An increase of 57 staff members since last year
There were 2,551 staff members in upper secondary schools in Iceland in November 2007 holding 2,557 full-time equivalent jobs. Thereof teachers were 1,899 holding 1,985 full-time equivalent jobs.

There are minor changes in staff numbers since last year. At the upper secondary level the number of staff has increased by 57. Thereof 30 staff members are teaching personnel.

Women outnumber men among personnel at the upper secondary level
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 2007-2008 women were 57.7% of all employees in upper secondary schools and 52.0% of teachers. These figures are head counts but when counting full-time equivalent teachers, males work 1,028 (51.8%) full-time equivalent jobs compared with 957 (48.2%) full-time equivalent jobs worked by females. Male teachers are therefore more likely to work more overtime whereas female teachers hold more part-time jobs.

Almost 80% of teaching personnel are licensed teachers
A total of 78.0% of teachers in upper secondary schools in November 2007 are licensed teachers but 22.0% are without a license. 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 academic year 2000-2001 71.3% of teachers were licensed. The proportion of licensed teachers has therefore increased by 6.7 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 2007 78.4% of teachers in the capital area are licensed teachers and 77.1% of teachers outside the capital area, so again a slightly higher proportion of teachers in the capital  area are licensed to teach at this level.

It is interesting to look at the number and proportion of licensed teachers by full-time equivalent jobs. Of 1,348 teachers who are working one or more full-time equivalent jobs there are 1,198 licensed teachers but only 150 without a license. Of those who are holding full-time jobs or more the proportion of licensed teachers is 88.9% whereas amongst those who are holding part-time jobs nearly one half is without a license.

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 four 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 2007. 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.