Engendering inequities: precariously employed academic women’s experiences of student evaluations of teaching

Abstract

ABSTRACT Grounded in intersectional feminist approaches, this study explores the equity impacts of student evaluations of teaching (SETs) on precariously employed women in the academy. Despite their overrepresentation in the academic teaching workforce, precariously employed women are a demographic group that remains underrepresented in research on SETs. Thirty-four qualitative interviews with precariously employed academic women at a university in Ontario, Canada, were conducted to explore their experiences of SETs. The participants critiqued SETs’ role in perpetuating feminized and racialized labour market precarity, and undermining their professional autonomy and professionalization. They also described how SETs subject them to discriminatory evaluations based on their gender, race and age, and the impacts thereof on their workload and mental health. This study’s findings reveal the importance of recognizing SETs’ impact on equity and the need to change teaching evaluation policy in higher education.