Teacher gender-related influences in Greek schools

Background. Although there is a wealth of empirical studies examining the e ffects and the correlates of student gender in school, teacher gender has r arely been a research focus. Since Greece is one of the few Western countri es with an about equal percentage of male and female teachers at primary an d secondary levels of public education, it offers itself as a well-suited c ontext for exploring teacher gender-related influences. Aims. The aim of the study was to examine gender-related differences in Gre ek classrooms focusing on teacher gender. It was hypothesised that due to t he societal context clear gender effects could be detected. It was also ass umed that teacher-student interaction patterns would be influenced by teach er gender not so much as a main effect but as interaction effects involving variables such as student gender, student achievement, grade, and teacher specialisation. Samples. The samples consisted of 1041 elementary school (mean age = 11.4 y ears) and 862 secondary school (mean age = 14.3 years) students in public s chools in Greece. Methods. A multi-informant and multiperspective approach to academic and ps ychosocial competence was used, involving teacher, peer, and self-ratings. Achievement data were also obtained. Results. Several significant teacher gender differences were found in teach ers' assessment of students' competence at both age groups. Furthermore, va rious domains of children's self-concept were found to be different in clas ses of female and male teachers. Conclusions. The findings indicate the need to use teacher gender as a rele vant variable in future research.