Almost 2,600 staff members
There were 2,581 staff members in upper secondary schools in Iceland in November 2008 holding 2,563 full-time equivalent jobs. Thereof teachers were 1,911 holding 1,987 full-time equivalent jobs.
Changes since last year are minimal. At the upper secondary level the number of staff has increased by 30. Thereof 12 staff members are teaching personnel. When looking at full-time equivalent staff their number has increased by 5 and by 2 when only teaching personnel is taken into account.
Women outnumber men but hold fewer full time equivalent jobs
Women outnumber men both when counting all professions in schools at the upper secondary level and when only counting teaching personnel. During the academic year 2008-2009 women were 58.3% of all employees in upper secondary schools and 52.7% of teachers. These figures are head counts but when counting full-time equivalent teachers, males work 1,019 (51.3%) full-time equivalent jobs compared with 967 (48.7%) full-time equivalent jobs worked by females. Male teachers are therefore more likely to work overtime whereas female teachers hold more part-time jobs.
Almost 80% of teaching personnel are licensed teachers
A total of 78.2% of teachers in upper secondary schools in November 2008 are licensed teachers. Licensed teachers are those who have permission from the Ministry of Education to call themselves teachers at the upper secondary level. The proportion of licensed teachers has been increasing for some years now. During the school year 2000-2001, 71.8% of teachers were licensed. The proportion of licensed teachers has therefore increased by 6.4 percentage points since 2000-2001.
Upper secondary schools in rural areas used to employ proportionally fewer licensed teachers than schools in the capital area. A shift in November 2006 meant that there was a higher percentage of licensed teachers employed by schools outside the capital area. In November 2008, 77.9% of teachers in the capital area were licensed teachers and 78.7% of teachers outside the capital area, therefore a slightly higher proportion of teachers outside the capital area held a license to teach at this level.
More teachers are over the age of fifty
The largest age group among upper secondary teachers is 50-59 year olds or 32.1% of all teaching staff. The number of teachers in the oldest age groups has increased while the number of teachers in the youngest age groups has decreased. In February 2000 teachers 50 years old and older were 39.3% of teaching staff while in November 2008 they were 47.7%. During the same period the proportion of teachers under the age of 40 decreased from 27.4% to 23.1% of teaching staff.
About the data
Data on personnel in schools at the upper secondary level come from the schools and the State Accounting Office. The reference month is November for the last five school years. In 2001-2004 the information was collected with March as a reference month and in 2000 February was the reference month. The data include all personnel who were employed by schools at the upper secondary level in November 2008. Teaching staff includes everyone who undertook any teaching activities during the reference period. Teachers who did not teach during this period, e.g. because they were on leave, are not included in the data on teachers. However, they are counted among all staff members if they received salary during the reference period. Education refers to the highest level of education attained.