Perceptions of Male and Female Professors
Date
2008-04-26
Authors
Kelly, Brandi M.
Littleton, Ph.D., Heather L.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Sam Houston State University. Elliott T. Bower's Honor College
Abstract
Description
It has been argued that gender biases may affect evaluations of male and female professors, but research has not investigated the content of students' schemas of male and female professors to determine if indeed students hold different schemas for professors based on gender. This study investigated the characteristics that students perceive ideal and typical male and female professors as holding. Fifty-two male and female undergraduates were recruited from psychology courses. Participants were on average 21 years old. Participants were ethnically diverse: 71% White, 15% African American, and 9% Hispanic. Participants were tested in small groups of no more than four and were asked to list characteristics of either a male or female typical and ideal professor, presented in counterbalanced order. Typical female professors were significantly more likely to be described as sympathetic and monotonous as compared to typical male professors. A trend was found for ideal female professors to more likely be described more approachable than ideal male professors. Results suggest that students' do hold somewhat different schemas for male and female professors. In particular, students' schemas of female professors appear to contain certain stereotypically feminine characteristics. These schemas may potentially affect student perceptions of male and female faculty.
Keywords
Stereotypes (Social psychology), Sexism, Gender, College teachers, College students