This 2001 Massachusetts study examined student attitudes toward animal dissection and found that the majority of students opposed to dissection are female. Most are given alternatives, though some are not, and science teachers appear to be open to alternatives to dissection.

A 2-page questionnaire was sent to life science teachers to determine the demographics, attitudes, and conscientious objection to dissection. Data measured the perceived importance of dissections by comparing alternatives to actual dissections. From an initial mailing of 2,080 life science teachers, 667 valid responses were included in this study.

Survey results

• On a scale of 1 (essential) to 5 (unimportant), the mean among men (2.46) was similar to the mean among women (2.65) in considering the importance of dissection to teaching biology. Overall, 54% indicated that dissection was important or essential.
• 78.1% of all respondents offered dissection at least once in the last five years of teaching and of these, 78.1% offered alternatives. Computer simulation was considered comparable or superior to dissections by 50.8% of respondents, with females being more positive toward computer simulation than males. No attitudinal differences were found between males and females concerning videos, slides, or models.
• In discussing a bill that would require teachers to offer alternatives to student who choose not to dissect, 63.6% of teachers were in support of the bill, with females (70.0%) noting higher levels of support than males (57.5%).
• Teachers noted that almost three times as many female students object to dissection than male students, and that both genders were granted alternatives with similar frequency.
• Teachers who offer alternatives seemed to report a greater number of student objections to dissection.