Thank you for replying. It's one the college suggested. A male practitioner may cause a conflict/dilemma for a parent with the setting, if they have had previuos bad experiences with men, or been abused by a man etc, they may not want their child to be looked after by a man, they may not have had a positive male role model in their own childhood etc. Some people think it's a bit odd that a man wants to work with children, that the man may have other reasons to work in childcare etc!
Thanks for the other suggestions, I will get my thinking cap on!