"Just A Teacher": Unpacking and Navigating Teacher Stigma

If you’re a teacher who’s started applying to non-teaching jobs, stop me if this sounds familiar:

Mere hours after submitting your resume, the company’s ATS spits out a form rejection.

You’re told you don’t have the “necessary relevant experience” for a role, even though you know you could easily do the required tasks.

A hiring manager starts with, “While your educational experience is impressive…”

You apply for hundreds of positions and your inbox fills with generic rejection notices, or worse—nothing at all. Silence.

After experiencing this for months on end, it’s hard to not feel like there’s a big, fat stigma against teachers, and that no one in the private sector appreciates the experience and skill we bring. Even our master’s degrees can feel largely useless.

“Sharing that I wish to leave the classroom is often met with, ‘But teaching is your career, what will you do?’” reflects Kianni Johnson, a transitioning teacher from New York. “It makes me think about how many people don't realize ALL that teachers do. All the skills, experience, and tools we have in our toolkits and how transferable it can be.”

“I have often been told that I don't understand leadership because I teach children,” Monique Green, a transitioning teacher from Texas, says. “What people [in the corporate world] fail to realize is that you are a leader to those children and sometimes to the other teachers around you.”

“I transitioned several years ago,” former teacher Jami Cope shares, “and this sentiment almost made me give up the idea of a new career track.”

So what gives? Do recruiters and hiring managers actually have a huge bias against educators?

Is teacher stigma real?

Maybe. Off record, one person shared that some in the corporate world perceive teachers as controlling—that they insist on doing things their own way and complain a lot (who, us?). Another cited a less explicit bias, saying that some doubt if a teacher candidate will be able to adapt to corporate culture.

But most folks I spoke with agreed—teacher stigma isn’t necessarily fueled by a menacing boardroom of evil corporate execs conspiring against educators. It often stems more from ignorance: many people simply don’t know all that goes into teaching and the massive array of skills we use every. single. day.

“I think teachers are at a disadvantage because literally everyone went to school, so everyone thinks they ‘get’ what teachers do,” Melissa Chapman, a transitioned teacher from Oregon, says. “I had people that were shocked that I wrote my own curriculum, for example. ‘You didn't just use the textbook?’”

“People don't necessarily see teachers as the multifaceted, multi-dimensional, super sophisticated professionals that they are,” career coach Laura Litwiller shared in her interview. “They only imagine them in a classroom, and they think they know what their skills are.”

And unless you had a parent or caregiver who was a teacher, you likely didn’t know the 8000 skills and responsibilities that go into the job before you started either. (I mean, if we truly did, how many of us would have gone into the profession in the first place?)

I think the source of teacher stigma extends beyond ignorance to the larger undervaluing of teachers as professionals in our society. The idea that “those who can’t, teach” permeates our culture, suggesting that teaching is merely a fallback career for those who aren’t successful in other fields.

I mean, how many times have you, upon telling a stranger you’re a teacher, been met with that particular mix of pity and condescension that implies they see you as little more than a daycare provider?

I suspect this stigma is also shaped by the fact that teaching is a female-dominated field. Compared to those dominated by men, so-called pink-collar professions (ick) have been historically undervalued and continue to be today: “There is the perception that anyone can do these types of jobs, even though most require education beyond high school.” Yup.

Believe it or not, teaching used to be a highly respected profession in the US—when it was male-dominated. After the profession was “feminized” in the mid-1800s however, both pay and respect plummeted. Regard for the profession took a further hit in the 1980s when the Reagan administration promoted the narrative that our nation’s schools were failing.

While the COVID pandemic produced an initial surge of appreciation for all teachers do, that bubble quickly burst. Student disrespect and misbehavior are now some of the top factors driving teachers out of the profession—a trend confirmed by even the most cursory glance on teacher Reddit.

The issue of teacher respect isn’t solely an American phenomenon either. A pre-pandemic global survey ranked the US roughly in the middle of countries regarding teacher respect, with China, Malaysia and Taiwan at the top, and Italy, Israel and Brazil at the bottom.

Wild guess: teachers have a much easier time transitioning into new fields in those higher-respect countries.

Wilder guess: teachers transition a lot LESS in those countries as well.

So if explicit and implicit teacher stigma is real, how do you face it?

Most everyone I talked with agreed: for people in the private sector to appreciate what you do, you need to translate it into their language.

“Teachers have to work REALLY hard to rewrite their experience in the right language,” Melissa Chapman advises. “Teachers shouldn't assume anyone knows what they can do. There is work to ‘sell’ their experience and show that value.”

Career coach Meg Largy agrees: “Teachers have such great transferable skills that can apply to almost any market! The tough part for educators is removing the 'educational jargon' and really selling their transferable skills.”

Remember how much educational jargon you had to learn when you started teaching? The acronyms that change every three years? Transitioning out of education means learning a whole new set of jargon—annoying, but definitely something within our wheelhouse.

And luckily, there are lots of resources for how to do this—and many of them are free! To get you started, check out these free resume resources.

Rewriting your resume is about more than just using the right words though. Remember to frame your experience around impact rather than responsibility. “No one in corporate cares what you did,” former teacher and coach Mandy Brown shared in her upcoming interview. “They care what you achieved.”

So if you’re sending out resumes hoping someone will “take a chance” on you, start to think about value: where are you showing a company that you have the demonstrated skills to make an impact? How can you instill confidence that you’re the best candidate for the role?

How can you let them know they’d be fools not to hire you?

Daina Pretus, a former teacher and instructional coach from Texas, also created this handy infographic to help you think about how to frame your transferrable skills:

Beyond translating your skills and value, successfully facing teacher stigma requires you to really believe in your own value. Easier said than done when the rejection emails keep flooding in. (Which is why Dr. Robyn McPherson recommends adding a filter to your email so you don’t even see those!)

“Ultimately, I had to make a decision for myself—to believe I am worth a livable salary, true work/life balance, and the opportunity to advance,” Jami Cope said. “Once I saw what was possible in the ‘real world,’ it motivated me to keep moving, keep learning, and see where I could go.”

Of course, believing in yourself and pushing past teacher stigma is a helluva lot easier when you’ve got people cheering you on. You’re here, so that’s a great start! Outside of this newsletter, I recommend finding these cheerleaders on Teacher Transition LinkedIn, which is by far the most helpful and positive place I’ve found in the teacher career change space. (Minus that one guy.)

On LinkedIn, find and connect with former teachers who are working in your target role and industry. Message them and ask to do a coffee chat (honestly the best way to get info). When you talk, be sure to ask about the specific companies, recruiters and hiring managers they worked with during their transition—it’ll help you to identify places and people who’ve already hired a teacher and are thus more likely to do it again (because they know first-hand how awesome we are).

“There are plenty of recruiters that already know the value teachers bring because they’ve hired us and witnessed how we excel in a role,” former teacher James Potteiger recently posted.

“Focus your message towards them. Don’t worry about those that don’t get it. Passing up the chance to hire a teacher is their loss anyhow!”

Amen.