Classroom Interactions: Gender of Teacher,Gender of Student,and Classroom Subject

An observational study investigated the effects of gender of teacher, gender of student, and classroom subject (mathematics vs. English literature/language) on teacher–student interactions. A total of 597 high school students (294 males and 303 females) and 36 teachers (28 males and 8 females) were observed in either 18 mathematics classes or 18 literature/language classes. Students and teachers were predominately Caucasian, with the majority of students from a lower- or middle-class background. Observations were coded using the interactions for sex equity in classroom teaching (INTERSECT) observational instrument. It was found that female mathematics teachers, male literature/language teachers, and female literature/language teachers tended to interact somewhat more with male students than with female students. This tendency was not the result of male students having initiated more direct verbal interactions with teachers.     

Linking Teacher Instruction and Student Achievement in Mathematics: The Role of Teacher Language

Although high-quality early educational environments are thought to be related to the growth of children’s skills in mathematics, relatively little is known about specific aspects of classroom instruction that may promote these abilities. Data from a longitudinal investigation were used to investigate associations between teachers’ language while teaching mathematics and their students’ growth in mathematical skill during the 2nd grade. Specifically, the extent to which mathematics lessons included cognitive-processing language (CPL)—instruction that is rich in references to cognitive processes, metacognition, and requests for remembering—was related to changes in students’ math achievement. Demonstrating the role of the language of instruction, the findings indicated that children whose 2nd-grade teachers included greater amounts of CPL during instruction evidenced greater growth in math fluency and calculation than did their peers whose teachers employed lower levels of CPL.     

Students' Quality of Experience and Perceptions of Intolerance and Bias in the Women's and Gender Studies Classroom

Student evaluations of the quality of their women's and gender studies (WGS) experience and predictors of experience quality were studied in a sample of 326 students from 23 WGS classes. Higher initial appreciation/acceptance of diversity, capacity for interpersonal relationships, and class expectations predicted more positive experience ratings. These relationships were mediated by students' alliance with their teacher and cohesion with classmates. A small proportion of students (11.6%), spread across 14 classes, did not rate their experience positively. Perceptions of teacher and classmate intolerance and bias were assessed in this subset of students. Average ratings of intolerance were slightly positive for teachers and neutral for classmates. Implications of the findings for understanding students' WGS experiences are discussed.     

Race and Gender Differences in Self-efficacy: Assessing the Role of Gender Role Attitudes and Family Background

Research suggests race is associated with unique family structures and gender attitudes. Yet, extant research fails to examine how different gender role attitudes and family structures related to race impact other aspects of life. Self-efficacy refers to one’s belief in his or her abilities to achieve certain outcomes (Bandura, Self-efficacy: The exercise of control, Freeman, New York, p. 3, 1997). Using a sample of 486 traditional undergraduate college students from an American university in the middle south, we examine gender and race differences in self-efficacy and the impact of sex role attitudes and family structure on self-efficacy. We argue that gender differences in gender role attitudes and their impact on self-efficacy is moderated by race. For all but white males, sex role liberalism is positively related to self-efficacy. Mother’s full time employment is positively related to self-efficacy for whites. Implications for theory and future research are discussed.     

The Effects of Prior Attitudes and Attitude Importance on Attitude Change and Class Impact in Women's and Gender Studies1

Attitude change in women's and gender studies (WGS) students has been a central goal of the WGS movement since its inception. Attitude change theory stresses the crucial roles of prior attitudes and attitude importance in the effectiveness of a persuasive message. This study examined attitude change dynamics in 548 WGS students drawn from 32 United States college campuses. Results provided partial support for the following hypotheses: (a) Students with attitudes discrepant from the WGS message demonstrate more resistance to attitude change when they deem these attitudes to be more important, and (b) WGS class impact is greater among students who rate class‐relevant attitudes as more important.     

Gender Differences in Cheating Attitudes and Classroom Cheating Behavior: A Meta-Analysis

Although academic dishonesty is a major problemin American colleges and universities, relatively littleresearch has investigated gender differences incheating. Based on the differential socialization theory of gender differences in moral reasoning(e.g., Chodorow, 1989; Gilligan, 1982) we expected that,compared to women, men would report more favorableattitudes toward cheating and more cheating behavior. We conducted a meta-analysis that included 8studies of gender differences in attitudes towardcheating, 34 studies of gender differences in cheatingbehavior, and 6 studies that investigated both attitudes and behavior. Although the mean effect size forgender differences in attitudes was of moderatemagnitude, equivalent to a correlation of r = .21, themean effect size for behavior was small, equivalent to r = .08. Behavior effect sizes also varied asa function of field of study, method of data collection,and country in which the study was conducted. We discussthe implications of our results for future research on gender differences in academicdishonesty.     

