Assessing Gender Bias in Auditory-Perceptual Ratings of Tracheoesophageal Speakers

Abstract

Objective: This study examined the relationship between gender and auditory-perceptual evaluation of tracheoesophageal (TE) speech. Method: We collected auditory-perceptual judgments of two features, speech acceptability and listener comfort, from normal-hearing young adult listeners (n = 16) who were naïve to TE speech. Auditory-perceptual judgments were made for 12 TE speakers (6 men and 6 women) on two occasions separated by between 7 and 14 days. During the first session, listeners were deceived about the gender of the voice samples presented, and in the second session, listeners were informed of the true gender of the voice samples. Results: The findings suggest that a gender bias exists in perceptions of TE speech, and that female TE speakers tend to be disproportionately penalized when compared to their male counterparts when gender is known. Conclusions: These data provide insights into the potential influence of speaker gender on listener judgments of TE speech and the impact that such factors may have on communication. Our data indicate that listeners rate female TE speaker samples as less acceptable and less comfortable to listen to when the samples are known to be female speakers.