Raising male privilege awareness and reducing sexism: An evaluation of diversity courses

Research examining the impact of women's studies courses provides evidence of student changes such as greater agreement with feminist and egalitarian attitudes, lower prejudice against women, and increased activism. Using a pre- and posttest design, the current studies assess students' awareness of male privilege, prejudice against women, support for affirmative action, and identification as feminist following courses with and without gender content. In Study I, students taking a course entitled Psychology of Race and Gender completed identical surveys during the first and last weeks of the semester. Study 2 included students in Psychology of Women, Introduction to Women's Studies, and courses not addressing gender. Participants in diversity and women's studies courses in both studies exhibited more male privilege awareness and support for affirmative action at the end of the semester compared to pretest. However, the change in women's studies students' support for affirmative action and sexism levels was not significantly different from students in comparison courses. Women's studies students completed their courses with greater self-identification with feminism in contrast to non-women's studies students.