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They Call Her 'Miss' and Him 'Professor': Lived Experiences of Women Teaching Support Staff in IT/SE Education

Vasudha Malhotra, Rhea D'silva, Rashina Hoda

TL;DR

The paper investigates the under-recognized experiences of women teaching support staff (TSS) in SE/IT higher education and how instructional authority is negotiated in everyday practice. It collects 15 in-depth interviews and applies Socio-Technical Grounded Theory, enhanced with an intersectionality wheel, to map credibility dynamics across colleagues and student interactions. Key contributions include the first detailed account of women TSS experiences in SE/IT, operationalizing intersectionality into a practical wheel of power, and delivering actionable, multi-level recommendations for policy, practice, and student engagement. The findings underscore the need to recognize relational and emotional labour in TSS roles and to design institutional structures that make authority and inclusion in technology-dominant fields more sustainable and equitable.

Abstract

Despite their critical role in shaping student learning in computing education, the contributions of women teaching-support staff (TSS) often go unrecognised and undervalued. In this experience report, we synthesise lived experiences of 15 women TSS in IT/SE higher education to illuminate how authority is earned, resisted, and maintained in everyday teaching. Participants shared both their positive and negative lived experiences associated with finding and losing voice with teaching team colleagues on the one hand, and rewarding connections and gendered friction with students on the other. We map these dynamics onto an intersectional "wheel of privilege and power" tailored to TSS roles. The farther a TSS profile sits from the wheel's center (e.g., non-native English, non-white, younger-seeming, non-permanent, early-career), the more relational, emotional, and disciplinary labour is needed to reach parity. We provide actionable insights and recommendations for creating more inclusive education environments in technology dominant fields that are particularly timely as universities worldwide grapple with post-pandemic teaching models and seek to build more inclusive and resilient academic communities.

They Call Her 'Miss' and Him 'Professor': Lived Experiences of Women Teaching Support Staff in IT/SE Education

TL;DR

The paper investigates the under-recognized experiences of women teaching support staff (TSS) in SE/IT higher education and how instructional authority is negotiated in everyday practice. It collects 15 in-depth interviews and applies Socio-Technical Grounded Theory, enhanced with an intersectionality wheel, to map credibility dynamics across colleagues and student interactions. Key contributions include the first detailed account of women TSS experiences in SE/IT, operationalizing intersectionality into a practical wheel of power, and delivering actionable, multi-level recommendations for policy, practice, and student engagement. The findings underscore the need to recognize relational and emotional labour in TSS roles and to design institutional structures that make authority and inclusion in technology-dominant fields more sustainable and equitable.

Abstract

Despite their critical role in shaping student learning in computing education, the contributions of women teaching-support staff (TSS) often go unrecognised and undervalued. In this experience report, we synthesise lived experiences of 15 women TSS in IT/SE higher education to illuminate how authority is earned, resisted, and maintained in everyday teaching. Participants shared both their positive and negative lived experiences associated with finding and losing voice with teaching team colleagues on the one hand, and rewarding connections and gendered friction with students on the other. We map these dynamics onto an intersectional "wheel of privilege and power" tailored to TSS roles. The farther a TSS profile sits from the wheel's center (e.g., non-native English, non-white, younger-seeming, non-permanent, early-career), the more relational, emotional, and disciplinary labour is needed to reach parity. We provide actionable insights and recommendations for creating more inclusive education environments in technology dominant fields that are particularly timely as universities worldwide grapple with post-pandemic teaching models and seek to build more inclusive and resilient academic communities.
Paper Structure (18 sections, 3 figures, 1 table)

This paper contains 18 sections, 3 figures, 1 table.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Experience Report Overview
  3. Context and Motivation
  4. Women TSS Recruitment
  5. Data Collection
  6. Data Analysis
  7. Data Analysis Procedure
  8. Ensuring Rigour and Trustworthiness
  9. Findings
  10. Losing Voice: Negative Lived Experiences with Colleagues
  11. Finding Voice: Positive Lived Experiences with Colleagues
  12. Rewarding Connections: Positive Lived Experiences With Students
  13. Gendered Friction: Negative Lived Experiences With Students
  14. Intersectionality: Layered Identities
  15. Recommendations to Strengthen Women TSS Authority and Experience
  16. ...and 3 more sections

Figures (3)

  • Figure 1: Examples of STGT for Data Analysis
  • Figure 2: Intersectionality wheel of privilege and power in TSS (adapted from the Canadian Council for Refugees).
  • Figure 3: Example Privilege and Power Radar