Gender, pre-service teachers and assessment of pupil work

Across Australia fewer females choose to study the physical sciences and their achievements are lower than for males. Many reasons have been put forward for this. Elsewhere science teachers have been found to hold gender-stereotyped expectations of their pupils and to assess pupil capabilities differently according to the gender of the pupil. The gender of the teacher has also been found to affect the assessments made. This study investigated whether pre-service teachers would assess pupil capability across a range of work samples and potential in science differently according to the gender of the pupil or the gender of the pre-service teacher. No statistically significant differences were found for the assessments made. Weak trends in the data along gender-stereotypic lines were found which have implications for teacher training courses. Correlational findings also revealed worrying trends relating forms of assessment with assessment of pupil capability and potential.