Students’ evaluations of native and non-native teachers in higher education

Abstract

Student evaluations of teachers (SETs) are often used to evaluate teachers’ performance in higher education. However, several factors unrelated to performance can lead to biased SETs. The present experimental research was designed to examine whether native or non-native teachers could be evaluated differently by students in higher education. In two studies, students were presented with short vignettes of either a native or non-native teacher. Subsequently, explicit evaluations and implicit associations of the teacher and the assignments of the teacher were registered. Additionally, participants’ implicit in-group favouritism was assessed to examine whether possible differences in evaluations depend on implicit biases. Both explicit evaluations and implicit associations did not significantly differ depending on whether the teacher was native or non-native, and no significant effect of implicit in-group bias was found. Possible theoretical and practical implications are discussed.