title: Gender bias favors female nursing students in the written examination evaluation: Crossover study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Gender discrimination against male nursing students has been reported and attributed to the female-dominated tradition of nursing profession.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate gender bias in the written examination evaluation of undergraduate nursing students.
  
  
  METHODS
  One-group crossover study with two phases.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four male and four female examiners provided 400 previously graded examination scripts (50 each) of nursing students.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participating examiners were asked to re-grade scripts after any information about student identity was covered to allow blind marking. Script degrees after non-blind and blind marking were compared within male and within female students, as well as between male and female students.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significantly more female students' degrees shifted downwards and less of them shifted upwards compared with male students' degrees after blind marking, while mean degree of female students was significantly lower. Among male examiners, significantly more female students' degrees shifted downwards and less of them shifted upwards compared with male students' degrees after blind marking, while mean degree of male students was significantly higher. Among female examiners, mean degree of both male and female students was significantly lower after blind marking. No central tendency bias was detected.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Gender bias in favor of females was detected in the written examination evaluation of nursing students. This unequal treatment may prevent retention of males in nursing studies and profession.
authors.affiliation: Nursing Department, Technological Educational Institute of Western Greece, Patras, Greece. Electronic address: kiekkpan@otenet.gr.
authors.forename: Panagiotis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kiekkas
authors.affiliation: Nursing Department, Technological Educational Institute of Western Greece, Patras, Greece.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Igoumenidis
authors.affiliation: Nursing Department, Technological Educational Institute of Western Greece, Patras, Greece.
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Stefanopoulos
authors.affiliation: Nursing Department, Technological Educational Institute of Western Greece, Patras, Greece.
authors.forename: Nick
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bakalis
authors.affiliation: Nursing Department, Technological Educational Institute of Western Greece, Patras, Greece.
authors.forename: Antonios
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kefaliakos
authors.affiliation: Anesthesiology Department, General Hospital of Pyrgos, Pyrgos, Greece.
authors.forename: Diamanto
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Aretha
mesh_terms: D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D004508:Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate / Q000592:standards*; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D063507:Sexism
keywords: Blind marking; Examination evaluation; Gender bias; Male examiners; Written examination