Exams Disadvantage Women in Introductory Biology
A new study, co-led by postdoctoral associate and SI alumna Cissy Ballen at the University of Minnesota and Shima Salehi at Stanford University, found that unexpected influences underlie gender gaps in exam performance across ten large introductory biology course sections. The findings challenge traditional approaches that evaluate student knowledge, particularly those that punish students who do poorly on high-stakes assessments that may not be relevant to actual professional skills.