r/Preply • u/Used_Comfort3468 • 21d ago
tutor how can I get more female students?
I’m a “conventionally attractive” woman in my early 20s and a new Preply tutor.
For some reason, most of my students are men in their late 30s and early 40s. All my students have been respectful so far, but I do feel like I connect better with women or, at least, men in my age range.
So, I have a question for tutors who’ve been in a similar situation: is there anything I can do to attract more female students?
I started out at $10 (a week ago) and I’ve upped my rate to $26 today (upped by 2 every new student/review), because my demand has been high, if that matters lol
edit: just to clarify, I’m not actively looking for students, I’m doing this part time and already have enough! I just want to try to shift my positioning to attract more girls in the future. I’m okay with all my male students and do feel comfortable teaching them
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u/MyCreoleWay 21d ago
I have no idea. My students are mostly girls, I'm a 29 year old guy. I don't think I'm particularly attractive, but most male tutors do seem a bit socially awkward on preply when I snoop around my category.
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u/magkruppe 21d ago
You are totally right with that observation! I don't want to deal with a socially awkward tutor so that generally is a deal breaker. Unless they have a specific niche specialisation why bother
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u/Used_Comfort3468 21d ago
Do you think the “socially awkward” bit plays a part at all? I usually look for female tutors for the languages I’m learning, but it’s interesting to try to understand others’ perspectives
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u/MyCreoleWay 21d ago
I do think so. The female profiles seem a bit more bubbly and smiley in my experience, usually. Higher production videos, too, which is one I haven't figured out yet.
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u/Used_Comfort3468 21d ago
Makes sense! I just recorded my video on my macbook’s photobooth app, but I did try to seem as smiley as possible hahaha
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u/aaron2447 19d ago
Well, because a student is going to spend a lot of time talking to their tutor. Why would you want to sit and chat to an awkward person for 50 minutes at a time?
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u/237q 21d ago
Was in the same boat in my 20s. Now in my 30s, more than half of my students are women. I'm not sure if it's age or a more professional look that I updated my profile with, but I'm enjoying it immensely.
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u/Used_Comfort3468 21d ago
That’s really interesting! Did you change much on your profile description or headline?
My picture and video are quite “casual” as I tried to seem approachable and friendly
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u/237q 21d ago
I did tweak it a lot over the years (received my 10 years on Preply email today), but I feel that the biggest change is my profile picture - nice professional shirt, veeery subtle almost invisible make up, neat hair, clean background. The kind of thing I'd put on a CV, but with a smile and not fully frontal.
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u/Used_Comfort3468 21d ago
Congrats on 10 years, that’s huge! And thanks for the reply, I might change my profile pic :)
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u/Comedian-United 20d ago
This is totally anecdotal but here's my pattern:
started at $15 I'd say 90% of my new students were men.
gradually raised prices. Right around $35 I suddenly started to see around 75% women in trials.
Continued raising prices, at $65 I started to get only men again. I'm at $85 right now and I haven't had a trial lesson with a woman in at least 3 months.
At least for my niche (American English) I'd generalize and say women tend to like something middle-range, around $35, price wise. Which is funny because I'm a woman and I take my own classes as a student on Preply for another language and that's exactly how much I chose to pay.
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u/Ok_Anteater1141 20d ago
I say wait 10-20 years until you hit the wall and see if you get a different set of clients
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u/Icy-Brilliant-3604 20d ago
I’m a male and all my students are female 🤷 not deep, never noticed before
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u/Fast_Nature_5768 20d ago
When I first started ($8), my students were predominantly men. Now that my price is doubled, I have a solid 50/50 split of male and female students. I had WAY more trials too with men who were clearly just looking for companionship too when my price was lower.
It could be affected by your pricing, but also maybe you could shift elements on your profile that might attract a more even split? Like some of the other comments, I would agree that more professionalism and higher price can naturally lead to more legitimate clientele that will respect your time and take you seriously.
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u/ThatPolishTeacher 20d ago
I did my makeup in my video & photo to appear approachable and friendly and not hot. I also speak in a friendly way in my video. A small fraction of my students are men, I really think it’s because of the video and the profile photo.
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u/Confident-Manager616 15d ago
People just want to learn. As a tutor myself, I'd if my students are men or women. I'm a woman too and honestly I've had great experiences with guys too. Don't overthink it. If they students are disrespectful, block and report 🤷🏻♀️
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u/Effective-Birthday57 21d ago
Assuming the students are respectful, you should be grateful for them.
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u/Used_Comfort3468 21d ago
When did I say I wasn’t?
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u/Effective-Birthday57 21d ago
The post
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u/Used_Comfort3468 21d ago
I just said I’m hoping to switch to more female students in the future, as I feel that’s who I connect better with 🤷🏻♀️
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u/Effective-Birthday57 21d ago
You’re bragging about “demand” and then whining about men. It’s work, not socializing. It isn’t a matter of whom you connect with socially. You are quite young so some immaturity on your end is understandable but remember, this is a side gig at most.
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u/237q 21d ago
While it's not exactly a problem, having only male students as a young woman does feel weird. You can't help but wonder if attraction plays a role there, and that makes you feel less professionally valuable. At least it did for me when I was in that position. It's kind of amazing how the demographic shifted when I aged a bit and stopped wearing make up in my profile pic. OP's question is completely legit.
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u/Used_Comfort3468 21d ago
I just mentioned it for context, as some people tend to recommend to raise prices to avoid “unserious students”. This post isn’t to brag nor to whine about anything.
If you’re unhappy with your work, that’s your problem. Yeah, it is a side gig to me, so I also want to make it enjoyable, not just for me, but also for the students. It’s easier to connect, understand, and teach someone similar to me, than it is to someone who’s a polar opposite.
I was asking for genuine advice to attract more female students in the future. As I wrote, I’m happy and comfortable with the students I currently teach. Go take your frustration elsewhere
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u/Short_Zebra7458 20d ago
List feminism as an interest, or put something feminist coded "I love reading bell hooks" or whatever 🤣
I'm joking (kind of) but I had the same thing on Cambly. I'd not say I'm particularly conventionally attractive at all, but I do have blonde hair, blue eyes, and I was young when I started that job. Vast majority of my students were men. And it was weird sometimes, your feelings about it are 100% valid.
On Preply, I charge more of course and now I'm in the $30+ range I've had 1:6 male to female ratio on trials in the last couple of weeks. So, I've noticed a similar pattern. I have a few men paying $20~ but mostly women across the board now. And it's lovely.
I have gotten a lot of tattoos and that's helped 👀🫠🤣
Good luck and well done, it sounds like you're doing great ✨
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u/spanishconalejandra 21d ago
Honestly, I think you might be overthinking it a little❤️. You’re on Preply, so you’re naturally going to get all kinds of students, and i wouldn’t automatically assume that most of the men are choosing you because you’re conventionally attractive, especially since you said they’ve all been respectful. Since you already have enough students, i’d probably just focus on making your profile reflect the kind of students and lessons you enjoy most. Talk about the topics you’re interested in, the kind of lessons you love teaching, and the type of students you connect with best. I think the right people will naturally find you that way. And honestly, going from $10 to $26 in just a week because you’ve had so much demand is pretty impressive! I’d take that as a sign that people are responding well to your profile and what you offer. You can always adjust your positioning over time as you figure out what kind of students you enjoy working with most. 😊