Study: College Students Apt To Rate Male Instructors Better Than Female Ones

College students are more likely to rate their male instructors better than female ones, according to new study co-authored by a University of Wisconsin-La Crosse researcher.

In the study, two instructors — “Josh” and “Lilly” — taught four online course sections. Each instructor taught a section under the male name and female name. They graded work the same and gave nearly identical feedback to students. The students then rated the instructors on traits like professionalism, promptness and respectfulness.

Adam Driscoll, the study co-author and a UWL assistant professor of sociology and archeology, said the results showed gender bias.

“The students think the male teachers are better teachers, regardless of how they’re teaching,” Driscoll said. “They continually rated the male identity, even though it was still Lilly and Josh, when they were being called Josh, they were rated more favorably.”

Gender bias in academia isn’t a new phenomenon, but Driscoll and his co-authors were able to show it play out in student evaluations.

Students were asked to rate their instructor after taking an online course. When they thought their instructor was male, he was graded better than his female counterpart.

Driscoll said this is problematic, especially since student evaluations play a role in promotions, retention and tenure.

“If we are seeing this sweeping bias where women are constantly being negatively impacted by the student biases, then that means their careers and women academics are experiencing a systematic devaluation in the university system,” he said.

Driscoll said he wants to build on the study and see how biases play out in different universities and fields of study.