Abstract
Using survey research methods, the researcher sought current data about the amount and quality of training that higher education instructors obtain, and a further understanding of the training that higher education faculty receive in gender equity. This study focuses on the following questions: What do college and university educators in California learn about addressing issues of gender equity in the college classroom? To what extent are California university educators trained in gender equitable teaching approaches? Relevant to gender equity training, to what extent are California university educators trained about sexual harassment awareness? What are educators’ opinions about the type and amount of preparation they have received to teach? Sources of Data: Two hundred and fifty educators from 11 California community colleges, California State University campuses, private California colleges, and Universities of California participated in this study. Convenience sampling was employed to obtain participants for survey research methods. The survey was designed to elicit both quantitative and qualitative data from participants, in order to provide different vantage points for the research questions. The quantitative questions provided data to conduct statistical analysis. The open-ended questions provided qualitative data, including themes within educators’ opinions. Conclusions Reached: The results indicated that educators receive minimal training in gender fair teaching approaches. Specifically, out of 250 participants, 165 educators did not possess any training in gender fair teaching approaches. Only 34% of educators in this study had obtained training in equitable teaching approaches, and only 24.6% felt they were effectively trained. More than half of the educators lacked training in gender fair teaching approaches, multicultural awareness, and working with special needs students. As a group, educators teaching subject content related to engineering had the lowest amount of gender equity training, averaging 36 minutes. Educators in social science also had significantly low amounts of training in gender fair teaching approaches, with an average of 1.06 hours. The results of this study indicate a positive association between the amount of training in gender fair teaching approaches departments’ receive and the percentage of women working as educators in the department, with a correlation coefficient of 0.833. The laws of California require that educators receive certain amounts of sexual harassment training; however, this study suggests that educators receive far less training than mandates require. The sample of educators in this study are largely non-compliant, or do not remember having attained mandated amounts of sexual harassment training. Of 250 participants, 88 educators reported having zero hours of sexual harassment training.