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Science faculty’s subtle gender biases favor male students

Table 1.

Means for student competence, hireability, mentoring and salary conferral by student gender condition and faculty gender

Male target student Female target student
Male faculty Female faculty Male faculty Female faculty
Variable Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD d
Competence 4.01a (0.92) 4.1a (1.19) 3.33b (1.07) 3.32b (1.10) 0.71
Hireability 3.74a (1.24) 3.92a (1.27) 2.96b (1.13) 2.84b (0.84) 0.75
Mentoring 4.74a (1.11) 4.73a (1.31) 4.00b (1.21) 3.91b (0.91) 0.67
Salary 30,520.83a (5,764.86) 29,333.33a (4,952.15) 27,111,11b (6,948.58) 25,000.00b (7,965.56) 0.60
  • Scales for competence, hireability, and mentoring range from 1 to 7, with higher numbers reflecting a greater extent of each variable. The scale for salary conferral ranges from $15,000 to $50,000. Means with different subscripts within each row differ significantly (P < 0.05). Effect sizes (Cohen’s d) represent target student gender differences (no faculty gender differences were significant, all P > 0.14). Positive effect sizes favor male students. Conventional small, medium, and large effect sizes for d are 0.20, 0.50, and 0.80, respectively (51). nmale student condition = 63, nfemale student condition = 64. ***P < 0.001.

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