Background

Evidence suggests that women and men exhibit their cognitive talents in different ways. This is one of a complex range of reasons for the observed gender imbalance in disciplines where attributes often associated with gender intersect the subject skill-set. Gender-specific mentoring programmes in corporate settings have shown positive responses in women's self-esteem and perception of career opportunities. The key question posed by the present project is whether gender-minority instructors are more valued by genderminority students in the student-lecturer environment. We also ask whether men, when in the minority, have a similar response to same-sex role models as women do.

Methods

Students from 13 University of Nottingham departments, in which academics have combined teaching and research roles, were asked to rank synthesized profiles of academics in order of preference for different tasks. This canvassing used an online questionnaire asking students to rank based on the academics' experience and educational background. In fact the questionnaire also tested for subconscious gender-bias in the respondents’ answers. The BERA Guidelines gave recommendations for best-practice when conducting data-gathering. The ranked data were processed using a mathematical technique, popular in marketing strategy, known as conjoint analysis.

Results

A total of 220 responses were analysed; 111 from female-dominated (>70% female), 57 from male-dominated, and 52 from gender-balanced departments. The results demonstrate that in teaching, an academic’s experience and background are significantly more important to students than gender. However, there is a slight preference for female lecturers from all undergraduates, regardless of gender, in majority or minority. In teaching, a female lecturer is valued as highly as approximately 2 years of experience. Greater importance is placed on gender by undergraduates in male dominated schools, particularly by female undergraduates in these disciplines. In a supervisory capacity, an academic’s experience is significantly more important to students than their background or gender. However, in a personal tutoring role, again a preference for female academics is exhibited, carrying similar importance as experience and background. In this case, a female academic is as valued as highly as 12 years experience. Only male undergraduates in gender-balanced schools preferred male personal tutors.

Discussion

The survey has demonstrated a slight preference for female lecturers in both teaching and, more significantly, in personal tutoring roles. While the latter may have been anticipated, as tutoring is typically a nurturing role suited to the stereotypical strengths of females, our initial finding is unexpected. These results indicate that a female lecturer is slightly preferred by all undergraduates and across all disciplines. It might be speculated that the importance of empathy in teaching may contribute to these findings. Although the gender of a lecturer is important to undergraduates in tutoring scenarios, no special value is attributed to same-sex tutors by minority students in gender-skewed disciplines.

Implications and reflection

Significant funds are allocated towards boosting the presence of women academics in science, technology and mathematics. This quantitative review of whether this policy benefits the students it targets has been able to discover whether this drive is cost-effective. Furthermore, this project has assessed whether similar measures are necessary in disciplines where men form the minority gender. The value of these results could be greatly enhanced if more educational institutions, and thus a broader range of students, were to participate. The next steps to be taken will include conducting the survey at Leeds University and Cambridge University who have agreed to participate.