Teaching, Gender, and Feeling Alone

There are countless instances in the first several years of full time teaching that I have thought “Wow. No one mentioned THIS in graduate pedagogy training!” Certainly, there are the normal stresses that we anticipated; new classes, many students, and juggling teaching and research while still on the job market. But then there are also instances well beyond what we expected, such as a sexual advance from a student or dealing with students in serious mental or physical crises.

These instances are unsettling because they are so unfamiliar and because the stakes of failing to handle them correctly can be so high. There can also be a sense of failure and

fear on the part of the young instructor for being in this position at all. Perhaps an older or male colleague would not see the issue as so serious, but perhaps such a colleague would be less likely be in this position in the first place. Further, these pressures are strongest when we are professionally vulnerable: in temporary positions, on the job market, or untenured. Our most obvious resources, our senior colleagues and chairs, are not only relative strangers to us but are also in a position of evaluating our competency in a way that can advance or halt a still-tenuous career. This talk will explore the benefits of having a groups of colleagues who do not evaluate us with whom we can talk through problems and whom we can ask for resources.