Fifteen Ways For Students to Warm Up the Chilly Classroom Climate

Bernice R. Sandler

(This excerpt is from "The Chilly Classroom Climate: A Guide to Improve the Education of Women," published by The National Association of Women.)

Students can also have an impact on the classroom climate. They can do many things, either individually or as a group, acting directly or indirectly. It is also appropriate for students or for student organizations to press for adoption of some of the recommendations in this report directed to administrators and to faculty.

Remember that you pay tuition and are entitled to have a classroom that is free of discriminatory behavior. There are a number of different ways to deal with the situation. If one doesn't work, try another one.

If a professor is not treating you or the class fairly or otherwise creates a chilly climate, consider the following options:

1. Keep a class diary, describing (with dates) the incidents you feel are making the classroom inhospitable or unfair, ways in which you feel uncomfortable or otherwise treated differently.

2. Talk to other students to see if their perceptions are similar to yours. If they are, you might want to work together, by meeting with the professor or writing a group letter.

3. In some instances, where a professor has been ignoring you in class, a simple request in writing, or in conversation can often solve the problem, especially if the faculty member is not overtly hostile to women in the class.

4. A letter to the professor can follow the format often used in letters to sexual harassers.

The first part of the letter simply describes, in a factual manner, the behavior you are concerned about, with no evaluative words: "Although I have raised my hands many times, you rarely call on me. Sometimes you call on other students more than once without calling on me."

The second part of the letter describes what the writer feels about the behavior described: "I'm upset when you call on other people without calling on me," "I find myself not paying attention as much as I do in other classes, " "I'm thinking of dropping this course."

The third part is short, and tells what the writer wants to happen next: "I would like you to call on me more often when I raise my hand."

Send the letter to the faculty member and keep a copy for your records, should there need to be any additional action. Do not send a copy of the letter to anyone else; the letter works best if it is a private communication, so that the faculty member can read the letter several times, and does not have to defend himself or herself to someone else.

Often the faculty members say nothing but change their behavior. In some instances, they may want to apologize or defend their behavior. If you find that uncomfortable, you can say, "I really don't want to discuss it," repeat what you want to happen, and walk away.

5. Talk to the professor directly. If the behavior involves inequities toward more than one person, it is sometimes easier if several students speak as a group to the professor. Plan what you want to talk about carefully (and if a group, who will say what and in what order), how you will describe the inequalities, and what specific changes you are seeking (such as calling on women when they raise their hands or no longer telling jokes about women.) Afterward, write up a description of what happened, what was said, and the professor's response. This is useful should the behavior not change and additional steps need to be taken.

One group of students who were angry about a professor's sexual remarks in class invited him out to dinner and arranged beforehand to have a booth for the group. They made sure that the professor was seated next to the wall where he could not leave until the students were ready to allow him to do so after they had discussed their complaints with him.

6. Have a campus women's group send materials on gender equality in the classroom (such as this report) with a letter explaining how the professor might be inadvertently creating a chilly classroom climate and that the report might be helpful in making the classroom a better learning experience.

7. Bring your complaint to the department chair or dean.

8. Read the school's sexual harassment policy. Even if the policy does not say so, a classroom which is overtly discriminatory can be considered a hostile environment--a form of sexual harassment which violates federal laws prohibiting sexual discrimination.

9. Use the procedures listed in the school's policies. In addition to formal charges, most schools have informal ways of dealing with harassment which might be worth exploring.

10. Sometimes students might want to become involved in the general issues of a chilly classroom climate and do more than remedy their own situation.

A women's center or group or student government might consider a study, asking students to identify their experiences, as did the Women's Issues Commission of the University of Michigan Student Assembly in 1989. Disseminate the results of such a study to faculty, administrators, the board of trustees, alumni/ae, and the press.

11. Work to get climate issues incorporated into student evaluations of faculty members.

12. Encourage the student newspaper to do an article or series on the subject.

13. Publicize chilly classroom climate issues through student programs. At Harvard in 1990, students hung large graffiti sheets in residence houses, with the question, "Is there a gender barrier in Harvard classes?" as a forum for anonymous student expression. The sheets were later hung on the walls of a building where a conference on gender in the classroom was being held.

14. In the classroom itself, students can actively help in creating a more equitable climate by:

Giving credit to comments made by women students, such as "What Susan said…"

Paying attention when female students speak in class

Describing men and women on equal terms, such as "men and women" rather than "men and girls."

15. Thank faculty members when they make an effort to create an equitable learning climate. For example, if a professor avoids the generic male pronouns and instead uses the terms "men and women," or "he or she," give the professor positive feedback.

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These recommendations are from The Chilly Classroom Climate: A Guide To Improve The Education Of Women by Bernice Resnick Sandler, Lisa A. Silverberg and Roberta M. Hall, published by the National Association of Women, 1325 - 18th St., NW, Suite 210, Washington, DC 20036-6511. It can be ordered for $10 at www.nawe.org.

The book describes more than 50 ways in which males and females are treated differently in the classroom, and examines key issues such as how gender afects the classroom, the influence of teaching style and pedagogy, intersections of race and gender, the importance of including women in the curriculum, and how gender affects faculty evaluation. More than 270 recommendations for action that administrators, department chairs, and faculty members--and even students themselves--can take to improve the classroom climate for females and other groups are also included.

Bernice R. Sandler, Senior Scholar in Residence at the Women's Research and Education Institute, consults extensively with institutions and others about women's equity, including sexual harassment, discrimination, and the chilly climate. She has given over 2000 presentations, written many articles, and serves as an expert witness in discrimination cases. Sandler can be contacted at:

Bernice R. Sandler

Senior Scholar, Women's Research and Education Institute

1350 Connecticut Avenue, Suite 850, Washington, DC 20036

Phone: 202 833 3331 Fax: 202 785 5605

E-mail: sandler@bernicesandler.com

Website: bernicesandler.com