Contradicting findings of gender bias in teaching evaluations: Evidence from two experiments in Denmark

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Skorkjær Binderkrantz ◽  
Mette Bisgaard ◽  
Berit Lassesen
Keyword(s):  
Gender Bias ◽  
Observational Studies ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Gender Effects ◽  
Performance Evaluations ◽  
Student Evaluations Of Teaching ◽  
Teaching Evaluations ◽  
Public Sector Employees ◽  
Evaluation Of Teaching

The role of gender in the interaction between citizens and public sector employees attracts increasing attention. Notably, gender effects have been described in performance evaluations across different contexts. With respect to student evaluations of teaching, a series of observational studies as well as experimental studies have found that women are evaluated lower than men. In this paper, we conduct two experiments in Denmark to test whether a similar gender bias is present in a national context that is generally considered among the most gender equal. Study 1 investigates differences in the evaluation of two similar presentations by teachers reported to be either male or female. Study 2 focuses on the evaluation of teaching material prepared by men and women respectively. The two studies arrive at similar conclusions: There is no gender bias in favor of men in the evaluations made by students. The paper discusses the implications of these findings.

scholarly journals Gender, Teaching Evaluations, and Professional Success in Political Science

2016 ◽  
Vol 49 (02) ◽  
pp. 313-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa L. Martin
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
Gender Bias ◽  
Teaching Effectiveness ◽  
Female Faculty ◽  
Student Evaluations Of Teaching ◽  
Teaching Evaluations ◽  
Professional Success ◽  
Role Incongruity ◽  
Science Departments ◽  
Theories Of Leadership

ABSTRACTEvaluations of teaching effectiveness rely heavily on student evaluations of teaching. However, an accumulating body of evidence shows that these evaluations are subject to gender bias. Theories of leadership and role incongruity suggest that this bias should be especially prominent in large courses. This article examines publicly available data from two large political science departments and finds that female instructors receive substantively and significantly lower ratings than male instructors in large courses. The author discusses the implications of apparent gender bias in teaching evaluations for the professional success of female faculty. Findings of gender bias in evaluations in other fields also hold in political science and are particularly problematic in the evaluation of large courses.

scholarly journals State anxiety and alcohol choice: Evidence from experimental and online observational studies

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (11) ◽  
pp. 1237-1249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maddy L Dyer ◽  
Alexander G Board ◽  
Lee Hogarth ◽  
Steph F Suddell ◽  
Jon E Heron ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
State Anxiety ◽  
Observational Studies ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Drinking To Cope ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Anxiety Levels ◽  
Moderating Role ◽  
Experimentally Induced

Background: Experimental studies have investigated the effects of physical, psychological and pharmacological stressors (that induce state anxiety) on alcohol outcomes. However, no study has investigated the effects of state anxiety on alcohol outcomes, and the moderating role of drinking to cope (DTC) motives, using the 7.5% carbon dioxide (CO2) challenge. Aims: We aimed to investigate the relationships between state anxiety and alcohol-related outcomes (primarily alcohol choice). We also explored whether DTC motives moderated these relationships. Methods: We conducted two experiments using the 7.5% CO2 challenge (Studies 1 and 2) and an observational study (Study 3) ( ns = 42, 60 and 219, respectively), to triangulate findings. Results: In Study 1, experimentally induced state anxiety increased alcohol choice ( p < .001, ηp2 = .29). This finding was replicated in Study 2, but the effect was weaker ( p = .076, ηp2 = .06). Furthermore, DTC moderated the effect ( p = .013, ηp2 = .11). However, in Study 3 there was no clear evidence of an association between naturally occurring state anxiety and alcohol choice ( b = 0.05, p = .655), or a moderating role of DTC ( b = 0.01, p = .852). Conclusions: Experimentally induced, but not naturally occurring, state anxiety increases alcohol choice, although state anxiety levels were lower in the non-manipulated sample.

