Abstract
On-site observations analyzing student-teacher interaction for 50 college classes, matched by level, subject, and teacher's sex, revealed no difference in number and type of interactions in which male and female students participated. In female-taught classes, style differences were found: Male students' interactions were characterized by more student-teacher exchanges than females' interactions. From student questionnaires, differences in office visitation patterns were revealed, showing an apparent relationship to sex: Female students visited more female than male instructors. However, closer examination showed the student's major to be the key variable influencing visitation patterns. Results point to the need for testing a variety of variables in addition to sex before drawing conclusions about sex-related behavior.
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Ordering of authors was determined alphabetically. A CETA special project grant from the King-Snohomish Manpower Consortium (P. Dee Boersma, principal investigator) funded the research. The authors thank the Institute for Environmental Studies for providing space.
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Boersma, P.D., Gay, D., Jones, R.A. et al. Sex differences in college student-teacher interactions: Fact or fantasy?. Sex Roles 7, 775–784 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00287763
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00287763