Women less likely to ask, answer questions in large academic classroom settings
Women had a lower rate of asking and answering questions during both in-person and virtual classes in academic medicine learning environments, according to data published in JAMA Network Open.
The study was developed by Sara J. Cromer, MD, an assistant in medicine in endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism at Massachusetts General Hospital, and colleagues after Cromer had noticed many of her classmates using “deferential language” such as “I’m sorry if I missed this, but ...” and other phrases that requested permission or were apologetic, which seemed more common among women than men.
“Shortly thereafter, our epidemiology professor gave us the assignment to perform an informal observational study on our peers, and several of my colleagues, including Kristin M. D’Silva, MD, and Neelam Phadke, MD, joined me in a pilot project,” Cromer told Healio. “We later formalized the analysis, applied for funding and hired a research assistant to complete the data collection the following year.”
Cromer and colleagues observed 156 students for 2 weeks in person in 2019 and 138 students virtually in 2020 for 6 weeks during large, lecture-based classes and smaller discussion-based classes.
During 2019 in-person classes, women had a lower rate of asking (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 0.44; 95% CI, 0.36-0.55) and answering (IRR = 0.28; 95% CI, 0.19-0.39) questions than men in large but not small classes.
These rates were similar in 2020 for answering questions during large virtual classes (IRR = 0.67; 95% CI, 0.57-0.8). However, in small classes during 2020, the rate of asking questions was higher for women than men (IRR = 1.86; 95%: 1.08-3.32).
Women used deferential language in questions more frequently in large classes both in 2019 (RR = 1.48; 95% CI, 1-2.18) and 2020 (RR = 2.03; 95% CI, 1.49-2.75) but not in small classes.
Looking closer at class settings, the researchers found that questions were less frequently asked (RR = 0.75; 95% CI, 0.65-0.87) and answered (RR = 0.68; 95% CI, 0.53-0.85) by women during in-person vs. virtual classes in large but not small classes. Questions asked by women less frequently contained deferential language during in-person vs. virtual classes in large class settings (RR = 0.65; 95% CI, 0.48-0.87), with no differences for men in large classes or either sex in small classes.
“Our data cannot comment on the underlying reasons behind this disparity, but we found that it narrows or even reverses in smaller classes and the virtual setting,” Cromer said. “It is important for leaders in education to recognize that participation, which is often used as a metric for grading, is not merely affected by a student’s aptitude and engagement, but may be linked to any number of factors related to the student themself, such as the way they were socialized based on their gender or culture or their feeling of belonging within a classroom.”
Cromer added that, if participation is to be used as a metric for evaluations, educators should routinely evaluate for disparities related to this metric and consider changing classroom features — such as size or setting — to improve equity, if needed.
“Women may communicate and assert themselves differently in an academic environment than men,” she said. “As women make up an increasingly large proportion of the STEM workforce, systemic changes may be necessary to ensure equitable representation and advancement of women into positions of leadership.”
For more information:
Sara J. Cromer, MD, can be reached at scromer@mgh.harvard.edu.
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