This article was downloaded by: [Marija Bartulovi]

On: 22 June 2012, At: 08:45

Publisher: Routledge
Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered
office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Intercultural Education
Publication details, including instructions for authors and
subscription information:
http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ceji20

He, she, it: gender bias in

teacherstudent interaction at
university
a

Marija Bartulovi , Barbara Kuevi & Ana iranovi

Department of Pedagogy, Faculty of Humanities and Social

Sciences, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Available online: 22 Jun 2012

To cite this article: Marija Bartulovi, Barbara Kuevi & Ana iranovi (2012): He, she, it: gender
bias in teacherstudent interaction at university, Intercultural Education, 23:2, 147-159
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14675986.2012.686237

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-andconditions
This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any
substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing,
systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden.
The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation
that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any
instructions, formulae, and drug doses should be independently verified with primary
sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings,
demand, or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or
indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.

Intercultural Education
Vol. 23, No. 2, April 2012, 147159

He, she, it: gender bias in teacherstudent interaction at

university
Marija Bartulovi*, Barbara Kuevi and Ana iranovi

Downloaded by [Marija Bartulovi] at 08:45 22 June 2012

Department of Pedagogy, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb,

Zagreb, Croatia
Starting from an intercultural education framework, this paper examines whether
students at two Zagreb universities perceive interactions with their teachers to
be gender inuenced. In the rst part of the paper, we outline the context of the
research and the two theoretical constructs which correspond to traditionally
male and female teachers performances at university. In the second part of the
paper, we present the results of the survey we conducted. The results show that
the students recognized some aspects of gender bias in interaction with their
teachers and that gendered cultures reected in the dominantly female or male
teachers performances were indeed present at the universities included in the
survey.
Keywords: gender bias; teacherstudent interaction; Zagreb University; reproduction of traditional gender roles

Introduction
In the past decades, intercultural education has been marked by a wide expansion at
the theoretical, methodical and practical levels. Sensitivity to social context, as one
of the determinants of intercultural educational approaches, has resulted in the
diversication of the eld, with regard to general trends in education (globalization,
interest in other cultures, evolution of educational theories and greater respect for
human rights), as well as specic historical, social and economic conditions which
play a signicant part in the design of educational policies of individual countries
(Bleszynska 2010). Among various issues tackled by authors in the elds of intercultural and critical pedagogy, gender has taken, owing to the second wave of feminism and the advance of identity and cultural studies, a prominent place. (Hetero)
sexism has thus been recognized as a form of oppression (cultural imperialism)
which is being, if not addressed properly, socially reproduced. Additionally, there
has come about, in opposition to cognitive development theory, an expansion of
gender development theories which highlight the role of culture in gender socialization and the development of gender identities. Among such authors who criticize
cognitive development theory, Bem (1993) occupies a prominent place with her
enculturated lens theory, which states that culture provides individuals with a set of
principles about acceptable behaviour, called lenses, which, in most of the western
world, exist in three basic forms: gender polarization (men and women considered
*Corresponding author. Email: mbartulo@ffzg.hr
ISSN 1467-5986 print/ISSN 1469-8439 online
2012 Taylor & Francis
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14675986.2012.686237
http://www.tandfonline.com

Downloaded by [Marija Bartulovi] at 08:45 22 June 2012

148

M. Bartulovi et al.

completely different), androcentrism (men are superior to women; their experiences

are the norm against which women are judged) and biological essentialism (power
relations between men and women as the result of natural unavoidable differences).
Bems theory is particularly relevant for our study as it asserts that gendered behaviours are deeply embedded in societys values, social structures and peoples minds
and are systematically reproduced from one generation to the next, which is important to reect upon in the context of education.
All this makes notions of gender, culture and education inseparable, and the
relations between them potent for reection from an intercultural perspective, fundamentally focused on the issues of appreciating diversity and context sensitivity.
Addressed properly, this puts many challenges before educators, considering the
way their personal gender and sexual identities are presented and (re)constructed in
professional contexts, shaping a prism of values through which they approach their
students. Given this fact, female students from different cultural backgrounds are
perhaps the most sensitive target group, since ethnicity, religion and language are
fore grounded as diversity markers, while gender and sexuality often get left behind
since power relations between men and women are looked upon as the result of natural differences between them.
All the above mentioned are to be discussed in the remainder of the paper, as
reected in Croatian higher education, more specically in teacherstudent interactions at Zagreb University.
Gender issues in the croatian educational system
In the past decade, the issue of gender equality1 has become a focus in the Croatian
socio-political space, primarily by the signing of various documents which guarantee gender equality. This situation reects the current social climate in Croatia,
which is largely inuenced by the process of Croatian accession to the European
Union and the harmonization of Croatian legislation with the European Union
Acquis Communautaire. Therefore, between 2001 and today, Croatia adopted or
drafted a number of signicant documents, such as the National Policy for the Promotion of Gender Equality 20012005 (Nacionalna politika za promicanje ravnopravnosti spolova za period od 2001. do 2005. godine 2001), the National Policy
for the Promotion of Gender Equality 20062010 (Nacionalna politika za promicanje ravnopravnosti spolova 20062010. godine 2006), the Act on the Ratication
of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women (Zakon o potvrivanju Fakultativnog protokola uz
Konvenciju o ukidanju svih oblika diskriminacije ena 2001), the Act on Same-Sex
Unions (Zakon o istospolnim zajednicama 2003) and the Act on Gender Equality
(Zakon o ravnopravnosti spolova 2008). However, regardless of this legal basis,
major improvements in the status of womens human rights have not been made as
concluded in the Report on Womens Human Rights in 2006 (Izvjetaj o stanju ljudskih prava ena u Republici Hrvatskoj u 2006. godini 2006). Their violation still
occurs in all areas of life, especially in the educational system, in which there is no
education on gender equality, a pre-requisite for transforming ingrained practices.
Nevertheless, at the legislative level, the Croatian educational system has made
some efforts to promote gender-sensitive formulations. For instance, there is an
ethical requirement that textbooks must meet textbook standards (Udbeniki
standard 2007), highlighting the use of nouns of both genders, especially in

