UMES professor looks to recruit and retain male educators of color through new summit
PRINCESS ANNE, Md. – A professor at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore is working to increase diversity in classrooms specifically among teachers. Dr. Richard Warren says there aren’t nearly enough black male educators in schools and he says it’s a nationwide issue. So he’s hosting a first of its kind summit next week to help address retention and recruitment of Black male teachers with the hope of changing the way classrooms look, for the better.
“Men of color in education make a difference and we can be the change that is needed for these young men of color in schools,” says Dr. Warren.
According to the United States Department of Education, black males made up only two percent of the nation’s teaching workforce in 2016. “I reflect back to my time in school, I didn’t really see the presence of male educators until I got to college and even still I only had one minority professor then,” says Troy Brittingham Jr., a member of the Somerset County Board of Education.
Dr. Warren believes the under representation of black male educators can be attributed to a few things. “We do have an aging population of teachers who are retiring. We do have a lot of competitive fields to go against.”
He also believes more needs to be done when it comes to recruitment and retention efforts. “I also think it comes from the support and retention of teachers who are in schools, making sure they are supported, making sure they have career lattices, making sure that they have professional development tools.”
So he’s hoping to address those topics in the first ever “Man The Shore Education Summit” on October 15th at UMES and he’s recruited six panelists to help him. “So we have varying different leadership, roles and perspectives in terms of education that are going to be on the panel to offer more insight into what it takes to really attract more teachers of color, to retain and support these teachers of color.”
Dr. Warren says the summit is open to anyone interested in learning more about the retention and recruitment of black males in education. They will also be discussing the academic, social and emotional development of young men of color in schools.
The summit is scheduled (In-Person) for October 15, 2020 from 5 PM to 7 PM at UMES in the Engineer & Aviation Science Building (Address: 30925 College Backbone Road, Princess Anne, MD 21853).
Click here for information about how to register for the summit.
