Document Type
Report
Publication Date
8-2024
Abstract
This report investigates four interrelated questions: 1) Do gender biases influence the University of Dayton (UD) undergraduate students’ evaluations of the credibility of gender-related research? 2) If such biases exist, can SSC 200 effectively reduce them? 3) Can awareness raising intervention reduce biases in how students evaluate their professors’ teaching effectiveness? 4) Do professors’ identities, including gender and racial ethnicity, affect students’ course enrollment preferences?
To answer these questions, we conducted three separate, but interrelated, studies. The first study aims to address whether UD students have gender bias when evaluating the credibility of information and if short term and long-term training can reduce any bias that is present. This study is important because, one, it provides a better understanding of gender bias among students at UD, if it exists and to what degree. Second, it provides data from inside the classroom of whether or not short term and long-term training can reduce any gender bias that is found when evaluating the credibility of information. The findings can then be utilized to create university wide policies that help bring about a more equitable campus.
In Study 2, we research the effects of bias mitigating prompts on students’ evaluation of teaching. While UD is implementing a new approach to student evaluation of teaching for the 2024-2025 academic year, insights can be gained that can help improve how, as a university, we can bring about greater gender equity for faculty when it comes to evaluations. A better understanding of how students respond to bias mitigation prompts and how they impact students’ evaluation of their instructors can help improve the overall process for all involved.
Last, Study 3 considers how the gender and the perceived race of an instructor impacts students' selection of classes. This is important to the overall project because of the lack of racial consideration and binary gender identity used in the previous two studies. Here we conduct a survey experiment to understand if perceived race and gender have an impact on the classes students select. Just as the previous two studies, gender and racial bias in the selection of classes can come with a wide range of implications. If faculty are suffering from lower enrollment because of their gender identity or perceived race, the University must take steps to understand how this can be mitigated to not unduly harm a faculty member when it comes to various types of professional evaluations.
Collectively, these three studies aim to increase our understanding of gender bias among the student body at the University of Dayton. University faculty spend most of their time interacting with students, so finding ways that students and faculty can work together to achieve gender equity rather than work against one another is of the utmost importance. The following studies help to improve our understanding of gender bias among the student body to inform the larger conversation on what policies can be implemented at UD.
Keywords
Gender equity, research literacy training, perceived credibility
Disciplines
Women's Studies
eCommons Citation
Liu, Li-Yin; Brough, Christopher; Gaozhao, Dongfang; Kling, Hannah; Thomeier, Isabella; and Vasko, Veronica, "Students as Faculty Gender Equity Allies: Mitigating Students’ Gender Biases through Short-Term Awareness-Intervention and Long-Term Research Literacy Training" (2024). Reports from the Gender Equity Research Fellowship. 9.
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/wgs_equity/9
Comments
There are a number of people we would like to thank because without their assistance and contributions this project would have not been possible. First and foremost, we would like to thank our incredible research assistants, Hannah Kling, Isabella Thomeier, and Veronica Vasko. It was an absolute joy to work with all of them throughout the academic year and see them grow as researchers and presenters.
We would also like to thank the Women’s Center, the Women’s and Gender Studies Program, and the Provost’s Office for sponsoring the Gender and Equity Research Fellowship. Their resources and support made this all possible.
Most importantly, we would like to thank SSC 200 instructors who opted into the survey: Lucy Allbaugh, Josh Ambrosius, Hillary Erwin, Eddie Glayzer, Jackson Goodnight, Nancy Haskell, Laura Heller, Alan Kelley, Susybell Kallsen, Stephanie Litka, Autumn Lockwood Payton, Joel Pruce, Susan Weaver. They allowed us access to their classroom, taking up precious class time and we are grateful for their assistance. Additionally, we would like to thank the following ASI 150 instructors: Janet Bednarek, Robert Beebe, Holly Bruner, Melissa Layman-Guadalupe, Sabina Marroquin, Heather Parsons, Autumn Lockwood Payton, Stacey Siekman-Hall, Patrick Thomas, Laura Toomb, Paola Ortiz Vaquez. They each helped us distribute a survey to their students, with many providing class time to do so.
Lastly, we would like to thank Katie Hoener and Jessie Starkweather. Katie provided important assistance throughout the project in helping to distribute surveys, while Jessie provided much needed administrative support.