Downloaded by [Marija Bartulovi] at 08:45 22 June 2012

Intercultural Education

149

reference to professions and occupations (while at the same time paying attention
not to disturb the natural communication and natural ow of the Croatian
language), thus supporting gender equality in an appropriate manner. Such constructions are challenging since the use of both genders indeed undermines the naturalness of the Croatian language, especially in reference to professions and
occupations which have traditionally been feminized or masculinized. Nevertheless,
it is crucial to insist upon language and gender-sensitivity, at least at the initial
stages of the implementation of gender-sensitive policies in education, even at the
expense of linguistic traditions. Another step forward in the declarative sense has
been made with the National Curriculum Framework (Nacionalni okvirni kurikulum
2010) in which one of the strongholds of educational values is the equality of educational opportunity for all, regardless of gender.
In science, limited attempts at gender sensitization have been largely directed
towards examining the differences in student perceptions of school subjects in
obligatory education (Marui 2006), stereotypical perceptions of mathematics and
physics as a male domain (Arambai, Vlahovi-teti, and Severinac 2005;
Jugovi 2010) and gender inuenced choice of schools and professions (Baranovi
and Jugovi 2009; Doolan 2010; Jugovi 2010; all in Baranovi, Doolan, and Jugovi 2010). Particular emphasis has been placed upon the analysis of the frequency
and modes of women representations in textbooks (Baranovi 2000; Baranovi,
Doolan, and Jugovi 2010; Janui 2008; Mlinarevi, Peko, and Munjiza, 2007;
Poli and Poli 1979), which signies a solid basis for increasing the visibility of
sexual and gender stereotypes in the educational process. However, the analysis of
textbook content does not tackle the communicational and interactional aspects of
the educational process, which is the most active area of the reproduction of sexual
and gender stereotypes. That aspect has been so far neglected in research in Croatia.
As one of the few studies that dealt with this aspect secondarily, the work of
Muanovi (1995) and Muanovi and Vrcelj (2002) is worth mentioning, whereas
he warned that the pedagogical and learning theory and practice in Croatia had not
developed extensive concepts and strategies for the reduction of gender segregation.
It is our belief that the reproduction of sexual and gender stereotypes in education actually starts at the higher education level, during pre-service education of
teachers who then reproduce the stereotypes at the lower levels of the educational
system in their professional work. For that reason the focus of our research is on
higher education institutions, as historical actors of the reproduction of an androcentric view of reality.
University as a temple of androcentrism
There are a large number of women whose brains are closer in size to those of gorillas
than to the most developed male brains All psychologists who have studied the
intelligence of women recognize today that they represent the most inferior forms
of human evolution. (Gustave Le Bon, French psychologist 1879, in Plous 2003)

The feminist movement has resulted in signicant changes in the position of

women in society in general and at university. Thus began the process of eliminating the centuries-old discrimination of women based solely on biological determinism, which depicted women as naturally inferior limited intellectual capacities,
submissive, sensitive, gentle and child-like in need of protection, irrational, caring