The Moderating Role of Gender and Gender Role Attitudes on the Link Between Spousal Support and Marital Quality

Researchers who examine the relation of gender role attitudes to division of household labor and marital quality often overlook its relation to emotional spousal support. Moreover, research on gender and marriage often ignores how gender role attitudes may explain the link between spousal support and marital quality. Secondary data analyses on a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults examined the interaction of gender and gender role attitudes on spousal support and marital quality. Emotional spousal support predicted better marital satisfaction and less conflict for traditional women and egalitarian men, whereas both instrumental and emotional spousal support predicted better marital satisfaction for egalitarian women and traditional men. These results suggest that within, as well as between, gender differences are important for understanding the contribution of spousal support to perceived marital quality.     

Gender Role Attitudes and Careers: A Longitudinal Study

Data from the Monitoring the Future Study were used to examine the impact of early gender role attitudes on later career outcomes for women and men. We also examined the impact of marriage, children, and labor market outcomes on changes in gender role attitudes. Women’s early gender role attitudes predicted their later work hours and earnings. Women’s work hours predicted their later gender egalitarianism. Children were negatively associated with later gender egalitarianism for both women and men. Findings indicated that gender role attitudes influence subsequent behavior, but they may also be adjusted to accommodate to situational constraints.     

The Role of Student Processing of Feedback in Classroom Achievement

This study focused on students' processing of feedback during regular classroom instruction. Students in two high-school computer programming classes were observed and asked to give retrospective reports of their thoughts during feedback episodes. Feedback episodes consisted of the teacher explaining test answers to the class after her grading and returning tests to students. The data showed that students' attention to feedback on missed, but not on correct, items was significantly related to course achievement and that this relationship was moderated by content knowledge. A qualitative analysis of retrospective reports revealed the diversity of ways of processing feedback and suggested two mechanisms that led to withdrawal of attention to feedback. One was the student's perception that he or she could not understand feedback and the other was dwelling on the negative affect produced by making errors.     

Student Attitudes Regarding Gender Bias in Performance Evaluations of Salespeople

This study examined how students believe salesperson gender impacts evaluations of salesperson performance. Students reviewed job performance information about either male or female salespeople. The information had purportedly been prepared by the salesperson's supervisor and indicated the level of performance as high or low. Students were asked how they thought the salesperson's supervisor might respond to the performance in terms of rewards (promotion, pay increases) for high performers and corrective measures (termination, counseling) for low performers. The results indicated that students believe that supervisors would more readily reward high performing males than females with identical performances. In contrast, students believed that supervisors would react more punitively toward low performing males than females with identical performances.     

The Gender Gap in Language Achievement: The Role of School-Related Attitudes of Class Groups

The present study was designed to examine how the attitudinal composition of class groups is related to the gender gap in language achievement at the end of secondary education. Data were drawn from the LOSO project and multilevel analyses were used. The results showed that the attitudes of the class groups, and, more specifically, the attitudes of same-sex classmates, had a stronger impact on the language achievement of boys than on the language achievement of girls. No gender differences were found in classes where students had good relationships with teachers, were motivated, and where students felt integrated, whereas boys performed less well than girls in classes where students did not have good relationship with teachers, were not very motivated, and felt poorly integrated.     

The Costs of Accepting Gender Differences: The Role of Stereotype Endorsement in Women's Experience in the Math Domain

Two studies were designed to examine the costs of stereotype endorsement for women's self-perceptions, career intentions, and susceptibility to stereotype threat in the math domain. Study 1, a survey of women majoring in math-related fields, revealed that women who believe that status differences between the sexes are legitimate were more likely to endorse gender stereotypes about women's math abilities, which in turn predicted more negative self-perceptions of math competence and less interest in continuing study in one's field. In Study 2, women who tended to endorse gender stereotypes were found to be more susceptible to the negative effects of stereotype threat on their math test performance. The implications of these results for research on stereotype endorsement and women's math achievement are discussed.     

Changes in Attitudes Toward Women's Roles: Predicting Gender-Role Traditionalism Among College Students

National college student data derived from the 1996 Cooperative Institutional Research Program Freshman Survey and the 2000 College Student Survey were used to assess longitudinal changes in gender-role traditionalism across 4 years of college. Applying the Input–Environment–Outcome model to blocked stepwise regression analyses, the predictive value of students' precollege characteristics and predispositions, and various college environments and experiences, were assessed for men and women. Findings indicated that students' levels of traditionalism declined during college. Although men and women tended to change similarly on this dimension, women held more egalitarian views than did men at college entry and 4 years later. Regression results pointed to the relevance of peers, academic engagement, women's studies courses, and diversity experiences for students' gender-role attitudes 4 years after college entry.     

中美大学生性别角色平等态度比较研究

20世纪70年代以来,性别角色态度的跨文化研究一直是性别研究中的热点问题。霍夫斯泰德(Hofstede)认为．性别化(男性化与女性化)是文化差异的维度之一。在男性化社会里,两性的社会角色分化比较明显,承担着传统的社会与家庭角色;而在女性化社会里,两性的性别角色出现了部分整合．即男性进入了女性的世界,女性也承担了部分男性的角色。他认为美国属于一个比较男性化的社会。     

Role of Group Affiliation and Gender on Attitudes Toward Women in the Military

The current study examined attitudes of West Point cadets (N = 218), Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) cadets (N = 509), and non-military-affiliated students from civilian colleges (N = 598) toward a variety of roles that women may serve in the military. Respondents were queried whether a woman “should” or “should not” serve in the following military jobs: jet fighter pilot, truck mechanic, nurse in a combat zone, typist in the Pentagon, commander of a military installation, hand-to-hand combat soldier, jet transport pilot, air defense gunner, and crew member on a combat ship. A metric based on a sum of approval across all jobs indicated that women were significantly more approving than men; civilian college students were more approving than ROTC cadets; and West Point cadets showed the lowest overall approval.     

