Men tend to dominate classroom discussions, creating an uncomfortable experience for many college women, according to a study conducted by IU doctoral student Jennifer Lee.
Lee, a fourth-year doctoral sociology student, published the article, titled “Who Speaks and Who Listens: Revisiting the Chilly Climate in College Classrooms,” in December 2020.
The study found that men speak in classroom discussions 1.6 times more than women. Men also talk without raising hands and interrupt discussions more than women, according to the study.
Lee said her research took place January to March, 2017, while she was an undergrad at an Ivy League university, which she named Oakwood in her article for anonymity.
The study started as Lee’s undergraduate senior thesis. When Lee came up with the topic, she thought back to her and her friends’ shared undergraduate experiences in classroom discussions, she said.
“I always talked to my girl friends about how to speak up in class, and sometimes we would do this thing where we would be each other’s ‘accountability buddy’,” Lee said. “We would encourage each other to speak up at least once in class, but I never had this conversation with my male friends, which I thought was interesting.”
She said she decided to sit in and study humanities, social science and natural science lectures composed of between 10 and 40 students over five weeks, resulting in 95 hours of observation.
The analysis shows similar findings as a previous study conducted in 1982, according to Lee’s article. “The Classroom Climate: A Chilly One for Women?” by Bernice R. Sandler and Roberta M. Hall also found that male-dominated classroom discussions made women feel discomfort when participating.
IU students said they share similar experiences to those in Lee’s study. IU junior Kylie Lewis is a math major, and she said she has a difficult time speaking in her male-dominated classes.
“Women are typically underrepresented in math classes, and I feel like whenever I raise my hand to answer a question or ask a question, I have to prove that I have the right to be there and I’m smart enough to be there,” Lewis said.
Lewis said that because she feels the need to prove herself in classroom discussions, she spends longer analyzing the validity and quality of what she is going to say. She said she is not sure why, but men appear more confident and do not seem to feel like they need to prove themselves in discussions.
Graduate student Daniela Molina said disproportionate classroom demographics that favor men may contribute to women’s discomfort. Molina said the study did not surprise her, because in her experience, men do control classroom discussions.
“Men seem to always feel like they are entitled in any situation, really, so they don’t fear any sort of repercussion,” Molina said. “It’s still to this day weird to hear a woman feel so comfortable with her own voice and opinions.”
Sophomore Clara Lietzke was the only woman in her chemistry lab for the majority of the fall semester, and she said she had often felt blatantly ignored in classroom settings by her male colleagues.
Lee said she hopes her research helps women not be ashamed and feel more validated in classroom discussions.
“I used to think that I’m not smart enough, or I didn’t think fast enough, but there are bigger structural things going on,” said Lee.