Downloaded by [Marija Bartulovi] at 08:45 22 June 2012

150

M. Bartulovi et al.

and maternal. Due to such images, women were long denied entry into higher education and could not become part of the university faculty. In the twentieth century,
this changed and women were allowed (conditional) access to all educational levels.
However, even after World War II, it was not uncommon that, prior to a womans
enrolment, a university required a letter of approval from her husband (Sadker and
Sadker 2001). Furthermore, educational programmes for women and men differed
in a way that they prepared women to take on poorly positioned and paid jobs,
mainly in services, thus continuing the reproduction of the dominant stereotypical
image of woman and her role in society.
Today, the situation of womens access to universities has changed for the better,
but the traditional distribution of power within the higher education system continues to restrict the opportunities for employment and advancement of women who
teach at universities (Linehan, Buckley, and Koslowski 2009). Thus, the number of
women who work at the Croatian universities has increased, but this increase is predominantly related to lower levels of the scientic hierarchy. University rectors,
deans of faculties and academies, as well as heads of departments are mostly male
(above 80%), while women are equally or even more represented as assistant professors and assistants (Zavod za statistiku 2009). These data can be interpreted in
the light of a decreased reputation of the academic profession, as well as from the
perspective of academic capitalism, which maintains that men, due to the penetration of economic principles in education, tend to preserve the leading positions
because of their presupposed natural predisposition for management (Scott Metcalfe
and Slaughter 2007). It is therefore not surprising that the most powerful organizational positions are almost entirely occupied by men with the exception of the occasional biological female who acts as a social man (Sorenson 1984; in Acker 1990).
Apart from the hierarchical structure of the academic staff within university,
there also exists a hierarchy between different university colleges which correspond
to certain professions perceived as either male or female. Both the students choices
and government policies favour male domains such as information technology,
economies, business areas and hard sciences, while female domains such as
womens studies, ethnic studies, philosophy and the classics are seen as too radical
or irrelevant. Since masculine areas lead directly to jobs that are most valued,
women are being structurally disadvantaged (Currie, Thiele, and Harris 2002).
Reproduction of sexual stereotypes and traditional gender roles in
studentteacher interaction
One of the main features of the reproduction of sexual stereotypes and traditional
gender roles in the educational process is gender-inuenced teacher conduct towards
students. This feature is particularly important from a pedagogical perspective
because gender-based relations between university teachers and students can be
reproduced in the future professional work of pre-service teachers. In other words,
academia has a special responsibility for the complex process of the attitude formation of future generations (Damonja, Popovi, and Duhaek 2010). Research into
the mechanisms of gender bias in teacherstudent relations at university has been
put into focus by many authors, such as Brady and Eisler (1999), Brinkman and
Rickard (2009), Canada and Pringle (1995), Centra and Gaubatz (2000), Constantinople, Cornelius, and Gray (1988), Crombie et al. (2003), Robson, Francis, and
Read (2004), Serex and Towsend (1999) and Stuber et al. (2009). However,

Intercultural Education

151

Downloaded by [Marija Bartulovi] at 08:45 22 June 2012

research on these issues in Croatia is very scarce. The reason for that lies in the
poor visibility of gender bias in studentteacher interaction that arises from the
value orientation of a society which, after the political changes in the 1990s, experienced reafrmation of religion and conservative nationalism. Such a social constellation supports the reproduction of stereotypically female and male roles, which are
being transferred and maintained through the process of gender socialization in relations between teachers and students at university. The research of these issues can
contribute to increase their visibility, and for that reason the framework for the
investigation of gender bias in studentteacher interaction at university (based on
previously described restrictive dichotomy between women and men) will be introduced. The components of the framework will be designated She script and He
script for the purpose of this paper. Such a division corresponds with the division
regarding teaching and research, which has its origin in the functionalistic understanding of the expressive role of women and the instrumental role of men.
She script
Traditionally, women are associated with the caring professions of nursing and
teaching, where they are expected, in a quasi-maternal manner, to care for others
(Acker and Feuerverger 2000). Women faculty members perceive that they are
expected to maintain a caring and nurturing demeanour while also avoiding confrontation. They also perform the glue work of the academic department by participating more than their male colleagues in service activities that often keep
departments and universities functioning (Eveline, 2004; Tierney and Bensimon
1996; all in Lester 2008). Acker and Feuerverger (2000) conducted in-depth interviews with 27 women academics in faculties of education and found out that many
believed that they should take care of their students, that it was part of what they
were like as people, yet they also found that an emphasis on working with students
tended to be overlooked in the reward system that they were left with unreasonable
workloads as a result and that students did not necessarily reciprocate the caring.
The issue is not just a subjective feeling of a teacher that her work is not valued
enough, but also the fact that the research shows that students rate female and male
faculty according to subtle culturally conditioned age and gender stereotypes
(Bennett 1982; Kite 2001; all in Arbuckle and Williams 2003). Miller and
Chemberlin (2000) showed that students taking sociology courses in a research
university were much more likely to attribute the Ph.D. achievement to a man,
including the male graduate instructor, than to a woman who is a faculty member,
even a full professor. Besides evaluations, students expectations of teachers differ
depending on the teachers gender. Students expect more sympathy, concern and
leniency from women professors than from men (Bernard 1964; Statham et al.
1991; all in Baker and Coop 1997), while Carson (2001) concludes that students
expect to receive higher grades from nurturing female teachers.
There are also differences in the perception of boundaries in relations between
teachers and students, where students are more prone to informal communicational
styles with female university teachers. Heckert et al. (1999; in Carson 2001) found
that female faculty members reported experiencing behaviours from students indicative of a relative lack of respect, e.g. challenging grades and phoning staff at home.
All of the above-mentioned differ signicantly from the role of the male university
teacher, which is embodied in the He script.

