Gender expectations and on-line evaluations of teaching: evidence from RateMyProfessors.com

Abstract

Using publicly available data from RateMyProfessors.com, we explore whether an instructor's gender influences how students rate that instructor. Although RateMyProfessors.com may not accurately reflect quality teaching, it provides a unique window into how students construct their classroom experiences. Multiple regression analyses of 500 professors from five public universities in the state of Florida fail to reveal significant gender differences in ratings of ‘overall quality’. Using more complex models, we test the hypothesis that female instructors are rated more positively when they display traditionally female traits, namely teaching in a traditionally female field and offering courses that are perceived as easier. Contrary to our expectations, our analyses fail to reveal the use of a gendered yardstick in quantitative evaluations of college instructors. Instead, perceptions of ease appear to be the great equalizer within this on-line context.

Keywords:

• student evaluations of teaching
• gender
• Internet