Faculty and TAs have obligations and opportunities to create welcoming and inclusive environments in the classroom. As teachers, it is part of our job to reduce and eliminate

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exclusionary practices in ourselves, and among our students, not simply because it is right and just, but because it allows every student to perform to their full potential in class. You may have the very best of intentions, but it is only by educating yourself and students about respectful practices that optimally inclusive classrooms can be achieved.

Anyone who has taught, at any level and for any length of time, knows that male students tend to dominate discussion in a classroom, and research shows that this phenomenon is effected by the gender of the instructor. In classrooms with a female instructor, female students speak three times more often than in a classroom with a male instructor, a reality unconnected to the amount of time that the instructor speaks (male and female instructors speak, on average, about the same amount of time). It has been conjectured that the smaller contribution of women in the classroom is partly attributable to  their extreme vulnerability to interruption. It has also been shown that women are more likely to be ‘one-time’ contributors, and that men tend to speak with men, women with women. It is therefore important that TAs recognize that participation, while obviously integral to a discussion group, can be hindered by undue reliance on the most talkative students.

Ask yourself whether your “quiet students” are really quiet, or simply being crowded out by more overtly confident, dominant, and oratorically skilled talkers. Work to find conversational space for all students, pausing for responses where necessary, learning everybody’s name and chosen pronoun, and praising everyone equally. You should work to identify and engage students that appear to lack confidence, and face systemic barriers to participation that transcend the classroom, and be aware that such students are least likely to be male. You can do this, for example, by highlighting the contributions of female scholars in political science, discussing the resistance of transgender people to an oppression that has long stunted gender identity and expression, and consciously widening political discussion to include issues of race, ethnicity, class, dis/ability, sexual orientation, and country of origin in ways that can connect to, and encourage, critical engagement with the authors and ideas in your classes. Stress the value of personal experience and invite your students to be participants, not spectators.

At the same time, non-male TAs should be aware that male instructors typically receive the highest student evaluations, whereas female instructors may be penalized for being too “bossy,” or “condescending,” or too lenient (e.g. “nice”). While difficult to address this systemic issue at a micro level, do be aware that female instructors may face certain challenges to their authority on the basis of gender, and may have to diffuse and de-escalate in these moments while maintaining and reaffirming their institutional authority.

Here are some tips for helping ensure that speaking and participation in the classroom is not the exclusive preserve of alpha males and for remembering that a lively class is not always an inclusive or good class:

• remember that interpersonal dynamics can be subtle, even unconscious; don’t let female students be interrupted & make a point of calling equally on women and men
• keep a close eye on who is speaking and determine whether a small group of students monopolize discussion
• pause for a few seconds before you call on a student to give everyone an opportunity to raise their hands; create opportunities for even the most reticent students to speak
• don’t assume a quiet student is shy, uncommunicative, or passive; or that  you are re doing them a favours by not calling on them
• protecting shy students from embarrassment when you don’t call on seemingly passive students
• provide lots of feedback and encourage to all students
• use student names frequently, get their name and pronouns right, keep eye contact, and use the same tone of voice with everyone
• Provide positive feedback and encouraging comments to all of your students. Validate their opinions, and affirm their ability to succeed
• be attentive to differences in communication styles & look for cues that a student wants to speak or ask a question
• vary your classroom format e.g. don’t just rely on competitive argument and debate, but integrate collaborative problem solving as well; and consider making every student a discussion leader or an expert at some point during the semester