Dr Kevin F. McGrath completed a Bachelor of Education in primary education at the University of Technology Sydney, where he graduated with first class honours and was awarded the university medal for outstanding academic achievement. A few months later, he published his first peer-reviewed journal article examining the perceived need for more male primary school teachers. He then taught in NSW public schools before being awarded a Research Excellence Scholarship. He completed his PhD in Education at Macquarie University in 2016, where he received an Excellence in Higher Degree Research award and Vice Chancellor's Commendation - with his doctoral dissertation ranked in the top 5% of all Higher Degree Research.
Working as a primary school teacher, an associate lecturer, and as a tertiary supervisor, he has taught more than 980 primary school students and over 2,600 teacher education students. Additionally, while working in the health sector for a rehabilitation specialist, he developed and delivered professional development training to school teachers on the topic of recognising and responding to trauma in the classroom.
Dr McGrath's research focuses on the importance of student-teacher relationships and on teacher gender as a facet of workforce diversity. His publications include quantitative and qualitative research, a thematic review of literature, a review essay, and a theoretical framework.
While his primary area of study is education, Dr McGrath's published work traverses several other disciplines, including: gender studies, sociology and political science, educational and social psychology, and social economics. His research has been cited more than 570 times internationally (scholar.google) and he has worked collaboratively with researchers in Australia, South Africa, and Ireland.
Experience
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2019–presentDepartment of Education Research, Integrated Behavioral Health Research Institute
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2012–2019Department of Educational Studies, Macquarie University
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2017–2019Research Team, NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors
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2015–2017School of Education, University of Technology Sydney
Education
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2016Macquarie University, PhD
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2010UTS, B.Ed (Hons1)
Publications
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2021Masculinity and risk: Is teaching “too risky” for men in Australia?, Men and Masculinities
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2020When female leaders outnumber men: The decline of male school principals in Australia, Journal of Gender Studies
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2020The plight of the male teacher: An interdisciplinary and multileveled theoretical framework for researching a shortage of male teachers, The Journal of Men's Studies
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2019Attributions and emotional competence: Why some teachers experience close relationships with disruptive students (and others don’t), Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice
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2017Are male teachers headed for extinction? The 50-year decline of male teachers in Australia, Economics of Education Review
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2017Elementary teachers' emotional and relational expressions when speaking about disruptive and well behaved students, Teaching and Teacher Education
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2017Adding colour to conflict: Disruptive students’ drawings of themselves with their teachers, The Elementary School Journal
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2015Who, when, why and to what end? Students at risk of negative student-teacher relationships and their outcomes, Educational Research Review
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2013More male primary-school teachers? Social benefits for boys and girls, Gender and Education
Professional Memberships
- Australian Men's Health Forum
- Sydney, Australia
- Website
- Article Feed
- kevin@ibhri.org
- ORCID
- Joined
