Gender bias in language testing

Although our profession is concerned with recruiting males, we must continue to be concerned about equality for females. The negative influence of gender bias on women and their roles has been addressed by the professions in terms of language use (Lynch, 1983) and discrimination in academic settings (Davis, 1994). But we have not considered standardized test bias related to women. Since language is generally recognized as a major conveyor of the societal bias against women, a reasonable question to ask is, Do language tests reflect a gender bias?