Somewhere in the Middle: Assistant Directors’ Leadership, Labor, and Power in Writing Centers

The position of writing center assistant director resides in the middle of the often blurry lines of hierarchy. While many writing centers advocate for team leadership, the fact remains that universities are steeped in bureaucratic tradition familiar to university leaders, students, and tutors. Assistant directors accomplish tasks that keep the day-to- day center functioning, yet these tasks equate to sometimes invisible work in the center and often invisible work in the university as a whole. Furthermore, research on assistant directors’ roles, labor, and identities is exceedingly limited. Thus, the purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study is to understand how hierarchies and team leadership impact the lived experiences of writing center assistant directors. We explore their roles and identities related to leadership, labor, and power dynamics. Eleven participants completed one-on- one, semi-structured interviews about their lived experiences as assistant directors. Key themes emerged during data analysis including power dynamics between directors and assistant directors, decision-making, and the space between hierarchy and team leadership. The findings from this study present a better understanding of the labor of writing center assistant directors and led to recommendations for both directors and assistant directors in terms of clarifying and honoring the often murky work of assistant directors.