The Gender Bias Dynamic Between Students and Female Faculty in the Engineering Classroom Through Autoethnography

In academia, many female faculty still face the challenges of socially constructed gender stereotypes and biases. One instance of such biases, whether deliberate or unconscious, includes women being held to a different and more rigorous standard by their students, colleagues, and senior administration compared with their male counterparts. As a result, feelings of imposter syndrome, being overworked, and not fitting in is all too common for female faculty to experience in today’s higher education settings. Does gender bias against female faculty by students, both male and female, also carry over into the classroom? Faculty strive to create an inclusive, supportive, and stimulating learning environment where students are challenged in their problem-solving ability but also are comfortable to “fail” and learn from their mistakes. Thus, the interaction between the student and faculty is crucial to support the learning. Gender bias and stereotypes can hinder the instructor’s teaching ability and student’s ability to learn. Research has shown that female instructors tend to be judged more severely by their students. Students tend to request more special considerations and favor from a female instructor compared to a male one. This puts the instructor in a difficult situation which could lead to having a higher workload, lower course evaluations, and an emotional strain on their mental health. However, if the student-instructor interaction is cultivated to be more open, personable, and motivating it can improve the learning environment. Gaining the respect of the male students and developing a role model relationship with female students are positive examples of overcoming some of the gender bias challenges. In this paper, three female engineering faculty will use autoethnography to explore their past and present teaching experiences. Using the current literature on gender bias in engineering and academia, the authors will identify the challenges they have faced and ways to improve the learning environment in engineering classrooms.