schools, and students.
The majority of Education majors plan on working, and hate being asked this very reductive question. How weird would it be if I asked every Engineering or Law major, “Do you plan on working?”
“You’re a teacher? That’s hot.”
Last and most common is the hyper sexualization educators face everyday. In the dating world, this is all the more common. The internet and porn industry are polluted with the hot for teacher phenomenon. Its popularity is worrying— the fetishization of teachers is everywhere. (Ezra Fitz, from Pretty Little Liars? Ms. Grundy and Archie in Riverdale? Pacey and Ms. Jacobs in Dawson’s Creek? Dan and Miss Carr in Gossip Girl? Brooke and Mr. Chavez in One Tree Hill? The list goes on and on.)
This trope of Statutory Rape in the media normalizes the issue, and largely contributes to the harmful fetishization and hyper-sexualization of teachers.
In the dating world, this trope is never-ending and far from endearing. So no, random person from internet. I won’t keep you for detention. And I won’t give you a spanking. I’m also not into my students. I love them like my own kids- I just want to teach. How about you ask me about that instead?