Students’ beliefs about gender-based teacher-student relationships and learning efficacy at university (Georgian case)
Gender and teacher-student relations are normally viewed as factors influencing the learning efficacy. An effort has been made in this paper to connect these factors to each other as well. Teachers who cultivate, nurture, and main¬tain healthy teacher-student relationships often demonstrate behaviors consistent with an ethic of care, and care is generally believed to be a feature more typical for female than male lecturers. Besides, female teachers are expected to be more emotionally engaged in what is happening in the classroom. But the presented studies are contradictory on the issue. Instructors’ rating, behavior, expectations, personal features, and self-perception of proficiency are analyzed according to genders based on literature analysis and questionnaire. Views on female students’ distinctive features are also discussed. Two questionnaires were offered to students and lecturers, which were anonymous, but the respondents had to mention their gender, to permit assessment of viewpoints according to genders. In the first questionnaire a Likert scale (5 point) assessment of statements was applied (from 1 – totally disagree to 5 – totally agree); it involved 21 items. Forty one respondent filled in in. The second questionnaire was in the multiple choice format, to deal with more details, it involved 32 items and was filled in by 16 respondents. It was concluded that all students expect a female lecturer to be warm and supportive, male students are more independent in their studies, female students tend to be discriminating towards female lecturers, and male students are more tolerantly treated by all lecturers. Some other issues were assessed in a contradictory way. It is noteworthy that culture might have had an impact on the answers.