Do American community colleges, colleges, and universities create a hostile environment for female students as a result of gender bias? The review of literature presented here examines gender bias as it occurs in higher education classrooms. Studies focusing on teacher or professor gender bias are emphasized. The review ends with an examination of research based on recommendations for correcting the problem of gender bias in higher education classes.
Research on Gender Bias in Higher Education
One of the foundational studies of gender bias in college and university classrooms was conducted by Hall and Sandler (1982) who observed 35 behaviors by which college faculty manifest gender bias in their interactions with female students. These behaviors included:
(1) interrupting women more frequently than men;
(2) calling on men more frequently than women;
(3) asking questions followed by eye contact with male students as if males were the only ones they expected to respond; (4) addressing the class as if no women were present (e.g. Suppose your wife did...);
(5) Using examples in which the professional is always labeled a male while the client or patient is always labeled a female;
(6) choosing more male teaching assistants than female teaching assistants;
(7) nominating more males for awards than females; and
(8) being more inclined to write letters of recommendations for males than for females.
In a study conducted a few years later, Sandler and Hall (1986) found evidence that sexism and sexist interactions in higher education classrooms were not limited to male professor gender bias and its effects on female students. Using literature searches, campus commissioned reports, and anecdotal information obtained during numerous campus visits, the authors found that female faculty and college administrators also experience discriminatory treatment as a result of gender bias on campus.
Acc...