Sex bias in the evaluation of students

Sex differences in academic achievement have often been observed but have usually been attributed to inherent differences between men and women students rather than to differential marking by examiners. The present study indicates that this may not be the case. Sex bias was shown to occur in the evaluation of students' projects. These results cannot be attributed to actual differences in achievement of men and women students. The implications of these findings for marking in general are discussed and recommendations are made for examination procedures which would help to eliminate such bias.