Exploring the role of exposure to green space in preventing anxiety and depression among young people aged 14-24 living in urban settings: a systematic review 

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabelle Bray ◽  
Rebecca Reece ◽  
Danielle Sinnett ◽  
Faith Martin ◽  
Robert Hayward
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
State Anxiety ◽  
Observational Studies ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Anxiety And Depression ◽  
Urban Settings ◽  
Study Designs ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Background Despite the growing problem of anxiety and depression amongst young people aged 14-24 years living in urban settings, reviews about the role of exposure to green space or nature in preventing anxiety and depression tend to focus on children, adults or sometimes adolescents. This review aims to explore whether, and if so how, exposure to green space reduces the risk of anxiety and depression among young people aged 14-24 living in urban settings.MethodsCINAHL plus, Global Health, MEDLINE, ProQuest: Dissertations and Theses, PsycINFO, Scopus and OpenGrey were searched for research published in English between January 2000 and June 2020, including all study designs. Results 9,208 sources were identified and 48 were included. Experimental studies provided evidence that walking or being in a green space improves mood and state anxiety immediately following the intervention. Observational studies suggest that social interaction, physical activity, and mindfulness mediate the relationship between exposure to green space and mental health. We propose that the absence of noise and traffic and the presence of nature promotes mindfulness and restoration.ConclusionsThis review provides evidence to clinicians about the value of green social prescribing, and to policymakers about the value of bringing the benefits of forests, vegetation and nature into cities, and ensuring that these spaces are accessible and safe for young people to use.

Cooperation in primates

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 361-382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Albiach-Serrano
Keyword(s):  
Observational Studies ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Nonhuman Primates ◽  
Cooperative Behavior ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Primate Species ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
History Of ◽  
Methodological Difficulties

Observational studies have suggested that some nonhuman primates’ cooperative behavior may rely on their capacity to share goals and understand the role of their partners. Experimental studies have tried to find evidence for this under controlled conditions, investigating aspects like the degree of organization in different primate species and the individuals’ capacity to recognize and choose good partners, switch roles with them, and care about their outcomes. Often, the results have been mixed. Partly, this is because of the methodological difficulties inherent to empirical research. In this paper, I offer a critical, methodological review of the experimental studies done in the last years on nonhuman primates’ cooperation, I discuss their findings, and suggest possible solutions to some of the procedural problems. Hopefully, this will contribute to improve the design of future studies and therefore our knowledge about the evolutionary history of cooperation.

University Blues: Role of Attachment and Distress on Students’ Evaluations of Instructors’ Teaching Performance

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Reid ◽  
Elaine Scharfe
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Attachment Anxiety ◽  
Teaching Performance ◽  
Attachment Representations ◽  
Student Evaluations Of Teaching ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
Teaching Evaluations

AbstractDespite concerns about bias, student evaluations of teaching continue to be significant to faculty career advancement in academia. In a recent study, attachment representations were shown to be associated with students’ perceptions of instructors (Henson &amp; Scharfe, 2011); students with insecure-anxious representations were more likely to rate their professors negatively. These data, however, were cross-sectional, and the role of distress in this association was not examined. To examine the influence of anxiety and depressive symptoms on the association between attachment representations and evaluations of instructors’ teaching performance, 102 undergraduate students (91% female, 17–38 years old) completed questionnaires at two time points during the semester. Interestingly, both attachment anxiety and avoidance measured at the beginning of the semester were negatively associated with teaching evaluations at the end of the semester, and this effect was stronger for participants who reported high anxiety and depressive symptoms. The findings are consistent with previous work exploring the perception of others of depressed and non-depressed individuals, and provides some support for Bowlby's original proposals concerning the importance of distress in understanding the effects of attachment. Strategies to support students’ transition to post-secondary education and to promote positive teaching evaluations are discussed.

scholarly journals A critical analysis about the supposed role of azithromycin in the treatment of covid-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 11-21
Author(s):  
Ricardo Ruan Santana ◽  
Bárbara Oliva Barbosa ◽  
José Rivaldo de Oliveira Soares ◽  
Rayssa Mielo Colombo ◽  
Victória Rafaela Santos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Observational Studies ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Considerable Effect ◽  
Tnf Alpha ◽  
Viral Agent ◽  
Broad Spectrum Antibiotic ◽  
One Year ◽  
Pro Inflammatory Cytokines

After over one year, the coronavirus disease 2019 (covid-19) has still affected millions of people. For this reason, global efforts to promote better treatment of covid-19 have been undertaken focused on the repurposing of existing medications.In Brazil, azithromycin, a broad-spectrum antibiotic, has been used in association with other drugs as an immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, and anti-viral agent, regardless of bacterial co-infection. Indeed, data from experimental studies have demonstrated the capacity of this drug in reducing the production of infection-induced pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-8, IL-6, and TNF-alpha. However, observational studies revealed conflicting results regarding its effect, whereas well-conducted clinical trials have not shown a considerable effect of this agent on the improvement of clinical outcomes. This narrative review addressed the possible role of this antibiotic in the management of covid-19, based on data from clinical and preclinical studies.