Downloaded by [Marija Bartulovi] at 08:45 22 June 2012

152

M. Bartulovi et al.

He script
At university, the He script is closely related to research activities. These activities
are usually the highest status activities within the university and institutions that
want to increase their status typically try to raise their research proles (Acker and
Feuerverger 2000). Although all faculty are expected to do some teaching, excellent
teaching will not by itself guarantee tenure the decisive factor in tenure, promotion and salary decisions is research (Park 1996).
Although male teachers tend to be more engaged in research than in teaching
and are in less contact with students, that often does not correlate with the respect
they enjoy among students. While investigating which academic status students
assigned to anonymous lecturers, (Miller and Chemberlin 2000) found out that a
professor is a status that is, for many students, reserved for the male classroom
instructor, an assumption based solely on gender rather than an objective assessment
of competence.
As for direct interaction with students, female students generally perceive male
instructors as less encouraging and view their classes less positively. On average,
male teachers tend to lecture more and ask fewer questions than female teachers do,
resulting in a less interactive and comfortable classroom environment (Wagner and
Dassopoulos 2009). Male teachers tend to use more offensive humour in small classes than female teachers (Crawford and MacLeod 1990) and to play favourites and
display sexist behaviour (Basow, Phelan, and Capotosto 2006). All of the above is
in line with the traditional and socially dominant male gender role. However, it
should in no way be concluded that all male teachers take on the above described
He script performance. Indeed, there are male teachers who contribute to gender
awareness signicantly more than some of their female colleagues.
Methodology
Aims
This study was conducted in order to empirically examine previously set She
script He script theoretical constructs in studentteacher interactions at two
Zagreb University colleges, as perceived by the students of those universities. With
regard to both the teachers gender and the type of the college, our main research
question was whether the interaction between students and teachers was gender
inuenced. This question was operationalized into the following questions:
Are student perceptions of their teachers scientic credibility dependent upon
teachers gender and the type of college?
Are there differences in communication in the classroom with regard to teachers gender and the type of college?
Is the quality of any form of teacherstudent consultation dependent upon
teachers gender and the type of college?
Participants
A total of 123 students participated in the research: 49 students from the Faculty of
Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture and 74 students from the Faculty
of Humanities and Social Sciences. The sample is an accidental sample, while the
two colleges were chosen with regard to the proportion of female and male students

Intercultural Education

153

Downloaded by [Marija Bartulovi] at 08:45 22 June 2012

who attended them. The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences was chosen
because of the predominance of female students in the overall proportion of students, while at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture male
students dominate numerically. In the Republic of Croatia, the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences/Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture
are still perceived as female/male colleges, respectively, so we used the predominance of female/male students at those colleges as markers of traditionally female/
male domains. Although our basic research aim was to explore whether teachers
at Zagreb University, in general, take on traditionally female or male roles (She
He script), we also decided to see if there were any differences in student perceptions of teachers conduct towards them between a feminized college such as the
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and a masculinized college such as the
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture.
Method
The research was conducted using a questionnaire. The questionnaire was especially
constructed for this purpose. Reliability analysis of the questionnaire produced an
alpha coefcient of 0.7445. The questionnaire consisted of 39 statements, for which
the students indicated whether they applied to female or male teachers, or equally
to both or none of the two. The statements which showed signicant statistical differences in the distribution of responses with regard to teachers gender were taken
into account, while the statements in which the majority of respondents marked that
they applied to both female and male teachers equally or none of the two were not
taken into consideration for further analysis.
Results
The results were analyzed according to the previously set theoretical framework and
the She script He script constructs of teachers performance at university. The
results which deviate from the set constructs can be considered to t the It script.
Items that t She script
The testing of the distribution of responses for the overall sample did not show statistically signicant differences to conrm the She script as the dominant performance mode of female teachers, but there appeared certain statistically relevant
differences in the distribution of the responses with regard to the independent variable type of college (see Table 1).

Table 1. Items that t She script with regard to the type of college.
Statement
Meticulously dened and structured teaching
Exhaustive feedback on student questions via email
Regularly holds consultations
Has difculties in managing classroom behaviour

11.4
11.08
14.35
10.5

0.01
0.011
0.002
0.015

154

M. Bartulovi et al.

Table 2. Items that t He script with regard to the type of college.

