Effects of Student Gender and Socioeconomic Status on Teacher Perceptions

The authors examined experimentally whether student gender and socioeconomic status (SES) affect teachers' expectations of students. Participants were 106 teachers who read a scenario about a hypothetical student with academic and behavioral challenges. The authors systematically varied the gender and SES of the student to create 4 conditions. Teachers rated high-SES boys more favorably than low-SES boys, but low-SES girls more favorably than high-SES girls. Teachers perceived that low-SES students have less promising futures than do high-SES students. Findings suggest that teachers are likely to develop negative attitudes toward low-SES students in general, but especially boys. These preconceived attitudes may help explain why teacher efficacy tends to be lower in economically disadvantaged schools.