Gender-Based Differences in Perception of Experiences in Higher Education

The question of the adequacy of educational experiences for women is again coming to the fore in discussions in America. In the last few years the mass media have reported on the ongoing debates regarding potential trends in public schools to offer individual courses, academic support programs, and even whole facilities segregated by student gender. The Chronicle of Higher Education periodically reports on more programs added at the college level targeted specifically to the needs of women. Proponents of such efforts frequently cite research conducted in primary- and secondary-level public schools which indicates that younger female students particularly may benefit developmentally from separate but equal learning environments. The research regarding the benefits from such programs at the postsecondary level is less clear in making a case regarding the need for these approaches. Hall and Sandler (1982) were leaders in the solution-oriented investigation of women's perceptions of academic experiences in postsecondary education. In their original research for the report The Classroom Climate: A Chilly One for Women? Sandler, Silverberg, and Hall found 30 ways in which faculty members often treated women students differently in the (Sandler, Silverberg, & Hall, 1996, p. 1). This differential treatment, combined with certain male class member behaviors, contributed to what they called the in the college classroom. As a consequence of such a climate, women described feeling unable to participate fully in the learning process. Clearly, the authors argued, the result could have a debilitating impact on the development of women. In the most recent report, The Chilly Climate: A Guide to Improve the Education of Women (Sandler et al., 1996), Sandler, Silverberg, & Hall maintain that the college environment is still frequently inhospitable to women. A quote Sandler, et al. cite from Kramarae & Treichler for use in their introduction illustrates both their position and motivation: Our work is prompted by continuing reports from female university students suggesting not only that their classroom experiences are different from males' but also that their experiences are often unsatisfactory in ways that are not recognized by most university teachers and critics of educational policy (Kramarae & Treichler, 1990, p. 41, as cited in Sandler, et al., 1996, p. 1). However, Sandler et al. acknowledge that some of the research conducted as a response to their original report does not support their position. Studies that do, to some extent, support the chilly classroom climate in higher education proposition include those by Brooks (1982), Follet, Andberg, and Hendel (1982), Hite (1985), Rosenfeld and Jarrard (1985), and Rienzi, Allen, Sarmiento, and McMillin (1993). Brooks's (1982) observational study of college student behaviors found that males disproportionately dominated classroom discussions in female professor's courses, exhibiting greater than expected speech frequency and longer speech duration. Males in this study also accounted for twice the expected proportion of interruptions of others in class. However, in the classrooms run by male professors, no differences in speech duration or frequency were found between male and female students. Follet, et al. (1982) found gender-based differences in perceptions of sex discrimination. More women (50%) than men (30%) perceived that sex discrimination existed in the college, primarily to the disadvantage of women. However, only 10% of the total respondents felt occasionally or frequently offended by behaviors that included sexist remarks, inappropriate humor, and so on. Further, there were no differences in how male and female students felt treated by professors when they solicited career advice or participated in class. Hite (1985) found gender-based differences in perceptions of doctoral students regarding support from faculty. …