Statement

Downloaded by [Marija Bartulovi] at 08:45 22 June 2012

Absolutely acquainted with the teaching subject matter

Uses highly complex scientic language
His/her very appearance is awe-inspiring
Uses humour offensive to the opposite gender in class
During class makes a variety of sexist comments
Expresses more sentiment (sympathy) towards female students
than male students
Uses highly formal language in communication via email

8.77
31.05
16.69
12.85
10.39
20.48

0.033
0.00
0.001
0.005
0.016
0.00

10.89

0.012

With regard to the type of college, the students of the Faculty of Humanities
and Social Sciences perceived more often that the statements Meticulously dened
and structured teaching, Exhaustive feedback on student questions via e-mail and
Regularly holds consultations applied to female teachers. At the same time, the students of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture perceived
more often that the statement Has difculties in managing classroom behaviour
applied to female teachers.
Items that t He script
The testing of the distribution of responses for the overall sample showed certain
statistically relevant differences, which conrmed the He script as the dominant
performance mode of male teachers. In that light, the respondents perceived that the
statement His/her very appearance is awe-inspiring applied more to male teachers
(a 100% level of signicance, p = 0.00 and 2 = 43.97).
The testing of the distribution of responses for the overall sample did not show
statistically relevant differences on other statements, but there appeared certain statistically relevant differences in the distribution of e responses with regard to the
independent variable of type of college (Table 2).
With regard to type of college, the students of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture perceived more often that the statements Absolutely
acquainted with the teaching subject matter, Uses highly complex scientic language, His/her very appearance is awe-inspiring, Uses humour offensive to the
opposite gender in class, During class makes a variety of sexist comments,
Expresses more sentiment towards female students than male students and Uses
highly formal language in communication via e-mail applied to male teachers.
Discussion
Addressing our main research question, we can see that the testing of the distribution of the responses shows that only one statement is statistically relevant for the
entire sample. The respondents perceived that the statement His/her very appearance is awe-inspiring applies more to male teachers, which is conrmed by a 100%
level of signicance, and which we nd extremely interesting. This can best be
explained in our view using the previously outlined biological essentialism lens
(power relations between men and women are the result of natural unavoidable differences), and how the principles which govern this specic lens are embedded in

Downloaded by [Marija Bartulovi] at 08:45 22 June 2012

Intercultural Education

155

social structures and peoples minds. However, it is important to note that this conclusion and all of the following are valid only within our sample, and cannot be
applied to the overall population.
Other statements were not relevant for the entire sample, which implies that our
respondents did not perceive the She script as the dominant performance mode of
their female teachers, nor do they perceive the He script as the dominant performance mode of their male teachers.
However, there were certain statistically relevant differences in the distribution
of the responses with regard to the independent variable type of college. To be
more precise, a third of all statements were statistically signicant for our theoretical framework and the She script He script constructs. As the previously presented results show, from the students perception, the She script was the
dominant performance mode of female teachers at the Faculty of Humanities and
Social Sciences (designated as female domain), while the He script was the dominant performance mode of male teachers at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
and Naval Architecture (designated as male domain). Our results suggest the existence of a gendered culture in higher education institutions associated with different
types of colleges and gendered teacher performances. Within our sample, a specic
gendered culture, such as feminine, does not support a gendered performance opposite of the dominant. In other words, it seems that in a feminine culture, traditionally male teacher performance (He script) is not encouraged and was not detected
by our research, and vice versa.
To go into more depth, our results show that the students at the Faculty of
Humanities and Social Sciences perceived female teachers, more often than male
teachers, to dene and structure their teaching, provide exhaustive feedback on student questions and assignments and consult with students regularly. On the other
hand, none of the statements which refer to the availability of male teachers to the
students provided statistically relevant differences. However, when the communication between male teachers and students did occur, the students at the Faculty of
Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture perceived that the teachers tended
to use highly formal language, thus maintaining a certain distance towards them.
Furthermore, it is interesting to highlight a specic group of statements, among
those that conrmed the He script, which portrays the conduct of male teachers
towards female students at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture (Uses humour offensive to the opposite gender in class, During class makes
a variety of sexist comments and Expresses more sentiment (sympathy) towards
female students than male students). While expressing more sentiment towards
female students can point to benevolent sexism, humour offensive to the opposite
gender and various sexist comments indicate hostile sexism (Glick and Fiske 2003).
With regard to all of the above-mentioned, we conclude that there are certain
differences in communication in the classroom and in the quality of teacherstudent
consultation which are dependent upon teachers gender.
The last question that we want to address is as follows: are the students perceptions of their teachers scientic credibility dependent upon teachers gender? Traditionally, female caring performance is often not appreciated in the academic
community (Acker and Feuerverger 2000), while a thorough preparation for the
class does not guarantee a female teachers scientic legitimacy. Precisely, for this
reason it is signicant that our results show that the students at the Faculty of
Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture perceive that female teachers

