A Gendered Study of Student Ratings of Instruction

Abstract

This research tests for differences in mean class averages between male and female faculty for questions on a student rating of instruction form at one university in the Midwest are considered to be in the category of “very high research activity” by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education. Differences in variances of class averages are also examined for male and female faculty. Tests are conducted by first considering all classes across the entire university and then classes just within the College of Science and Mathematics. The proportion of classes taught by female instructors in which the average male student rating was higher than the average female student rating was compared to the proportion of classes taught by male instructors in which the average male student rating was higher than the average female student rating. Results are discussed.