Students’ Perceptions of Female Faculty Members based on Vocal Characteristics

This study examines the relationship between the acoustic properties of female faculty members’ voices and the perception of the female faculty members age and personality characteristics by undergraduate students. A standardized acoustic analysis using the Multidimensional Voice Program (MDVP) and the RealPitch program was performed to determine the participating faculty members’ fundamental frequency (habitual and conversation), vocal jitter, and vocal shimmer. Faculty members were then recorded reading a brief preselected passage. Student participants listened to the recorded audio samples and completed a survey regarding the faculty members’ ages and personality characteristics. A Pearson product-moment correlation (Pearson r) analysis completed in SPSStatistics v. 22.0 found statistically significant correlations between the fundamental frequency of faculty members’ voices and students’ evaluations of the faculty members’ age, authoritativeness, approachability, attractiveness, competency, and fluency