Downloaded by [Marija Bartulovi] at 08:45 22 June 2012

156

M. Bartulovi et al.

experience more difculties in managing classroom behaviour, while the same

respondents perceive that the male teachers very appearance as awe-inspiring.
Unlike the nurturing female teacher, the statements which conrm the male teacher
as a competent scientist show to be statistically relevant at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture (Absolutely acquainted with the teaching
subject matter and Uses highly complex scientic language).
There are several limitations of this study that have to be taken into account.
First of all is the size of the sample, which does not allow any conclusions about
the differences within sub-samples. Apart from the small sample, additional problems arise from the socially desirable responses, which prove particularly problematic with responses from students whom we teach. Finally, certain limitations arise
from the research methodology, since the full essence of the issue cannot be
grasped with quantitative methodology, as well as the context in which the research
took place. Quantitative methodology is indeed appropriate for documenting the
existing situation, but an attempt at transforming the adverse social relations
requires the use of qualitative methodology.
Conclusion
Examining gender in higher education is a multilayered and highly complex question. Our research aims at shedding light on gender inuenced teacherstudent interaction which is just one of the possible approaches to gender bias at university. The
results show that the students from our sample recognize some aspects of gender
bias in interaction with their teachers and that gendered cultures and dominantly
female or male performances are present at the colleges included in the survey.
These results can be used as a stimulus for critical examination of gender bias in
teacherstudent interaction as well as to open additional space for further research,
which should tackle these issues in more depth. They also beg the analysis of the
interaction between gender and cultural/national/ethnic background variables in
higher education.
Note
1. Here, Equality means equality of rights and equality before the law, and consequently
equal treatment of women and men. Equity presumes that that all human beings are free
to develop their personal abilities and make choices without limitations set by the given
gender roles; it also presumes that different behaviours, aspirations and needs of women
and men are equally taken into account, valued and promoted. Equity is a key concept
for resolving complex relations between power, domination and sub-ordination in social,
political, cultural and economic contexts, as well as in personal lives, and for enabling
the realization of women as full and free beings (Pojmovnik rodne terminologije 2007).

Notes on contributors
Marija Bartulovi is a research assistant at the Department of Pedagogy, Faculty of
Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Zagreb.
Barbara Kuevi is a research assistant at the Department of Pedagogy, Faculty of
Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Zagreb.
Ana iranovi is a research assistant at the Department of Pedagogy, Faculty of Humanities
and Social Sciences at the University of Zagreb.

