Small samples, unreasonable generalizations, and outliers: Gender bias in student evaluation of teaching or three unhappy students?

In a widely cited and widely talked about study, MacNell et al. (2015) [1] examined SET ratings of one female and one male instructor, each teaching two sections of the same online course, one section under their true gender and the other section under false/opposite gender. MacNell et al. concluded that students rated perceived female instructors more harshly than perceived male instructors, demonstrating gender bias against perceived female instructors. Boring, Ottoboni, and Stark (2016) [2] re-analyzed MacNell et al.’s data and confirmed their conclusions. However, the design of MacNell et al. study is fundamentally flawed. First, MacNell et al.’ section sample sizes were extremely small, ranging from 8 to 12 students. Second, MacNell et al. included only one female and one male instructor. Third, MacNell et al.’s findings depend on three outliers – three unhappy students (all in perceived female conditions) who gave their instructors the lowest possible ratings on all or nearly all SET items. We re-analyzed MacNell et al.’s data with and without the three outliers. Our analyses showed that the gender bias against perceived female instructors disappeared. Instead, students rated the actual female vs. male instructor higher, regardless of perceived gender. MacNell et al.’s study is a real-life demonstration that conclusions based on extremely small sample-sized studies are unwarranted and uninterpretable.

Female In-Class Participation and Performance Increase with More Female Peers and/or a Female Instructor in Life Sciences Courses

Female students are less likely to participate in class than male peers in life sciences courses of all levels, but they are more likely to participate in classrooms with more female peers. Female students earn lower final course grades than males in classes taught by a male instructor and/or when female students are in the minority.

Small samples, unreasonable generalizations, and outliers: Gender bias in student evaluation of teaching or three unhappy students?

In a widely cited and widely talked about study, MacNell et al. (2015) examined SET ratings of one female and one male instructor, each teaching two sections of the same online course, one section under their true gender and the other section under false/opposite gender. MacNell et al. concluded that students rated perceived female instructors more harshly than perceived male instructors, demonstrating gender bias against perceived female instructors. Boring, Ottoboni, and Stark (2016) re-analyzed MacNell et al.s data and confirmed their conclusions. However, the design of MacNell et al. study is fundamentally flawed. First, MacNell et al. section sample sizes were extremely small, ranging from 8 to 12 students. Second, MacNell et al. included only one female and one male instructor. Third, MacNell et al.s findings depend on three outliers -- three unhappy students (all in perceived female conditions) who gave their instructors the lowest possible ratings on all or nearly all SET items. We re-analyzed MacNell et al.s data with and without the three outliers. Our analyses showed that the gender bias against perceived female instructors disappeared. Instead, students rated the actual female vs. male instructor higher, regardless of perceived gender. MacNell et al.s study is a real-life demonstration that conclusions based on extremely small sample-sized studies are unwarranted and uninterpretable.

KOMUNIKASI PEMBERDAYAAN DISNAKERKOPERINDAG DALAM PENINGKATAN DAYA SAING EKONOMI BANGSA BERWAWASAN GENDER PADA PETANI ANDALIMAN DI KABUPATEN SAMOSIR

This research is aimed to know the power of communication of Disnakerkoperindag Samosir Sub-district and its Agent in Increasing the Economic Competition based on Gender in the Andaliman farmer in the Samosir Sub-district. This research apply the Descriptive Qualitative research approach with research informant from the agent of the empower who is the Head of Koperasi Division, Koperasi of Industrial and Commerce, and the chairperson of Samandali Community, including the female Andaliman farmer society. The informant is defined by purposively sampling. The data taken by observation, interview, and documentation. In this research, it is found that DISNAKERKOPERINDAG of Samosir Sub-district had done the communication empowering bsed on gender to the subject of UMKM. Communication empowering used the model of AIDDA. Communication empowering based on gender is successful because of there is an interactional and transactional communication from the AIDDA model of communication. By this empowering, the facilitator is able to communicate with no fear in the social sytem of Batak culture which is formerly it is a taboo to have a close or intense communication in a male instructor to any of his female members finally female farmers could set her self realizing, attention, and motivation to do as what it is instructed by the instructor so that the Andaliman harvest successful.

Gender Bias in Student Evaluations

ABSTRACTMany universities use student evaluations of teachers (SETs) as part of consideration for tenure, compensation, and other employment decisions. However, in doing so, they may be engaging in discriminatory practices against female academics. This study further explores the relationship between gender and SETs described by MacNell, Driscoll, and Hunt (2015) by using both content analysis in student-evaluation comments and quantitative analysis of students’ ordinal scoring of their instructors. The authors show that the language students use in evaluations regarding male professors is significantly different than language used in evaluating female professors. They also show that a male instructor administering an identical online course as a female instructor receives higher ordinal scores in teaching evaluations, even when questions are not instructor-specific. Findings suggest that the relationship between gender and teaching evaluations may indicate that the use of evaluations in employment decisions is discriminatory against women.

Responses to Instruction on Counseling Women: Does Gender Play a Part?

We investigated how instructors' gender affects students' perceptions. Three components of person perception were assessed: cognitive, affective, and behavioral. The cognitive domain included evaluations of the instructor and the subject matter presented; the affective domain included emotional responses to the instructor and the subject matter; and the behavioral domain included actions in response to the instructor, operationalized as the number of questions asked by students. Ninety-eight undergraduate students enrolled in psychology classes viewed one of four videotapes. Two tapes portrayed a gender-neutral topic and two demonstrated sex-bias in counseling women. The same male and female instructors made identical presentations on each topic. Students then completed the measures. As predicted, the gender of the instructor influenced evaluations of competence and importance of the material, as well as mood states and the number and kind of questions asked. On all three components of person perception, the male instructor was viewed more positively than the female instructor. Students' sex and the type of subject matter further influenced responses, particularly in the affective and behavioral areas. Implications for teaching are discussed.