scholarly journals Brain–kidney interaction: Renal dysfunction following ischemic stroke

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 246-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiang Zhao ◽  
Tao Yan ◽  
Michael Chopp ◽  
Poornima Venkat ◽  
Jieli Chen
Keyword(s):  
Patient Outcome ◽  
Ischemic Stroke ◽  
Immune Responses ◽  
Observational Studies ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Cerebral Injury ◽  
Mortality And Morbidity ◽  
The Brain

Stroke is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity, with long-term debilitating effects. Accumulating evidence from experimental studies as well as observational studies in patients suggests a cross talk between the brain and kidney after stroke. Stroke may lead to kidney dysfunction which can adversely impact patient outcome. In this review article, we discuss the epidemiology and mechanisms of brain–kidney interaction following ischemic stroke. Specifically, we discuss the role of the central autonomic network, autoregulation, inflammatory and immune responses, the role of extracellular vesicles and their cargo microRNA, in mediating brain–kidney interaction following stroke. Understanding the bidirectional nature of interaction between the brain and kidney after cerebral injury would have clinical implications for the treatment of stroke and overall patient outcome.

Plant Foods versus Compounds in Carcinogenesis; Observational versus Experimental Human Studies

2003 ◽  
Vol 73 (2) ◽  
pp. 70-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kampman ◽  
Arts ◽  
Hollman
Keyword(s):  
Biological Markers ◽  
Observational Studies ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Human Studies ◽  
Study Endpoint ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Plant Foods

The protective role of plant foods and its constituents in cancer prevention is under renewed debate since the results of recent observational studies on colorectal cancer as well as large-scale human experimental studies on colorectal adenoma recurrence are disappointing. However, most short-term experimental human studies do show that plant foods favourably modulate potential cancer-preventive mechanisms. Which methodological pitfalls may explain the inconsistencies within and between different study designs? What are the advantages and limitations of the different study approaches? Observational studies do have the advantage to study the population at large with ultimate disease as the study endpoint. These studies are limited by the difficulty to estimate intake of individual compounds by questionnaires and the lack of biological markers of relevant exposure. Controlled experimental short-term studies in humans rely on biological markers of disease as intermediate endpoints. Relatively low sensitivity and specificity of these markers may complicate extrapolation of results. In the case of long-term and large-scale human intervention studies with disease endpoints, issues such as time, dose and duration of intervention, compliance and choice of the study population influence the interpretation of results. An integrated approach combining designs, and implementing new techniques to identify biomarkers, may clarify the role of plant foods in carcinogenesis.

Determinants of perceived teaching quality: The role of divergent interpretations of expectations

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pascal Wallisch ◽  
Julie Cachia
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Gender Discrimination ◽  
Statistical Power ◽  
Teaching Effectiveness ◽  
Teaching Quality ◽  
Perceived Quality ◽  
Student Evaluations Of Teaching ◽  
Evaluation Of Teaching ◽  
High Statistical Power

The evaluation of teaching effectiveness has received considerable academic attention. Yet, it remains controversial whether student evaluations of teaching reflect teaching quality or whether these ratings are dominated by factors unrelated to teaching effectiveness. Recently, an additional concern has been raised, namely that they are plagued by systemic biases such as gender discrimination. Here, we address both of these questions with high statistical power, by analyzing a comprehensive set of data from RateMyProfessors.com. We find that gender differences in perceived quality are minute, and that the overall ratings can be well predicted by specific instructor attributes. We conclude that student derived evaluations of teaching are largely unbiased and reflect instructor qualities. We account for our findings by positing the divergent interpretations of expectations (DIE) model.

The Behavioral Affective Associations Model

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc T. Kiviniemi ◽  
Lynne B. Klasko-Foster
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Real World ◽  
Observational Studies ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Protective Behavior ◽  
Behavioral Decision ◽  
New Directions ◽  
Affective Associations ◽  
Conceptual Overview

This chapter presents a conceptual overview of the role of affective associations in behavioral decision-making. It focuses first on the mechanisms through which affect influences behavior. It then describes the behavioral affective associations model and provides a summary of the research using the model with examples showing promotion of protective behavior and reduction of risky behavior. While observational studies are included, experimental studies in both laboratory and field settings are highlighted to model how interventions can manipulate affective associations to change behaviors. As affect is central to decision-making, new directions for research, such as the role of constructs related to affect, are explored as they relate to decision-making. Finally, implications for real-world interventions and techniques to use affect as a tool for behavior change are discussed.

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