Overcoming The Girl Tutor Complex: Gender Differences in the Writing Center
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Date
2008
Authors
Mudd, Samantha
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Description
Before beginning my job as a tutor at Western Kentucky University’s
Writing Center, I worried about issues that I would later learn were common
to first-time tutors: Would I have the ability and the knowledge to help students
with their writing? I knew that writing centers typically employed graduate
students, and being an undergraduate, I was reasonably uncertain of my
capabilities. I had minimal experience tutoring peers, let alone ESL students.
Despite my insecurities, I quickly found that students were generally willing to
take my advice and work with me. Clearly, by making a session a collaborative
effort, both the student and I experience mutual learning. Looking back, I've
realized that my co-workers had similar concerns and that we were learning
together. However, despite all of us being “in the same boat,” there was one
dividing factor between us–gender.