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

TL;DR

This paper explores the lived experiences of women teaching support staff in IT/SE higher education, highlighting challenges in authority, gender dynamics, and inclusion, with insights for fostering more equitable academic environments.

Contribution

It provides a detailed qualitative analysis of women TSS experiences, mapping power dynamics and offering actionable recommendations for inclusivity in tech education.

Findings

Women TSS face gendered friction and relational labor challenges.

Authority is earned and resisted through everyday interactions.

Inclusive strategies can improve equity and resilience in education environments.

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.