Teacher wonders if she should give in to double standard

Q: I’m a female high school history teacher, and I’ll freely admit that I’m demanding. I don’t let my students dial it in, whether it’s a class discussion, an essay prompt, or an exam question. I insist on rigorous analysis and critical thinking. I don’t inflate grades, and I don’t give extensions without good reason. I think my style is similar to that of an effective male teacher in my department. Students trade stories about surviving his class but always in the context of praising his tough style and top-notch instruction. In contrast, I’m called a shrew and other derogatory terms you probably can’t print. How do I know this? At the end of the year, kids write teacher reviews. In addition, my supervisor once brought it up at my evaluation, and other teachers joke about it with me. It’s no secret. I worry this will hurt my career, but I’m also ticked off at the injustice. Should I just give in and change my approach?  

A: In teaching, women vastly outnumber men. I think it’s fascinating that kids spend their days with female authority figures, and yet there’s still so much gender bias in the school setting. Invariably, some students will hold sexist attitudes toward teachers.

In fact, in 2014, a sociologist at North Carolina State University conducted a study and found that college students rated male teachers more highly than their female counterparts during an online course, even if the lessons were actually given by a woman. It didn’t matter whether the students were rating professionalism, fairness, responsiveness, enthusiasm, or respectfulness. In all of these dimensions, they gave higher ratings when they believed the teacher was male. This kind of bias has obvious implications for reviews and promotions.