Male or Female Tutor?
Think of a Female teacher. What do you visualise? Is she a kind, friendly, endearing and patient, young female tutor that cares for your Child’s education?
Now think of a Male teacher.
Is he a strict, rough, fierce, straightforward teacher that does not care about your Child’s wellbeing? Is he also impatient, getting frustrated when you do not understand how to get the answer?
These are the gender stereotypes that many Parents still have about teachers/tutors – preconceived notions based on past experiences. Hence many Parents want a female tutor for their boy/girl.
Gender Stereotypes
We all have to agree that not all males tutors are as described above. (not even 1 in 10 male tutors are as portrayed above)
Most of our gender stereotypes stem from Western movies/TV shows that over sensationalise certain male traits and mannerisms. Or even exacerbate our own bad experiences and associate it with gender; bad experiences when we are in School stay with us for the rest of our lives, even when we become Parents. (See: market tuition rates)
In the past during our Parent’s generation, life was much tougher, with vivid memories of teachers punishing and caning students for not keeping quiet in class and the likes.
Being a conservative Asian country/household did not help either. Males are often the strict, authoritative, unapproachable Parent.
All these led to the idea of Males being great Educators an almost unimaginable occurrence. (See: 4 Types of Tutors We should Avoid)
Authoritative vs Endearing
Both Male and Female Tutors fall outside of generally agreed upon stereotypes.
Some female tutors are cold and uncaring, while other male tutors are kind and tender loving. (See: 12 Lessons from an A Levels Top Scorer)
At the end of the day, the Tutor’s gender does not matter.
Whether it be authoritative or endearing, as long as there is a stark improvement in grades from home tuition, does the gender of the Tutor really matter? (See: How to find the Perfect Tutor)
Sexual Predators
The Dangers of Home Tuition – dubbed “Every Parent’s Nightmare” or in other words Sexual Predators, is a real concern in Singapore.
With recent cases surfacing such as “Physics School teacher having an indecent relationship with 15 year old Student“, engaging Male tutors is a real concern among Parents in Singapore when engaging a Tutor for their Child.
This is also a reason why many Parents opt for female Tutors instead. However, what Parents fail to realise is that both males and females can be sexual predators as well.
In addition, most if not all male “sexual predators” are older – in their 40-50s. Young, highly qualified Tutors, male and female, have a whole life ahead of them.
What are the chances that these Tutors, with so many things yet to achieve, ruining their entire lives in a moment of folly? (See: No.1 Thing to Avoid when hiring Tutors)
Gender is the Least of your Concerns.
As long as Grades improve, gender should not be a concern of yours.
Furthermore, you are eliminating half of the available tutors, restricting many highly qualified and experienced male Tutors from your List of Tutor Profiles, such as:
“(name removed for Privacy purposes): 21 year old male NUS Y1 Undergraduate
– Qualifications: Awarded the NUS Merit Scholarship. Graduated from VJC, attained AAA/A in H2 Biology, Chemistry, Economics and Math. Consistently among top 15% in the cohort for all subjects.
Graduated from Anglican High School, A1 in all 8 subjects
– Experience: 3 years tutoring experience. Specialise in teaching Secondary level Math & Science. Currently have 4 students on hand, previous students improved from E8 to A1 for O Levels.“
(Tutor Profile of one of our male Tutors @cocotutors)
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Hello,
Thanks for sharing great information with us, It was very helpful
Interesting post!! Tutors hold the responsibility of unlocking a student’s potential and as such need to be updated and up to the task!