2022 Dumitru InvestigatingGenderDifferencesTutors
The article reports a multi‑method laboratory study examining whether gender influences behavioral engagement and affective experiences during undergraduate STEM peer‑tutoring interactions. Sixty dyads (N≈113 participants) of unacquainted students and peer tutors engaged in 30‑minute, videotaped tutoring sessions covering a range of STEM subjects. Behavioral engagement was operationalized via talk time, the number and type of questions asked (feedback, more‑information, repeat for students; clarification, knowledge for tutors), and external coders’ thin‑slice ratings of engagement. Affective experiences were measured through self‑reported anxiety and confidence, coders’ ratings of confidence, and tutors’ self‑evaluations of performance. Analyses used Actor‑Partner Interdependence Models and mixed‑effects models. Results showed no consistent gender differences in most engagement metrics; the only behavioral gender effect was that male students asked more repeat questions. In contrast, women (both students and tutors) reported higher anxiety, lower confidence, were rated as less confident by observers, and women tutors evaluated their own performance more negatively than men tutors. No gender differences were found in field identification or GPA. The authors discuss how peer‑tutoring contexts may mitigate gender gaps in observable engagement but not in affective experiences, suggesting that negative affect could still contribute to STEM attrition for women. Limitations include limited power to examine gender‑matched dyads, cross‑sectional design, and lack of baseline affect measures. The paper concludes that affective experiences in peer tutoring are an underexplored factor in gender disparities in STEM persistence.
Topics
Research Rationale and Conceptual Framework: Peer Tutoring, Gender, Engagement, and Affect
The authors argue that peer tutoring is increasingly used to improve STEM outcomes, yet little is known about how gender shapes interaction dynamics within tutoring sessions. Drawing on literature about gendered classroom participation, stereotype threat, and affect, they propose that gender may influence behavioral engagement (talk time, question types) and affective experiences (anxiety, confidence) during peer tutoring.
Methodology: Dyadic Video‑Recorded STEM Tutoring Sessions and Multi‑Method Coding
Sixty dyads (≈113 participants) of unacquainted students and peer tutors completed 30‑minute, videotaped tutoring sessions across various STEM subjects. Behavioral engagement was captured via talk time, a taxonomy of student and tutor questions, and thin‑slice coder ratings. Affective experiences were measured through self‑report anxiety and confidence scales, coder‑rated confidence, and tutors’ self‑evaluations. Data were analyzed using Actor‑Partner Interdependence Models, mixed‑effects models, and negative‑binomial regressions.
Findings: Behavioral Engagement – Comparable Across Genders
Analysis revealed no consistent gender differences in overall talk time, total question counts, or coder‑rated engagement. The sole exception was that male students asked more repeat questions than female students. These results suggest that peer tutoring contexts may neutralize observable gender gaps in behavioral engagement.