Women professors

I've noticed that women professors grade so strangly...

For instance, I have this online class where, once a week we have to read about eight or so articles and respond to three questions (each a page)...the last one I turned in, I got a 9 out of 9 and there was a lot of red text on it when she emailed it back to me.

The second one I got a 7.5 out of 9 and it had less red text from her.

I know it could have been due to time contraints, which is a good possibility...but I've also had a woman professor (the only woman professor I've ever had at the University) who graded harder at times and more lenient other times.

Could this have to do with their cycle?

I mean, I haven't ever had any problems with irregular grading from any male professor at a university (and I've been going for 4 and a half years)...

I know at certain times in my cycle I'm less strict on my students than other times...

 

"During that time of the month, a woman's hormones can make her crazy! But god help you if you mention it, because then you'll just have two problems on your hands!"

It could be any number of things, Annie. Like you said, time constraints... Maybe the earlier one just held more interest for her and /or provoked more of her thought, so she had more to say about it?

 

Whatever yall do don't even get into
the pros/cons of a female prez... *ducks*

 

hmmmm. i dunno. i mean, when i really think about it? women profs have been more "fair" w/me than male? but i gotta fess up: i actually had one female prof that said my work was rather mediocre. so when i pointed out to her that i respected her much (and that i was on the dean's list), she finally decided to say something positive about my work. so much of this is politics. which makes it sad. i honestly think many brilliant students (male and female) abandon "higher education." before they make it to their junior year? and it is especially complicated if you are poor (and in need of financial aid, etc.). some profs can be total jerks. male and female. and if they want to give you a D (for purely personal reasons). then you are just out of luck. and suddenly find yourself working as a full-time waitress (or waiter).

jenny

 

True, but some are really good and make you think twice about giving college up, Ive had a brilliant 80 yr old chem professor who just sparked my interest so great that he actually you can say taught me to think, where i couldn't have thunk ... I also did have a woman professor but she was amazing, you can say some of these people do want to teach and do want to stretch your mind, all you need is some good luck in finding the right professors. I had another chem professor before the 80 yr old one, but that guy was a jerk, tries to show off in front of students, which is when you really think about it, is very sad. Anyway, I don't think it has to do with the professor's gender, both of male and female professors I mentioned were brilliant and taught me alot about their respective subjects.

 

I think it's really unfair that you would assume this is just because the prof is a woman, instead of just a chance thing. I mean, you're judging all women profs by your experiences with just two???

I've had equally crappy and inconsistent male profs, yet can't recall having any problems with female profs... Honestly, in my experience (5 years undergrad, 1 year grad), quirks of the sort you're talking about generally seemed to be related to the status of the faculty member -- graduate instructor, temp./visiting prof, new prof, tenure-track prof, tenured prof, close to retirement, etc. -- not their gender.

And, in my own grading, I often find that I have more comments for the better papers -- it may be that they're more thoughtful so provoke more discussion, or it may be that the student seemed to care more so it was more worth my time to give constructive criticism. On the other hand, a paper that comes across as having been written at the last minute suggests that the student didn't care as much about that topic... You don't say what sorts of comments you got, whether it was grammatical nit-picking, thoughtful comments, or something in between.

Also, in my experience of grading, it depends on where in the stack of papers you fall (whether I'm tired of making the same comments over and over) and what time of day I get around to grading, in addition to how busy I am.

 

Yeah, men would never ever be unfair about anything. Why every car mechanic I've ever had is totally not on the take just because he sees someone in a skirt wander into the shop.[/sarcasm]

As far as the original posters topic, I truly hope that isn't the case. I'm not there, & have no similiar experience to draw upon though, so I cannot comment.
The only thing I can add is that people in general, as a whole, tend to be unfair at different times about different things.

 

I noticed a similier pattern in a lit class. When I ask the prof about it she said it was because she considered grades to be a teaching aid, and sometimes she was more aware of who's paper she was gradeing. I can see how that would be effected by your emotional state.

