The Relationship of Ethnicity and Sex to Professor Credibility at a Culturally Diverse University

Abstract

This study examines the extent sex and ethnicity play in perceptions that university students have of teacher credibility. Students were sampled at a university with a predominately Hispanic population. A multivariate effect was found for teacher ethnicity on perceptions of competence and caring, with Caucasian instructors rated higher than Hispanic instructors. However, effect sizes were minimal. On the other hand, nonverbal immediacy, which was used as a covariate, accounted for much more of the variance in student perceptions and was strongly correlated with all three dimensions of teacher credibility. In addition, teacher variables such as immediacy and expertise, as opposed to ethnicity and sex, were major contributors to perceived student learning.