McMINNVILLE – Amy Orr, associate professor of sociology at Linfield College, will discuss “Gendered Capital: Sex-Role Socialization and the ‘Boy Crisis’ in Education,” on Wednesday, Oct. 14, at 7:30 p.m. in 201 Riley Hall at Linfield.
Orr’s research looks at the effect of gender on teacher assessments in kindergarten. The goal of the study was to understand why girls receive higher marks than boys, despite scoring lower on a number of standardized tests. Orr argues that parents encourage the development of behavior dispositions in their children through direct interaction. For instance, girls are more likely than boys to engage in stereotypical “female” activities, to exhibit positive social behavior and to have positive attitudes about school. Orr explains that these factors have positive effects on grades.
The lecture will include the general results of her research and a discussion of the role of teacher evaluation criteria in the process.
Orr received her bachelor’s degree from Nebraska Wesleyan University and both her master’s and Ph.D. at the University of Notre Dame. Orr teaches courses at Linfield on a variety of topics including gender, sociology of education, race and ethnicity, research methods and social policy. Her research focus is primarily on educational inequality.
The lecture is free and open to the public. The Linfield College faculty lecture series offers one presentation each month by a member of the Linfield faculty. For more information call 503-883-2409.
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