Looks and Teaching Evaluations
Sigh. Not only do better looking people earn more money, recent research conducted at the University of Texas shows that the ivory tower isn’t immune to bias on the basis of perceived attractiveness. Along with gender and race, it appears that looks affect evaluations of one’s teaching, in just the way you’d expect. For full details you can read the paper BEAUTY IN THE CLASSROOM by Daniel S. Hamermesh and Amy M. Parker. And in case you’re thinking who cares, note that there is an economic impact. Teaching performance is part of the basis on which faculty are evaluated for annual increases and evaluations by students make up a large part of this process. I’ve always known that my students care about my appearance–commentary on my fashion sense, choice of shoes, hair colour, and weight has made its way into the written section of their evaluations–but I’ve never seriously entertained the idea that it could affect their evaluation of my teaching ability. If part of my income rests on looks, I wonder if this increases the range of expenses eligible for a tax deduction? How about hair colour, teeth whitener, and botox as work-related expenses? This makes me sad but I don’t know why I think the ivory tower I call home should be any different than the rest of the world. I guess I’d sorta hoped. Sigh again.
