The Effects of Instructor Gender on Student Ratings of Instruction Across Academic Disciplines

• In Event: 14.043 - Research on Evaluation SIG Paper Presentations

Abstract

This study investigated whether instructor gender interacts with academic discipline group on student ratings of instruction in post-secondary classes. Specifically, we examined gender differences between STEM and non-STEM fields, and across STEM fields. Aggregated IDEA Student Ratings of Instruction data from 18,424 female and 15,651 male instructors were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance. The analyses revealed extremely weak and practically negligible interaction effects of Instructor Gender × Discipline Group, η2p = .002, and Instructor Gender × STEM Field, η2p = .005. Although the extent to which student ratings differed by instructor gender depended weakly on the academic group and the STEM field, the gender differences were so trivial that they should not affect decisions made about teaching effectiveness.

Authors

• Dan Li, The IDEA Center, Inc.

• Stephen L. Benton, IDEA

• Jason J. Barr, Monmouth University