Student care: The onus on women professors


Anne-Marie Bresee, Western University

A 2023 online survey, involving professors working in the arts, social sciences and humanities at Ontario universities, indicates this is not an equally shared workload among professors. Women professors are significantly more likely to be asked to provide student care than men professors. Findings indicate that hiring rank, age and ethnicity play only a minor role in who receives student requests. Not surprisingly, a student’s perception of supportive faculty is linked to the successful completion of a degree. However, such emotional labour is often undervalued and unrewarded for women professors. Findings show that student care results in higher stress levels in women professors than men professors.

This paper associated with this presentation has received the 2024 Sociology of Education Research Cluster's Best Student Paper Award.

This paper will be presented at the following session: