Nationwide, only about three percent of early childhood teachers are male in the U.S. Experts say this can have an impact on young children whose understanding of gender roles and identity are rapidly forming. Research has found that having access to diverse teachers is beneficial for children. For the youngest learners, it means they are more likely to get exposed to different varieties of play and communication. It also helps them develop healthy ideas around gender.

        “In our world and our society, we have very specific stereotypes (模式化形象) of gender roles,” said Mindi Reich-Shapiro, an assistant professor in the teacher education department of the Borough of Manhattan Community College, and one of the authors of a recent study. “It’s important for children to see other possibilities and other paths they can take.”

        Despite mostly feeling supported by colleagues and family members, many of the male educators surveyed in the study reported facing social or cultural resistance in their careers as early education teachers. Some also reported that there were parents surprised or concerned that their child had a male teacher. And they had been advised by colleagues or other staff not to hug children.

       Reich-Shapiro and fellow researchers made several recommendations to increase male representation in the field. Low pay has long been acknowledged as a major issue in the early childhood field. Over 70% of male educators who said they intended to stay in the early education workforce noted an increased salary was a major motivating factor for them to commit to the career long-term. The report suggests paying all early childhood educators the way elementary school teachers are paid.

        Cities and programs should establish support groups for male early childhood educators and provide mentoring and professional development advice for male educators and their program leaders.

        The authors also suggest that traditional recruitment approaches for early childhood educators “do not address the gender gap in the field.” They recommend providing young men opportunities to work with children through training and volunteer programs, targeting groups of men who are considering a career change, such as fathers.

解析：C。根据first paragraph可定位至原文第一段。该段开头提到，在全美范围内，只有大约3%的幼儿教师是男性，专家表示，这可能会对幼儿产生影响。后面又提到接触不同类型的老师对孩子是有益的，也就是说男性幼儿教师数量太少对幼儿产生的影响是不利的，C项与此内容相符，其中的a lack of male teachers对应第一段第一句中only about three percent of early childhood teachers are male，故C项为正确答案。

错项排除：A项利用第一段第二句中的gender roles进行干扰，但原文中是说幼儿这一时期对性别角色和认同的理解会迅速形成，并没有说能提高儿童的性别角色意识，故A项排除。B项利用第一段第三句中的exposed和different进行拼凑，但原文是说接触不同类型的老师对孩子来说，意味着他们更有可能接触到各种各样的游戏和交流方式，并不是早期教育使孩子们接触到不同的互动方式，故B项错误。D项利用第一段中的identity和play进行拼凑，但通过玩耍形成孩子的身份认同这一内容在原文中无依据，故排除。