Can Sex-Undifferentiated Teacher Expectations Mask an Influence of Sex Stereotypes?
Alternative Forms of Sex Bias in Teacher Expectations

Authors: Chalabaev, Aïna¹; Sarrazin, Philippe; Trouilloud, David¹; Jussim, Lee²

Source: Journal of Applied Social Psychology, Volume 39, Number 10, October 2009 , pp. 2469-2498(30)

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Abstract:

This research investigated different forms of sex bias in teacher expectations relative to gymnastics performance. First, a laboratory experiment including 163 physical education teachers confirmed that stereotypes favorable to boys may influence teacher expectations in gymnastics. Next, a naturalistic study involving 15 teachers and 422 students showed that teachers expected no sex differences, even though girls performed better than boys. However, this sex bias was a result of reliance on nondiagnostic student personal characteristics favorable to boys, rather than on a stereotype per se. These results suggest that egalitarian beliefs may mask a bias in favor of a social group when group differences actually exist, and that sex-biased teacher expectations do not inevitably involve an influence of sex stereotypes.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2009.00534.x

Affiliations: 1: Sport and Social Environment LaboratoryUniversity of GrenobleGrenoble, France 2: Rutgers University

Publication date: 2009-10-01