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blockinggenderbias-instructions
Toolkit Instructions
Step 1: In the first week of class, give all students the writing exercise (20 min.)
1. Download and print copies of the writing exercise. Make sure you have at least one copy for each student in your class.
2. In a lecture or section, tell students:
“Effective communication is an important skill in science, technology, engineering, and math careers. To practice communication, today you will complete a 10- to 15-minute writing exercise. You will not be writing about science, but about something else you already know.”
3. Give one writing exercise to each student, explaining that the task is about values many people find important. Ask students to concentrate on the task in silence.
4. Allow students 10 to 15 minutes to complete the writing exercise. Let students keep their writing, explaining that their work will not be graded.
Step 2: Give students the writing exercise again before the midterm exam (20 min.)
Following the same instructions as in Step 1, re-administer the writing exercise in the week before the class midterm exam, explaining that you are once again giving students an opportunity to practice their communication skills. If you do not give a midterm exam, then simply give the writing task at some point in the middle of the term.
Step 3: Compare men’s and women’s grades (20 min.)
In the research that inspires this toolkit, the main outcome measure is the gap between men’s and women’s grades in STEM courses. Studies show that classes where students complete this toolkit’s writing exercise have smaller gender gaps in grades than do classes where students do not complete the writing exercise.
Here is one way to measure whether the writing exercise had this effect in your course:
- For the term BEFORE you used this toolkit, subtract the average final exam grade for women from the average final exam grade for men (Time 1 Gender Grade Gap)
- For the term in which you used this toolkit, do the same: subtract the average final exam grade for women from the average final exam grade for men (Time 2 Gender Grade Gap)
- Compare the two gender grade gaps. The Time 2 Grade Gap is likely smaller than the Time 1 Grade Gap.
Step 4: Share your story here (optional)
Describe your experiences using this toolkit on the Stories From the Field page. We may contact you and ask to feature your story on this website.
