Women in teaching: feminization and working conditions in Ecuador’s teaching profession (2009-2024)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.64747/tg9hn823Keywords:
teacher feminization, working conditions, teacher wellbeing, school leadership, EcuadorAbstract
This paper examines the feminization of Ecuador’s teaching workforce and its link to working conditions from 2009 to 2024. We apply an observational design with a quantitative emphasis, combining administrative records from the Ministry of Education (teachers by sex, level, provider and leadership posts) and INEC’s ENEMDU microdata (adequate employment, contracts, hours and earnings), complemented with UIS‑UNESCO and World Bank indicators. Two composite measures were built: The Territorial Feminization Index (IFT) and the Teacher Labor Adequacy Index (IALD). The analysis comprises descriptive statistics, province–level fixed‑effects panel models, quantile regressions and survey‑design‑based inference. Findings show persistently high feminization—strongest in Early Childhood and General Basic Education—and a majority in Upper Secondary. Women’s participation in leadership increased but still lags behind classroom representation. Feminization is positively related to IALD, although the effect is moderate and sensitive to structural controls. The association with earnings is heterogeneous: null at the tails and positive at intermediate quantiles. Proxies of care‑burden (female headship, household composition) are linked to longer working hours. Recent policy documents adopt gender and wellbeing lenses, yet lack operational metrics for routine monitoring. We conclude that policy should focus on gender‑aware leadership pipelines, care‑responsibility supports in training and selection processes, stronger school‑based psychosocial teams, and the re‑organization of non‑teaching time. Future work should leverage pseudonymized administrative panels and validated measures of climate and burnout
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Copyright (c) 2025 Karla Doménica León Segura, César Antonio Leon Chabla, Stefani Tamara Quinto Grijalva, Gladys Apolonia León Àlava (Autor/a)
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