The Effect of Gender on Course Evaluations in Mass Communications : A Pilot Study / Therese L. Lueck and Others.

A pilot study investigated the effect of gender on student evaluations of teachers in the field of mass communication, gauging any effects and interactions between instructor gender and student gender; whether female instructors are at a disadvantage; and whether type of course has an impact. Sixty-seven students in four upper-level mass communication classes taught by two professors completed questionnaires. Results indicated: (1) no significant difference for the gender of instructor, category of course, or gender of student; (2) the female instructor was rated significantly higher on the masculine characteristics than the male instructor (a reversal of the expected response); (3) male students consistently rated the male instructor higher than did the female students (in the"objective" question), while female students consistently rated the female instructor higher on the "objective" index than the male students did. Findings further suggest the importance of personality as a variable that needs to be controlled for in such studies. (Four tables of data and 23 references are included.) (SR)

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