Intercultural Education

157

Downloaded by [Marija Bartulovi] at 08:45 22 June 2012

References
Acker, J. 1990. Hierarchies, jobs, bodies: A theory of gendered organizations. Gender and
Society 4, no. 2: 13958.
Acker, S., and G. Feuerverger. 2000. doing good and feeling bad: The work of women university teachers. Cambridge Journal of Education 26, no. 3: 40122.
Arambai, L., V. Vlahovi-teti, and A. Severinac. 2005. Je li matematika bauk? Stavovi,
uvjerenja i strah od matematike kod gimnazijalaca [Is math something scary? Attitudes
and beliefs toward math and math anxiety in secondary school students]. Drutvena
istraivanja: asopis za opa drutvena pitanja [Drutvena istraivanja: Journal for General Social Issues] 14, no. 6: 1081102.
Arbuckle, J., and B.D. Williams. 2003. Students perceptions of expressiveness: Age and
gender effects on teacher evaluations. Sex Roles 49, no. 9/10: 50716.
Baker, P., and M. Coop. 1997. Gender matters most: The interaction of gendered expectations, feminist course content, and pregnancy in student course evaluations. Teaching
Sociology 25, no. 1: 2943.
Baranovi, B. 2000. Slika ene u udbenicima knjievnosti [Image of the woman in the literature textbooks]. Zagreb: Institute for social research.
Baranovi, B., K. Doolan, and I. Jugovi. 2010. Jesu li itanke knjievnosti za osnovnokolsko obrazovanje u Hrvatskoj rodno osjetljive? [Are Croatian primary school literature
textbooks gender sensitive?] Sociologija i prostor [Sociology and space] 48, no. 187/2:
34974.
Baranovi, B., and I. Jugovi. 2009. Percepcija, iskustvo i stavovi o rodnoj (ne)ravnopravnosti u obrazovanju [Perception, experience and the attitudes toward gender]. In Percepcija, iskustvo i stavovi o rodnoj diskriminaciji u RH Izvjetaj o istraivanju
[Perception, experience and the attitudes toward gender discrimination in the republic of
Croatia research report], ed. . Kamenov and B. Gali, 175200. Zagreb: Croatian
Governmental Bureau for Gender Equality.
Basow, S.A., J.E. Phelan, and L. Capotosto. 2006. Gender patterns in college students
choices of their best and worst professors. Psychology of Women Quarterly 30: 2535.
Bem, S. 1993. The lenses of gender: Transforming the debate on sexual inequality. New
Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Bleszynska, K.M. 2010. Intercultural education in post communist countries. In Intercultural
and multicultural education. Enhancing global interconnectedness, ed. C.A. Grant and
A. Portera, 6983. New York, NY: Routledge.
Brady, K.L., and R.M. Eisler. 1999. Sex and gender in the college classroom: A quantitative
analysis of facultystudent interactions and perceptions. Journal of Educational Psychology 91, no. 1: 12745.
Brinkman, B.G., and K.M. Rickard. 2009. College students descriptions of everyday gender
prejudice. Sex Roles 61: 46175.
Canada, K., and R. Pringle. 1995. The role of gender in college classroom interactions: A
social context approach. Sociology of Education 68, no. 3: 16186.
Carson, L. 2001. Gender relations in higher education: Exploring lecturers perceptions of
student evaluations of teaching. Research Papers in Education 16, no. 4: 33758.
Centra, J.A., and N.B. Gaubatz. 2000. Is there gender bias in student evaluations of teaching? The Journal of Higher Education 71, no. 1: 1733.
Constantinople, A., R. Cornelius, and J. Gray. 1988. The chilly climate: Fact or artifact?
Journal of Higher Education 59, no. 5: 52750.
Crawford, M., and M. MacLeod. 1990. Gender in the college classroom: An assessment of
the Chilly Climate for women. Sex Roles 23, no. 3/4: 10122.
Crombie, G., S.W. Pyke, N. Silverthorn, A. Jones, and S. Piccinin. 2003. Students perceptions of their classroom participation and instructor as a function of gender and context.
Journal of Higher Education 74, no. 1: 5176.
Currie, J., B. Thiele, and P. Harris. 2002. Gendered universities in globalized economies:
Power, careers, and sacrices. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Doolan, K. 2010. My dad studied here too: Social inequalities and educational (dis)advantage in a Croatian higher education setting. PhD diss., Cambridge University.
Dravni Zavod za statistiku. 2009. ene i mukarci u Hrvatskoj. Zagreb: Dravni zavod za
statistiku.