 

I can see the truth in both of these statements, and I can also see how they might fit in with the OP's idea that it is a "female problem" of sorts. Think about it: since something like a tenured position in a good school is so hard to come by (especially now, as drumminmama said) those positions really do go to those profs who've been extablished for quite some time. The fact is, these opportunities haven't been available to women for very long. Some would say they aren't even really available now. So if you look at the faculty of most any college, I would bet that more of the profs who've been around for a long long time, and are tenured, are male. More of the female profs, on the other hand, are still starting out on a lower level - trying to work their way up.

 

Don't worry, dear. Some like finding fault with petty things.

 

I can't say I've ever had a similar experience but providing lee-way for PMS and cycles are a cop out and a poor way of giving reason to mistakes that are likely YOURS, not the profs'. This is my personal experience in university.

I had the opportunity to know several established female professors also when I was doing my undergraduate degrees, and I would heartily say in a heartbeat, that it was a couple of them who truly inspired me to do better and be more conscientious.

The male to female ratio of professors also differs according to each faculty, including how established they are. I would agree that not all is equal and the salaries most (disgustingly and) absolutely are not.

I see too many pathetic excuses relating to a woman's menstruation cycles. They beg forgiveness for behaviour that may be an effect of something else altogether, and rather than embracing the female identity - it's a manipulation of it in the form of acceptance as a weakness.

How the heck does the way a professional performs link directly to slight hormone imbalances she has been experiencing nearly all her life?

From woman to woman, can you not give her the benefit of the doubt that she is responsible and professional enough to handle it?

I'm aghast.

 

LOL I didn't say it had anything to do with cycles...

I was talking about in general, we are more emotional beings than men...that sometimes we are guided more by emotions and what is happening in our lives than by logic and reason. And our emotions fluctuate throughout the month...

Sheesh, lighten up, Hannah. The class I'm speaking of at the moment with the woman professor is a woman's studies class...you think I'd think that a woman isn't capable of doing a certain job?

Seriously

 

And why is it a monthly fluctuation? You hinted strongly that it had everything to do with cycles. READ your initial post again before you look quite silly. Quite frankly, you're contradicting yourself.

Emotional imbalances are a lousy excuse also.

 

You're uptight and you read into things too much.

I know what I said. Hell, I wrote it.

I have nothing more to say to you...it was a general discussion.

 

lmao. And you're a little confused? Sure, hon.

 

In general you don't want to write or say something the professor will disagree with, even if you're right and they're wrong.

If a female professor or a male professor is sexist then they are delusional but thats life and you just have to deal with them because employeers and people can be sexist too.

 

From original post:

Then later:

Seriously, did you reread your original post BEFORE claiming this? Because you did specifically ask if this was due to their cycles. That's not reading into your words, that is reading your actual words.

And, I agree with Hannah, your suggestion that all women professors are awash on some hormonal, emotional rollercoaster, therefore cannot grade consistently, is a load of crap (as you probably could tell from my earlier response here). And, to think that your sample size of one prof online (as in, someone I assume you had no real-life interaction with) and one live prof can give any realistic indication of women professors in general is absurd.

If you need to vent about a bad prof, great, I'd bet that everyone who has done even a semester of college has had that experience... But don't blame her inadequacies on the fact that she's a woman!!!

 

I wrote that DAYS before, my mistake. I'm sure people don't remember every single thing they type. Although, nowhere did I claim that it was PMS...

Sheesh, lighten up. I've had two profs...and it was a thought I had. I wasn't criticizing her and in fact I thought that their erratic grading could possibly have to do with her time constraints. I don't think she's inadequate...and nowhere did I say that. The one online prof that I was speaking about is a woman's issues professor and the class that I have is a woman's issues class. WOMEN ARE MORE DRIVEN BY EMOTIONS THAN MEN. It's a proven fact.

I think people need to lighten up...my goodness

 

my guy had a college professor who was pregnant and shold have been given leave. She would rave about his project oen day then hate it the next. This is certainly not fair for students to have a teacher whose opinion makes your GRADE. Then again it would have ben sexist to fire her or put her on leave also. I had a pregnant teacher in high school and I did notice when she was hormonal. She'd yell and cry and everything. It got pretty bad sometimes.