The Panola Panorama (Carthage, Tex.), Vol. 33, No. 6, Ed. 1 Monday, December 13, 1982 Page: 2 of 8
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Page 2, December 13, 1982
Women Hampered by "Chilly" Climate
in College Classrooms
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Women students
may find their self-confidence and am-
bitions cooled while men’s are fueled by
the climate in many college classrooms,
according to a report, “The Classroom
Climate: A Chilly One For Women?”,
issued by the Project on the Status and
Education of Women of the Association of
American Colleges. “Men and women
may sit together in the same classrooms
but have very different educational ex-
periences because faculty - both men and
women — often treat male and female
students differently,” said Dr. Bernice R.
Sandler, who directs the Project and
supervised the development of the report.
“It doesn’t happen all the time, or in every
classroom, but when it does, women’s self-
confidence and ambitions may plummet,”
Sandler explained.
-Teachers often address their classes as
if no women were present (“Suppose your
wife . . .?) or use classroom examples in
which the professional is always “he,” the
client or patient always “she.”
-Some teachers still use sexist humor to
“spice up a dull subject” or make
disparaging comments about women as a
group.
-Faculty may not give women informal
feedback on their work.
-Teachers may overlook women when it
comes to choosing research or teaching
assistants or give them less responsibility
than men in those positions. They may not
be as likely to nominate women for
awards and prizes, let them know about
job opportunities, or offer to write letters
of recommendation for them.
Supported by a 15-month grant from the
Frequently, neither the faculty nor the
students are aware that any different
treatment has occurred. Nevertheless,
faculty may subtly - or not so subtly -
discourage women students in the
following ways:
-Faculty may not be as likely to call
directly on women as on men during class
discussion.
-Teachers may often ask questions
followed by eye contact with men students
only - as if only men were expected to
respond.
-Faculty may interrupt women more
frequently than men - or allow them to be
disproportionately interrupted by others
in class.
Fund for the Improvement of Post-
secondary Education (FIPSE) and guided
by an advisory committee of experts in
student and faculty development, “The
Classroom Climate: A Chilly One for
Women?” brings together the results of
recent institutional surveys, empirical
studies of postsecondary and other
classrooms, and general research in
men’s and women’s communication. The
report identifies overt and inadvertent
faculty behaviors that can lead women
students to feel they “don’t belong” and
are “not taken seriously” in the college
classroom. It concludes that the chilly
learning climate such behaviors create
can play a major role in limiting women
students’ development.
“Most faculty want to treat all students
fairly and as individuals with particular
talents and abilities,” says Roberta M.
Hall, author of the report and Assistant
Director for Special Programs at the
Project on the Status and Education of
Women. “However, many professors -
men and women alike - may nevertheless
inadvertently treat women and men
differently in the classroom and in related
learning situations.” Hall emphasized
that teacher-student interaction in grade
school and high school, as well as different
patterns typical of men’s and women’s
communication in everyday situations,
may make these subtle differences in
treatment in the college classroom (such
as not expecting women to participate in
class and thus not calling on them) seem
so “normal” that neither teachers nor
students notice them when they occur.
“Take cumulatively, though, faculty
behaviors which either overlook or single
out women students because of their sex
may leave many women feeling they are
not on a par with men. Women may
become less confident than their male
classmates about their academic ability,
their place in the college community, and
their potential for career success,” Hall
said.
Subtle differences in treatment are not
the only classroom problems women may
face. According to Hall, “Sexist humor
and comments that disparage women as a
group are still surprisingly prevalent in
See CHILLY, p. 8
Panola Women Discuss Classroom Chill
By Lorna Bailey
Is the classroom a chilly one for women
at Panola? Well, some women may have
had such experiences and accepted them
as a way of life.
Then again, some women may never
experience discrimination in the
classroom.
In recent interviews with female
students on campus, four women students
shared their reactions to a recent study
which shows that women are
discriminated against in classroom in
American colleges and universities.
The women were asked to read the
article which is published on this page of
the PANORAMA. The article states that
the women of America are being frozen
out of the classroom by male prejudice.
Pam Fitzgerald, Tatum sophomore,
says that she has experienced
discrimination against women in high
school classrooms and at universities she
attended ten years ago.
“This is my first semester at Panola or
anywhere else in ten years, and I have not
felt that any of my instructors have given
'an impression that women are inferior.
There have been moments when I have
been put down in class. These times were
always by other students though. At
Panola, I feel the students are treated
according to their abilities, and their
attitudes. I don’t feel that sex enters into it
at all,” says Mrs. Fitzgerald.
Whether intentional or not, women also
feel that male instructors tend to belittle
or categorize all females as the minority
group.
“Because I went to an all-girl high
school where we (the females) did not
have to compete with the oppositive sex
for our teacher’s attention, I am able to
see now that most instructors do direct
their attention to the male students,” says
Marie DeLorie, Center freshman.
She added, “True, females were known
as housewives who tended the home, kids
and domestic problems, but even then we
were not given credit for being the home’s
accountant, interior decorator, doctor and
referee.”
All situations are not the same for all the
women on campus. Both good and bad
experiences were reported. Dorothy
Mosely, Center freshman, hasn’t been
chilled by the, climate in the classroom.
“I haven’t been to any school in ten
years, but as a student at Panola, I do not
feel that my instructors treat me dif-
ferently because I am a woman. I think
they really want you to feel as they do
about the courses they are teaching,”
explained Mrs. Mosely.
“I feel that if I let them know that I am
very interested in the courses, they would
not mind taking the time out with me to
help me to understand it better,” said
Mrs. Mosely. “So far, I have enjoyed all
my instructors.”
“Reading the article has really
refocused the problem we face as young
women, said Ruby Carpenter, Center
freshman.
“Our society is basically set-up for the
male, putting the female in the
background. I believe, this problem will
resolve itself because more women are
asserting themselves. We are no longi
waiting for the male to take the lead,
activities, in social events or the busines
world,” she added.
Mrs. DeLorie had one final commei
“The battle of the sexes will continue un
we (the females) get our equal share.
Panola Panorama
The Panola Panorama is the student
newspaper of Panola Junior College and
is published bi-monthly. The Panorama
is a non-profit newspaper providing
information about the College Com-
munity. The publication is a lab project
of thp students enrolled in Journalism
300 and 100 and is the work of student
‘workers and editors.
PlaulKaun, editor
Jackie Brown, associate editor
Jo Ann Henderson,
business manager
Dan Reeder, photographer
Malisa Jones, news assistant
Susan Cassity, news assistant
staff: Steven Carmony, Angela
Rainy, Joyce Brown, Loma Bailey,
BobbyHead Merce.Poindexter,
DavidDanley TracyMcElrath.
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Kaun, Paul. The Panola Panorama (Carthage, Tex.), Vol. 33, No. 6, Ed. 1 Monday, December 13, 1982, newspaper, December 13, 1982; Carthage, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth508057/m1/2/: accessed June 2, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Panola College.