Dataset Information

Gender and cultural bias in student evaluations: Why representation matters.

ABSTRACT: Gendered and racial inequalities persist in even the most progressive of workplaces. There is increasing evidence to suggest that all aspects of employment, from hiring to performance evaluation to promotion, are affected by gender and cultural background. In higher education, bias in performance evaluation has been posited as one of the reasons why few women make it to the upper echelons of the academic hierarchy. With unprecedented access to institution-wide student survey data from a large public university in Australia, we investigated the role of conscious or unconscious bias in terms of gender and cultural background. We found potential bias against women and teachers with non-English speaking backgrounds. Our findings suggest that bias may decrease with better representation of minority groups in the university workforce. Our findings have implications for society beyond the academy, as over 40% of the Australian population now go to university, and graduates may carry these biases with them into the workforce.

SUBMITTER: Fan Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6373838 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Gender and cultural bias in student evaluations: Why representation matters.

Fan Y Y Shepherd L J LJ Slavich E E Waters D D Stone M M Abel R R Johnston E L EL

PloS one 20190213 2

Gendered and racial inequalities persist in even the most progressive of workplaces. There is increasing evidence to suggest that all aspects of employment, from hiring to performance evaluation to promotion, are affected by gender and cultural background. In higher education, bias in performance evaluation has been posited as one of the reasons why few women make it to the upper echelons of the academic hierarchy. With unprecedented access to institution-wide student survey data from a large pu ...[more]

PMID: 30759093

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Project description:ImportanceWomen remain underrepresented in ophthalmology and gender-based disparities exist in salary, grant receipt, publication rates, and surgical volume throughout training and in practice. Although studies in emergency medicine and general surgery showed mixed findings regarding gender differences in Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Milestones ratings, limited data exist examining such differences within ophthalmology.ObjectiveTo examine gender differences in ophthalmology ACGME Milestones.Design, setting, and participantsThis was a retrospective cross-sectional study of postgraduate year 4 (PGY-4) residents from 120 ophthalmology programs graduating in 2019.Main outcomes and measuresPGY-4 midyear and year-end medical knowledge (MK) and patient care (PC) ratings and Written Qualifying Examination (WQE) scaled scores for residents graduating in 2019 were included. Differential prediction techniques using Generalized Estimating Equations models were performed to identify differences by gender.ResultsOf 452 residents (median [IQR] age, 30.0 [29.0-32.0] years), 275 (61%) identified as men and 177 (39%) as women. There were no differences in PC domain average between women and men for both midyear (-0.07; 95% CI, -0.11 to 0; P =.06) and year-end (-0.04; 95% CI, -0.07 to 0.03; P =.51) assessment periods. For the MK domain average in the midyear assessment period, women (mean [SD], 3.76 [0.50]) were rated lower than men (mean [SD], 3.88 [0.47]; P = .006) with a difference in mean of -0.12 (95% CI, -0.18 to -0.03). For the year-end assessment, however, the average MK ratings were not different for women (mean [SD], 4.10 [0.47]) compared with men (mean [SD], 4.18 [0.47]; P = .20) with a difference in mean of -0.08 (95% CI, -0.13 to 0.03).Conclusions and relevanceResults suggest that ACGME ophthalmology Milestones in 2 general competencies did not demonstrate major gender bias on a national level at the time of graduation. There were, however, differences in MK ratings at the midyear mark, and as low ratings on evaluations and examinations may adversely affect career opportunities for trainees, it is important to continue further work examining other competencies or performance measures for potential biases.

Dataset Information

Gender and cultural bias in student evaluations: Why representation matters.

Publications

Gender and cultural bias in student evaluations: Why representation matters.

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