research on role congruity theory further indicates that women in faculty positions struggle with meeting the expectations of the male-dominated role (whitley & kite, 2010). caplan (1994) asserts characteristics associated with the female stereotype (i.e., "nurturance", "warmth", and "supportiveness") are incongruent with the expectations of faculty—which are masculine in nature (i.e., "directive", "assertive", "knowledgeable"). therefore, a female faculty member violates societal expectations for both the categories of women and leader. this violation results in both discrepant expectations for men and women and more negative evaluations of women in such positions. consistent with role congruity theory, winocour, schoen and sirowatka (1989) found ratings of male professors were not dependent on their lecture style. however, female students were more favorable of a female professor with a discussion-based lecture style and male students only preferred female professor who focused on providing information. further, statham, richardson and cook (1991) noted students delegated more negative evaluations to female professors with a teaching style low in structure than males regardless of their teaching style. similarly, kierstad, d'agostino and dill (1988) reported that only female professors who socialized with students received positive ratings; male ratings were not affected by this factor.