Many students would like to believe that when it comes to gender bias on college campuses, they live in a more socially progressive time than the generation that came before them.
However, this assumption is false as gender bias is an institutional problem that still thrives on college campuses.
In a time of #MeToo and Trump’s America, people need to remove their rose-colored glasses and realize everyone is not as progressive as they might have once assumed.
These issues have been rooted in society for generations, and students have become desensitized to gender bias in all its forms. Whether these instances include a pro-women or pro-men outlook, they are bias, nonetheless.
According to the American Psychological Association, students’ ability to recognize gender biases in academia is more commonly found in students who come from an egalitarian background.
Imagine the first days of a college semester when students are in a frenzy over adding classes. The decision of who will be added to the class has pitted student against student for years. Most teachers will settle the matter with a simple game of rock, paper, scissors with the winner getting the add code. However, after the class is over, a female student will talk to the professor explain her sob story, add a few tears, and ultimately get added to the class.
While this is not the most dignified way to add a class, the female student got her objective. If a male student were to try this technique, it would not provoke the same feelings of sympathy from the professor because it doesn’t fit the societal mold of masculinity.
In 2012, the U.S. Department of Education released a data snapshot stating that since the passing of Title IX in 1972, the remanence of gender bias still exists in the education system nationwide.
Now, envision sitting in an English literature class and engaging in a socratic seminar over the week’s assigned reading. There is only one type of student that keeps getting interrupted. These students are the female students. Yes, teachers do have a “wait for your turn to speak policy,” but this rule is often broken in the heat of a debate.
This is not something one always notices because when men interrupt it is seen as being outspoken. In comparison, women generally do not interrupt because society has conditioned women to be patient and wait for their turn.
These small classroom truths are usually overlooked because they have been a part of our culture for decades. The bottom line is gender bias is an institutional problem that cannot be unrooted in one generation. Therefore, this issue follows people all the way to college and through the rest of their lives.
