Abstract
All universities strive for high quality teaching. In the late 1970’s, colleges and universities began systematically soliciting feedback from students regarding teaching. Rather than relying on colleague-evaluations, the new administrative philosophy advocated bringing in students’ own assessment of their professors. Today, these student assessments are often the only evaluation of college teaching.
The change to include students’ perspectives was particularly supported by women faculty. Ironically, some research suggests that student evaluations might be quite biased against women professor. Such a bias would not only be unfair, but it would have substantial consequences for those women faculty, since student evaluation are used to evaluate teaching as part of a candidates’ promotion document. Negative teaching evaluations could result in denied tenure.
This paper draws on data from three years of student evaluations at a Research I university. Quantitative analysis shows significant differences in the evaluation of men versus women professors, with men receiving more positive evaluations and women more lower-scored, negative evaluations. The qualitative data illustrate how gender complicates students’ evaluations.
Keywords
gender, student assessments, promotion evaluation, bias
Recommended Citation
Hoffmann, Elizabeth A., "Evaluation of Women and Men Professors: How Gender Scripts Affect Students' Assessments" (2014). ADVANCE-Purdue Gender and STEM Research Symposium. 3.
https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/advancegsr/2013/presentations/3
Included in
Evaluation of Women and Men Professors: How Gender Scripts Affect Students' Assessments
All universities strive for high quality teaching. In the late 1970’s, colleges and universities began systematically soliciting feedback from students regarding teaching. Rather than relying on colleague-evaluations, the new administrative philosophy advocated bringing in students’ own assessment of their professors. Today, these student assessments are often the only evaluation of college teaching.
The change to include students’ perspectives was particularly supported by women faculty. Ironically, some research suggests that student evaluations might be quite biased against women professor. Such a bias would not only be unfair, but it would have substantial consequences for those women faculty, since student evaluation are used to evaluate teaching as part of a candidates’ promotion document. Negative teaching evaluations could result in denied tenure.
This paper draws on data from three years of student evaluations at a Research I university. Quantitative analysis shows significant differences in the evaluation of men versus women professors, with men receiving more positive evaluations and women more lower-scored, negative evaluations. The qualitative data illustrate how gender complicates students’ evaluations.