Students’ Perceptions of Teachers’ Gender-Biased Treatments in the Classroom Context

Abstract

Much research has been undertaken to examine teachers’ differential treatment of boys and girls, and the way this biased practice affects their academic achievement. There is a dearth however of research investigating students’ perceptions of gender bias which shapes most of the EFL classroom practices. This study comes to fill in this gap in research assessing Moroccan EFL learners’ perceptions of their teachers’ differential treatment. Relying on the implementation of She & Fisher’s (2002) Teacher Communication Behavior Questionnaire (TCBQ), this study examined the relationship between students’ perceptions of teacher differential treatment and their academic achievement. Based on a quantitative case study design, the data were collected from a convenience sample of n= 92 Moroccan EFL students from Moulay Ismail University. The findings added empirical support for She & Fisher’s (2002) TCBQ effectiveness in measuring teacher behavior. Correlational analyses provided evidence of a statistically significant relationship between academic achievement and TDT. Also, using a regression analysis test, TDT was found to be a strong predictor of academic achievement. The results also revealed a divergence in the perceptions of males and females of the five dimensions of TDT and an alarmingly significant difference in scholastic attainment in favor of girls. These findings have implications on EFL teacher-student interactions at the university level in general and on the education of boys in particular.