Research on Student Evaluations

Lillian MacNell and two co-authors from North Carolina University have discovered evidence of gender bias in student evaluations of professors. 

The study tested the effect of perceived gender on student evaluations by having the same professor self-identify as different genders for different sections of the same course taught online.

In a separate study, Michele Pellizzari, of the University of Geneva in Switzerland, found that professors who are better teachers actually receive lower student evaluations (presumably because they challenge their students in ways that students find difficult or unpleasant). The exception is that highly skilled students evaluate better teachers more highly (presumably because they appreciate being challenged in a way that promotes their learning).