High school students' perception of teacher characteristics based on style of clothing

Includes bibliographical references (leaf 13)Five hundred high school students rated sketches of male and female teachers illustrating four modes of attire using a 20-item questionnaire and a modified Likert scale. Six college and high school teachers were asked to evaluate each question and categorize it as to the teacher characteristic of professional, authoritative, knowledgeable and liked. Mean scores for male and female respondents on each of the teacher characteristics were computed. Levels of significance between and within each teacher characteristic was derived. The results show that male and female students perceive teacher's style of dress differently. They suggest that students' perceptions of male and female teachers' characteristics were significantly affected by the teacher's style of dress. The teacher's style of dress seemed to elicit different perceptions from male and female students. No particular style emerged as the most desirable. The more formal style was viewed as more desirable than the very casual.M.S. (Master of Science