Exploring Gender Differences in Student Evaluations of Faculty in a Graduate Clinical Translational Research Program

There has long been an underrepresentation of women in medicine and biomedical research; this is often described as a "leaky pipeline," as the more senior the level of rank, the fewer women are appointed. In evaluating a faculty member for promotion, student evaluations of faculty teaching...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Alexandra J Greenberg-Worisek, Katherine E. Cornelius, Karen Weavers, Felicity Enders
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: F1000 Research Ltd 2020-03-01
Series:MedEdPublish
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mededpublish.org/Manuscripts/2839
Description
Summary:There has long been an underrepresentation of women in medicine and biomedical research; this is often described as a "leaky pipeline," as the more senior the level of rank, the fewer women are appointed. In evaluating a faculty member for promotion, student evaluations of faculty teaching are often considered; therefore, if gender biases are reinforced by student evaluations of teaching, the gender gap in faculty promotion could remain or increase. In this study, we examine student evaluations of faculty teaching in a graduate biomedical research training program, using data gathered during two academic years. While female faculty received higher quantitative ratings of teaching, subtle gender differences in language existed in the student comments, indicating that implicit biases about women may be present in student evaluations of faculty teaching.
ISSN:2312-7996