Downloaded by [Marija Bartulovi] at 08:45 22 June 2012

158

M. Bartulovi et al.

Damonja Ignjatovi, T., D. Popovi, and G.D. Duhaek. 2010. Rodna osetljivost u akademskom prostoru: istraivanje stavova prema rodnoj ravnopravnosti na univerzitetu u Beogradu [Gender sensitivity in academic space: Research of attitudes toward gender
equality at the university of Belgrade]. In Godinjak 2010, ed. . Paunovi, 45577. Belgrade: University of Belgrade, Faculty of Political Sciences. http://www.fpn.bg.ac.rs/wpcontent/uploads/2011/01/FPN-Godisnjak-2010.pdf#page=455.
Glick, P., and S.T. Fiske. 2003. An ambivalent alliance: Hostile and benevolent sexism as
complementary justications for gender inequality. In Understanding prejudice and discrimination, ed. S. Plous, 22531. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill. http://www.ured-ravnopravnost.hr/slike/File/statistika/zene-i-muskarci-2009.pdf.
Izvjetaj o stanju ljudskih prava ena u Republici Hrvatskoj u 2006. godini (2006) http://
www.zenska-mreza.hr/x/izvj_06.pdf.
Janui, J. 2008. Analiza srednjokolskih udbenika za hrvatski jezik i knjievnost: primjer
rodnog itanja [An analysis of Croatian language and literature textbooks for secondary
school: An example of gender reading]. Metodiki ogledi 15, no. 1: 6180. http://scholar.
google.hr/scholar?hl=hr&q=rod+ud%C5%BEbenici&btnG=Tra%C5%BEi&as_ylo=&as_vis=0.
Jugovi, I. 2010. Uloga motivacije i rodnih stereotipa u objanjenju namjere odabira studija
u stereotipno mukom podruju [The role of motivation and gender stereotypes in the
choice of study in a stereotypically male domain]. Sociologija i prostor [Sociology and
space] 48, no. 1: 7798.
Lester, J. 2008. Performing gender in the workplace. Gender socialization, power, and identity among women faculty members. Community College Review 35, no. 4: 277305.
Linehan, C., J. Buckley, and N. Koslowski. 2009. Backwards and in high heels: Exploring why women have been underrepresented at senior academic levels, 19852010. Journal of Workplace Rights 14, no. 4: 399417.
Marui, I. 2006. Motivacija i kolski predmeti: Spolne razlike meu uenicima u kontekstu
teorije vrijednosti i oekivanja [Motivation and school subjects: Gender differences in
the context of expectancy-value theory]. In Nacionalni kurikulum za obvezno obrazovanje u Hrvatskoj razliite perspektive [National curriculum for compulsory education
in Croatia - different perspectives], ed. B. Baranovi, 21953. Zagreb: Institute for Social
Research Center for Educational Research and Development.
Miller, J., and M. Chemberlin. 2000. Women are teachers, men are professors: A study of
student perceptions. Teaching Sociology 28, no. 4: 28398.
Mlinarevi, V., A. Peko, and E. Munjiza. 2007. Slika obitelji u udbenicima hrvatskog jezika
i knjievnosti za mlau kolsku dob [Family image in the schoolbooks of Croatian language and literature for younger school-age]. Odgojne znanosti 9, no. 1: 3348.
Muanovi, M. 1995. Sexual stereotypes of teacher and non-tolerant communication in a
classroom. In Education for tolerance: Approaches, conceptions and solutions, ed. A.
Klapan and S. Vrcelj, 17580. Rijeka: Pedagoki fakultet u Rijeci.
Muanovi, M., and S. Vrcelj. 2002. Gender stereotypes in education case study: Croatia.
Scientia Paedagogica Experimentalis XXXIX, no. 2: 24558.
Nacionalna politika za promicanje ravnopravnosti spolova 20062010. 2006. NN, 114/06.
http://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/128270.html.
Nacionalna politika za promicanje ravnopravnosti spolova, za period od 2001. do 2005. godine. 2001. NN, 112/2001. http://www.ured-ravnopravnost.hr/dokumenti/nacionalna_politika.htm.
Nacionalni okvirni kurikulum za predkolski odgoj i obrazovanje te ope obvezno i
srednjokolsko obrazovanje. 2010. http://public.mzos.hr/Default.aspx?sec=2685.
Park, S. 1996. Research, teaching, and service: Why shouldnt womens work count? The
Journal of Higher Education 67, no. 1: 4684.
Plous, S., ed. 2003. Understanding prejudice and discrimination. Boston, MA: McGrawHill.
Pojmovnik rodne terminologije prema standardima Europske unije. 2007. Zagreb: Ured za
ravnopravnost spolova Vlade RH.
Poli, R., and M. Poli. 1979. Djeji udbenici o ne/ravnopravnosti meu spolovima. ena:
asopis za znanstvena. drutvena i kulturna pitanja o mjestu i ulozi ene i porodice u
drutvu 37, no. 1: 1229.

Downloaded by [Marija Bartulovi] at 08:45 22 June 2012

Intercultural Education

159

Robson, J., B. Francis, and B. Read. 2004. Gender, student condence and communicative
styles at university: The views of lecturers in history and psychology. Studies in Higher
Education 29, no. 1: 723.
Sadker, D., and M. Sadker. 2001. Gender bias: From colonial America to todays classrooms. In Multicultural education: Issues & perspectives, 4th ed., ed. J.I. Banks and C.
A. McGee Banks, 12551. New York:, NY: Wiley.
Scott Metcalfe, A., and S. Slaughter. 2007. Academic capitalism. In Gender and education:
An Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, ed. B.J. Bank, 713. Westport, CT: Praeger.
Serex, C.P., and B.K. Towsend. 1999. Student perceptions of chilling practices in sex-atypical majors. Research in Higher Education 40, no. 5: 52738.
Stuber, J., A. Watson, A. Carle, and K. Staggs. 2009. Gender expectations and on-line evaluations of teaching: Evidence from RateMyProfessors.com. Teaching in Higher Education
14, no. 4: 38799.
Udbeniki standard. 2007. NN, 007/2007. http://cadial.hidra.hr/searchdoc.php?query=azbest&
searchText=on&searchTitle=on&searchDescriptors=on&resultlimitnum=10&lang=en&acti
on=search&displayOptions=on&lterelds=35325&resultoffset=10&bid=10Tjhgm64ix7kwRBtE0ZBA
%3D%3D.
Wagner, W.E., and A. Dassopoulos. 2009. Education: Chilly climate in the classroom. In
Encyclopedia of gender and society, Volume 1, ed. J. OBrien, 2423. Los Angeles, CA:
Sage.
Zakon o istospolnim zajednicama. 2003. NN, 116/2003. http://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/
sluzbeni/306172.html.
Zakon o potvrivanju Fakultativnog protokola uz Konvenciju o ukidanju svih oblika diskriminacije ena. 2001. NN, 3/2001. http://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/medunarodni/327953.
html.
Zakon o ravnopravnosti spolova. 2008. NN, 82/2008. http://www.ured-ravnopravnost.hr/slike/
File/Dokumenti/zakon.pdf.