7. BARRIERS TO FATHER INVOLVEMENT IN SURE START 1 Introduction
7.2 Predominantly Female Environment/Lack of Male Presence
The most often-cited reason for male non-involvement in Sure Start centre- based activities was the predominantly female environment within Sure Start centres and fathers’ reactions to this environment. This reason was given by:
? mothers for their partners’ lack of involvement in Sure Start;
? involved fathers for their initial reluctance to become involved;
? fathers involved only in services specifically for dads for their lack of engagement in ‘integrated’ services (that is, services open to mums and dads);
? programme managers and staff as a key barrier to wider engagement with fathers.
There was broad agreement among respondents that entering a largely female environment could be an extremely daunting and intimidating experience for fathers. Fathers stated that the large number of women and lack of male presence within Sure Start buildings (and correspondingly low levels of male service use) made them reluctant to engage with the services
5
It is important to note that fathers interviewed in this study do not constitute a representative sample of fathers at the 25 selected programmes. This point is highlighted by the fact that 19 of the 21 dads interviewed stated that were involved in Sure Start in some way, despite low reported levels of involvement in Sure Start from dads generally. Please see Appendix A for further discussion of this point.
provided. Such fathers stated that they felt uncomfortable being the only father (or one of a very small number) within a large group of mothers, feeling that their parenting skills were being assessed by the mothers in the group. A small number of respondents related instances of fathers returning home with their children because they felt uncomfortable entering Sure Start buildings. The following quotation sums up the feelings of many of these fathers:
“I just found it really difficult… I mean some people were friendly but I just found it really hard going… I was the only bloke going there. It is like that you know, in some places. I suppose it would be pretty tough if a woman came to an all male environment.” (Father).
Similarly, several mothers cited the predominantly female environment as a reason for their partners’ unwillingness to engage with Sure Start. As one mother stated while attending a play session for the first time with her husband and son:
“I didn’t think so [that he’d come into the Sure Start building], no. But he’s here. Whether he’ll come again or not, I don’t know. I’d want him to come again but I won’t know until we go outside the door whether he’ll come again. But I didn’t think he’d come in here in the first place. I thought he’d drop me at the door and go. Because I thought he’d think ‘oh it’s all women in there’, I thought he’d think like that: ‘I’ll be the only man’. I really am shocked that he came in. But I did say to him outside that there were men here so maybe that helped.” (Mother).
Tony’s experience of Sure Start
Tony, is married and the primary carer for his two daughters, aged 2 ½ years and 11 months. His wife works full-time, Monday to Friday. The family moved into the programme area recently.
Tony found out about Sure Start after contacting a number of local agencies about playgroup availability. Although he previously attended Sure Start sessions with his daughters three times week, he now only attends twice. He stopped attending one group because he felt uncomfortable being the only man. A male childcare worker in the groups he attends helps to put him at ease:
“Yes, it’s good that they’ve got a male worker here… he’s always a help and that’s a really big thing for me when I joined. I thought ‘Wow a bloke, great!’ Because it can be pretty daunting walking into a group with twenty women and they’re all looking at you. You can see questions on their faces like ‘Why?’”.
Tony feels that the predominantly female environment is a barrier to more men attending Sure Start activities:
“People are sussing you out… You feel like you’re being watched… I do think
Two programme managers mentioned instances of fathers being the target of sexual joking and teasing from mothers. Although these were reported to have been light-hearted, they led to feelings of embarrassment for the fathers concerned. In addition, some programme managers and parents stated that the presence of fathers in predominantly female groups sometimes led to suspicions (from mothers and their male partners) about whether these fathers had sexual motives towards the women. One programme manager commented:
“Our single fathers said it’s really hard for them because if they come to any women things there's a lot of talk about them whether they are trying to pick up women. There's a lot of… they have a really hard time. And some of our dad's have done like shopping for the different mum's and stuff and its caused a lot of comments [from mums]...the dads got very uncomfortable.” (Programme manager)
One father said of his experience of attending Sure Start sessions:
“People do look a bit strange at you. It’s very difficult with all the women. I suppose I would do the same, you know partners questioning it. ‘Is he just doing it to get to know the women?’ you know.” (Father).