Intersecting Identities: Graduate Teaching Assistant Experiences in the Academy

Abstract Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) represent a major portion of the undergraduate teaching labor in higher education. Using intersectionality as a theory and method, this qualitative case study examined the teaching experiences and perspectives of 20 GTAs at a large, research-intensive, predominantly minority-serving institution to understand the teaching experiences, pedagogical training, and support available to them. The results indicated support mechanisms are vital for effective teaching, as GTAs negotiated multiple identities as raced, classed, and gendered beings.