Give teachers a physics test from a woman and they’ll give her worse grades

[LiberalArkie]

by John Timmer

We reported yesterday on the workplace difficulties that many female scientists face as they advance through their careers. But all of those problems happen after the women have been through years of education, a process that can also be a source of challenges. A variety of surveys have found indications that stereotypes about women's capabilities in science and math influence expectations throughout their education.

Connecting these biases to actual educational problems can be challenging, but a Swiss researcher named Sarah Hofer has found a way to test these issues. Hofer provided a large panel of physics teachers with a single answer that was attached to either male or female biographical information and asked them to grade it. She found that tests with a female bio got significantly lower grades, at least from teachers who were early in their careers.

Hofer's approach was simple. She told physics teachers in Switzerland, Austria, and Germany that she was doing a survey on their grading practices. They'd be given a physics question with an answer that required detailed reasoning in Newtonian mechanics, along with some information about a student and the student's answer.

The answer was designed to have some correct aspects and a few errors, giving the teachers some leeway in grading. The student, however was completely fictitious. Instead, the teachers were given the same bio but with pronouns changed to indicate that the student was either male or female.

Snip

http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/01/give-teachers-a-physics-test-from-a-girl-and-theyll-give-it-worse-grades/

[SheilaT]

1. When my sister was in grad school, studying psychology,

one of her professors insisted the students put a fake name on tests. And a different fake name every time, as she didn't want to be influenced by what she already thought of the student.

Some variation of that should happen more often.

[LiberalArkie]

2. A simple thing would be one of those number dispenser things where you pull off a number

that has a number printed twice. Put one on the paper and keep the other one to pick up your graded paper and the prof could put your grade in the computer.

[SheilaT]

3. Thanks! I knew there would be a way that would preserve anonymity

and I just didn't think of that.

[greymattermom]

4. I well remember my fake name from 1969 at MIT

the Great Pumpkin. Now, who would guess that's me?

[zazen]

5. this happens now with comments sections--man's name, I get lots of recs

But then when the news orgs started requiring FB sign-ins, they silenced the majority of women. Who wants to put their personal info up there for someone else to see? Plus, as soon as I was outed as a blonde woman, down went the recs. I thought, wow? Did I suddenly get really smart? I can't believe all the up-votes I'm getting. Uh, no. It was the male-sounding name.

I tried to use my male middle name on exams at school but was always found out. I know I was graded down constantly. Fluffy blondes could not be intellectuals. Every month I would ask a question--a few times be told it was the stupidest thing, completely ridiculous--only to have a man ask it to serious respect. One question I had in a big religious studies class has now become a bona fide research area, but I was told it absolutely outrageous at the time. Would never have happened to a guy.

This really, really pisses me off--that it's STILL GOING ON.

GRRRRRRR.

Thanks for posting.

[LiberalElite]

7. interesting - I think now for the NYT comments

I'll change my name to something male and see what happens.

[Egnever]

8. Facebook is a scourge on the internet

I really despise that it is being used for logins everywhere.

[Skittles]

6. women having to be twice as good to be considered half as good

it never really changes, does it?

[a la izquierda]

9. Similar study, but in reverse...

students give female professors worse evaluations than male professors. There have been recent articles in the Chronicle of Higher Education about this.