Is there still a chill? Student perceptions of gender bias in the college classroom.

Abstract

This study investigates student perceptions of gender bias in the college classroom. Utilizing the Student Perception Questionnaire, Personal Report of Communication Apprehension, and student perceptions of teacher immediacy, five research questions are answered dealing with patterns of teacher interaction with students and inclass participation by students.

Surveys of student perceptions' of teacher/student interaction and teacher verbal and nonverbal immediacy in classes with enrollments under 50 students and students' self report of personal communication apprehension provided the data for the study. Descriptive statistics and crosstabulations were run in order to determine if differences exist between male and female perceptions of teacher interactions, instructors perceived to be immediate and non-immediate, and students possessing high and low communication apprehension.

Further study is warranted to compare student perceptions of classroom interactions with actual classroom behaviors of both students and instructors.

Student reports suggest that more immediate instructors are perceived to be less gender biased in their interactions with students. Significant differences exist on five of the items identified as teacher interaction items on the Student Perception Questionnaire. However, no differences are found between male and female responses dealing with teacher interaction and between high and low communicative apprehensive students.