Twenty female and 23 male professors at a liberal arts college participated along with their 803 undergraduate students in a questionnaire study of the effects of professor gender, student gender, and divisional affiliation on student ratings of professors and professor self-ratings. Students rated their professors on 26 questions tapping five teaching factors as well as overall teaching effectiveness. Professors rated themselves on the same questions as well as on nine exploratory ones. On student ratings, there were main effects for both professor gender (female professors were rated higher than male professors on the two interpersonal factors) and division (natural science courses were rated lowest on most factors). These patterns were qualified by significant interactions between professor gender and division. Although professor self-ratings varied by division, there were few significant correlations between professor self-ratings and students' ratings. Implications for future research are discussed.Because of their importance for employment-related decisions, the validity of student ratings of college teaching has been of great concern. Despite research demonstrating validity through comparing academic performance of students in multiple-section courses on common examinations (higher-rated professors have students who perform better; d'Apollonia & Abrami, 1997), there have been troubling demonstrations of possible biasing factors, such as significant correlations of student ratings with expected course grade (but not actual grade) (Greenwald & Gillmore, 1997).

The purpose of this descriptive study was to identify and describe barriers to early detection of breast cancer, as well as current breast cancer screening behaviors and attitudes regarding the disease, among women aged 20 and older on the Caribbean island of Tobago. Tobago is the smaller of the two islands that make up the nation of Trinidad and Tobago. Between February and June 1996, 265 women fitting the age criteria completed a structured survey questionnaire. Women of African descent made up 89% of the respondents. In terms of age, 48% of those surveyed were between 20 and 39, 40% were between 40 and 59, and 12% were 60 or older. Barriers to early detection identified were a low level of breast self-examination, infrequent clinical breast examinations as part of regular care, unavailability of mammography services on Tobago, cost of screening, and difficulty of traveling to Trinidad for mammography. Furthermore, only a minority of the study participants had ever attended early detection or public awareness programs. The results were nearly the same for individuals with a family history of breast cancer, who would have a higher risk of occurrence of the disease. In addition, the majority of the respondents reported what can be considered a cultural barrier to early detection practices, a belief that no matter what they did, if they were to get breast cancer, they would get it. The authors recommend that mammography services be made available on Tobago. The authors also intend to use the findings to help develop an appropriate, culturally sensitive breast cancer awareness and early detection program for women on the island.

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