Disciplinary Differences in Students' Perceptions of Gender-Responsive Teaching in Higher Education
Keywords:
gender-responsive teaching; inclusive pedagogy; student perceptions; discipline differences; one-way ANOVA; higher educationAbstract
Gender-responsive teaching (GRT) is increasingly promoted as a strategy for advancing equity and inclusion in higher education, yet its implementation and visibility may differ across academic disciplines. This study has examined whether student perceptions of gender-responsive teaching vary significantly across disciplinary contexts using a quantitative, cross-sectional design. Undergraduate students (N = 600) from five disciplinary clusters—Education, Social Sciences/Humanities, Business/Management, STEM, and Health Sciences—completed the Gender-Responsive Teaching Perception Scale (GRTPS). The scale assessed five dimensions of gender responsiveness: inclusive classroom climate, equitable participation and interaction, gender-responsive content integration, bias-aware assessment and feedback, and institutional signaling of equity. The data was analyzed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with post hoc comparisons and effect size estimation. The results revealed statistically significant differences in the students’ overall perceptions of gender-responsive teaching across disciplines. Education and Social Sciences students reported higher levels of perceived gender responsiveness compared with students from the STEM and Business disciplines. The most pronounced differences were observed in gender-responsive content integration and bias-aware assessment and feedback, suggesting that disciplinary teaching traditions and assessment practices influence how gender responsiveness is experienced by students. In contrast, perceptions of respectful classroom climate were relatively consistent across the disciplines. The findings indicate that gender-responsive teaching is not uniformly experienced in higher education and that disciplinary context plays a critical role in shaping students’ perceptions. This study underscores the importance of discipline-sensitive faculty development, inclusive curriculum design, and equitable assessment practices to ensure more consistent gender-responsive teaching across academic fields.
https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.25.3.40
References
Alnahdi, G. H., Schwab, S., & Elhadi, A. (2022). Teachers’ implementation of inclusive teaching practices as a potential predictor for students’ perception of academic, social, and emotional inclusion. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 917676. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.917676
Alver, J. (2024). Would teaching gender as core, not boutique, move us closer to SDG 5? Development in Practice. https://doi.org/10.1080/09614524.2024.2379613
Atanasova, D., & Papen, U. (2026). UK University teachers on inclusive education: conceptualizations, practices, opportunities and challenges. Studies in Higher Education, 51(1), 54–65. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2025.2455431
Cubides, S. M., Chiappe, A., & Ramírez-Montoya, M.-S. (2024). The transformative potential of open educational resources for teacher education and practice. Open Learning: The Journal of Open and Distance Learning. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680513.2024.2409808
Filippou, K., Ferguson, R., & Kokkinos, C. (2025). Inclusive policies and practices in higher education: A systematic review. Review of Education. https://doi.org/10.1002/rev3.70034
Husain, T. (2025). Student perceptions of gender equity initiatives in Bangladeshi higher education: An exploratory sequential mixed-methods analysis of field-specific priorities and barriers. Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, 8(2), 647–667 https://doi.org/10.1108/JARHE-12-2024-0754
Johnson-Ojeda, V., Hill, L. B., Shin, S., York, A. M., & Frey, R. F. (2025). Measuring STEM instructors’ learning of and growth in inclusive teaching: Development and evaluation of the STEM Faculty Inclusive Teaching Survey (FITS). CBE—Life Sciences Education, 24(1), Article ar10. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.24-01-0016
Kihwele, G. E., Kinyota, M., & Moses, I. (2025). Pre-service teachers’ conceptualisation of gender-responsive pedagogy as a strategy for achieving gender equality in classrooms. Cogent Education, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2025.2584919
Kim, F., Johnston, E. L., & Fan, Y. (2024). A topic model analysis of students’ gendered expectations using surveyed critiques of lecturers. Frontiers in Education. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2024.1296771
Kitta, Y., & Cardona-Moltó, M. C. (2022). Students’ perceptions of gender mainstreaming implementation in university teaching: A case study in Greece. Journal of Gender Studies, 31(3), 250–267. https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2021.2023006
Korthals Altes, T., Willemse, M., Goei, S. L., & Ehren, M. (2024). Higher education teachers’ understandings of and challenges for inclusion and inclusive learning environments: A systematic literature review. Educational Research Review, 43, 100605. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2024.100605
Kroese, H. A. (2021). Gender equality interventions in organizations: Evidence and implications for education and training environments. Human Resource Management Review. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2021.100890
Kwok, K., Jones, B., & Main, J. B. (2022). Gender Stereotyping in student perceptions of Teaching Excellence: Applying the shifting standards theory. Higher Education Research & Development. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2021.2014411
Langan, L., Frazer, K., Darley, A., Goodman, L., Browne, F., Halligan, P., & Redmond, C. (2025). Inclusive pedagogy in online simulation-based learning in undergraduate nursing education: A scoping review. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 81, 591–606. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.16284
Makamure, G. (2025). Promoting gender-responsive pedagogies in open education at higher education institutions. Journal of Computers in Education, 5 https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-025-01202-w
Merma-Molina, G., Gavilán-Martín, D., & Ávalos-Ramos, M. A. (2024). The integration of gender equality (SDG 5) into university teaching: The view from the frontline. Innovative Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-023-09668-3
Moriña, A., & Perera, V. H. (2025). Promoting inclusive practices with emerging technologies in higher education: Faculty professional development through blended learning. The Internet and Higher Education, 67, 101019. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2025.101019
Nieminen, J. H. (2024). Assessment for Inclusion: rethinking inclusive assessment in higher education. Teaching in Higher Education, 29(4), 841–859. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2021.2021395
Ní Laoire, C., Carpena-Méndez, F., & Tyrrell, N. (2021). The “work” of gender in academia: Informal practices, inequalities and belonging. Gender, Work & Organization. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12594
Owenz, M., Tewksbury, M. & Cruz, C., (2025) Enhancing Inclusive Teaching Measurement: The Development of the Power-Sharing Practices Checklist, To Improve the Academy. A Journal of Educational Development, 44(2), 138-161. https://doi.org/10.3998/tia.6893
Shane-Simpson, C., Obeid, R., Chang, J., Ki, D., & Arlt, E. (2024). Using student narratives to characterize inclusive pedagogy and inclusive classrooms in higher education. Teaching of Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1177/00986283241269434
Svendby, R. B. (2024). Inclusive teaching in higher education: Challenges of professional practice and institutional culture. Social Sciences, 13(3), 140. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13030140
Thomson, A., Palmén, R., Reidl, S., Barnard, S., Beranek, S., Dainty, A. R. J., & Hassan, T. M. (2022). Fostering collaborative approaches to gender equality interventions in higher education and research: the case of transnational and multi-institutional communities of practice. Journal of Gender Studies, 31(1), 36–54. https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2021.1935804
Vásquez, M. L. M., Campos Ramírez, L. C., Yataco Bernaola, M. L., Yataco Torrealva, J. R., Ramos Torrealva, Z. M., Castro Cárdenas, D. M., & Segura Altamirano, S. F. (2025). Inclusive pedagogy and active learning in higher education: Cluster and dimensional insights into teaching competency integration. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 12, 102060. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2025.102060
Waluyo, B., Anita, Akhirudin, Syafaah, D., & Bahy, M. B. A. (2025). Bridging secular and religious perspectives: Gender awareness in language learning in Indonesian higher education. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 12, 101903. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2025.101903
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Adelfa Cabigas Silor, Faith Stephanny Cabigas Silor
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
All articles published by IJLTER are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No-Derivatives 4.0 International License (CCBY-NC-ND4.0).
