Pronoun Peril: Undergraduate Evaluations of Nonbinary Instructors
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Date
2025-05
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Publisher
The Ohio State University
Abstract
Despite the diverse range of identities under the transgender label, research into transgender prejudice primarily focuses on transgender men and women (Burke et al., 2023). The present study expands on the limited research into nonbinary prejudice by examining potential differences in undergraduate evaluations of nonbinary instructors. This study tests the hypotheses that (1) Instructors perceived as nonbinary receive more negative evaluations than instructors perceived as male or female, and (2) Increasing the accessibility of the gender binary results in more negative evaluations of nonbinary instructors. A 3 (perceived instructor gender: male vs female vs nonbinary) x 2 (prime: binary gender vs eye color) between-participants experimental design was used. 158 undergraduates (age 18-25; 75.9% female; 54.3% White) from an introductory psychology course answered questions about personality and attitudes toward nonbinary individuals, viewed a course syllabus and lecture video, and then rated the instructor on teaching quality (Ohio State University, 2024), perceived warmth and competence of the instructor (Fiske et al., 2002), likelihood to enroll in a course with the instructor, and warmth toward the instructor. Instructor evaluation measures were analyzed using a 3 (instructor gender) x 2 (prime) between-subjects ANOVA (α = .05). Unfortunately, the perceived instructor gender manipulation failed: roughly half of the participants were unable to correctly recall the instructor’s gender. Analyses were null for main effects and interactions, but data from the pre-manipulation measures provide insight for future directions. Overall, there was insufficient evidence to support the research hypotheses. Further research is needed to understand nonbinary prejudice in academia.
Description
2nd Place: Denman Undergraduate Research Forum (Business, Society, and International Relations)
2nd Place: DEI Mini Conference Trainee Presentation Competition (Psychology Grad DEI Comittee)
2nd Place: DEI Mini Conference Trainee Presentation Competition (Psychology Grad DEI Comittee)
Keywords
social psychology, prejudice, nonbinary, transgender, SEI, stereotyping