Image of classroom scene in Anaktuvuk Pass, 1962. 
Anchorage Museum, Ward Wells Collection, AMRC-WWC-3421-218 

During the 1800s, male teachers in the US began moving out of the profession and into higher-paying occupations. Female teachers, meanwhile, were perceived to possess gentle and caring dispositions suited to working with children. Some of these biases persist today, and women continue to dominate the teaching workforce. In Alaska in 2017, 71 percent of teachers and instructors were women. Men in the profession, however, earned 19 percent more on average in salary.