2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Anyone Else Notice That We Tend to Use Female Candidates First Names But Male Candidates Last Names? [View all]Chan790
(20,176 posts)the differentiation between Prof. Smith and "Sarah" is often at the request of the person being referenced.
One of my bosses was a "Bill" and would not even respond to being called Prof. L_____ because he hated it, thought it was too formal and stuffy for a pothead hippie peace activist. Dr. M_____ likewise would correct anybody (verbally the first time, with the death-stare that could only belong to a young woman who grew up in Nazi Germany thereafter) who called her Ingrid. She didn't go to school for 12 years and two Ph.Ds for strangers to be so familiar. It was always "Doctor M_____" and never "Professor M______" because Dr. means you have a Ph.D and Prof. merely means you're a college-level instructor.
Generally though, the men want to be addressed by title because it sounds authoritative and the women want to be addressed by name because it doesn't sound authoritative but rather friendly and "soft." It's all about how you want to be perceived.
It's often a matter of the addresser as well..."Matt" to me (friends since we were freshmen together) is Dr. H_____ to students and "Professor H" to colleagues. He's a colloquial variation on his last name to his wife and his college nickname to other friends from college.