Blaming the Target of Sexual Harassment: Impact of Gender Role,Sexist Attitudes,and Work Role

This study was conducted to examine factors associated with blaming the target of sexual harassment. Participants' experiences of sexual harassment, sexist attitudes, gender, gender role identity, age, worker or student status, and belief in a just world were included as independent variables. Level of blame was evaluated using a series of 12 vignettes that manipulated the gender of the target and harasser as well as the seriousness of the harassing behavior. The sample comprised 30 female and 32 male workers from two workplaces, whose ages ranged from 18 to 65 (M = 35) years, and 102 female and 18 male university students whose ages ranged from 17 to 40 (M = 21) years. Approximately 70% of the sample were from Anglo Australian background, and 30% from European, Middle Eastern or Asian background. Females experienced more sexual harassment than males did, although the male rate was higher than expected. Although the majority of subjects attributed little blame to the target, males blamed the target of sexual harassment more than females did, and workers blamed the target of harassment more than university students did. Worker status, sexist attitudes, and gender significantly predicted blame for the total sample. Gender-typing increased the blame of the target by males but not by females. Attribution of blame was significantly influenced by worker versus student status, which supports the social psychological perspective that gender-related behavior is context dependent. The findings from this study suggest that organisational culture and environment influence respondents' attitudes to sexually harassing behavior.     

Parent and Adolescent Gender Role Attitudes in 1990s Great Britain

Using data from the British Household Panel Survey, this short-term longitudinal study examined relationships between early- and mid-adolescents' gender role attitudes and the attitudes of their parents. Between 1994 and 1997, 602 families answered questions about the roles of husbands and wives, and whether or not having a working mother is harmful to families. Results confirmed that the gender differences that have been found consistently in the literature regarding adults extend back into early adolescence. Adolescent girls' attitudes were markedly more nontraditional than all other family members. However, results only partially supported our hypotheses regarding family influence on attitudes. In particular, we found little evidence that adolescent attitudes would more closely resemble those of the same-gender parent. Analysis of individual questions supports arguments that gender roles are complex and socially determined, and that British men of both adult and adolescent generations have begun in principle to accept nontraditional roles for wives but are less willing to support any erosion of male power in the family.     

Developmental Changes in Self-Perceptions of Intelligence and Self-Confidence

Sex differences in self-perceptions of intelligence and self-confidence were examined among third through eighth graders. In third grade, differences between the sexes were small and, in the case of perceptions of intelligence, favored the females. By fifth grade, males were more likely to describe themselves as smart and self-confident than were females. These differences persisted into the eighth grade. Further analyses indicated that the sex differences could not be adequately explained by the process of internalizing sex-stereotypes.     

Gender Role Flexibility in Early Adolescence: Developmental Change in Attitudes, Self-perceptions, and Behaviors

Gender role flexibility has been conceptualized as a multi-dimensional construct that consists of attitudes, self-perceptions, and behaviors. The present study was designed to examine the developmental trajectory of gender role attitude flexibility, self-perception flexibility, and gender-typed behavioral flexibility during early adolescence. One hundred and thirty six male and female sixth grade students completed the Children’s Occupations, Activities, and Traits Scale (Liben & Bigler, 2002) during the fall and spring of their first 2 years of middle school and they kept monthly after-school activity diaries, which were coded for gender stereotypicality. Each component of flexibility exhibited a different pattern of developmental change consistent with the multi-dimensional view of gender role flexibility.     

Attitudes Toward Professional Psychological Help Seeking in South Asian Students: Role of Stigma and Gender

This study examined (a) the roles of perceived and personal stigma on attitudes toward professional psychological help seeking and (b) the effects of these constructs across gender in South Asians. Personal stigma and being male was negatively associated with attitudes toward professional psychological help seeking; no difference in the association between personal and perceived stigma and attitudes across genders was found. These findings have implications for the engagement of South Asians in mental health services in the United States. Este estudio examinó (a) los roles de estigmas percibidos y personales en las actitudes hacia la búsqueda de ayuda psicológica profesional y (b) los efectos de estos constructos en indiviuos sudasiáticos según su sexo. El estigma personal y la identidad masculina se asociaron negativamente con las actitudes hacia la búsqueda de ayuda psicológica profesional; no se halló diferencia en la asociación entre estigmas personales y percibidos y las actitudes de los distintos sexos. Estos hallazgos tienen implicaciones para la participación de los individuos sudasiáticos en los servicios de salud mental en Estados Unidos.