The effect of distraction and instructor academic status on competency ratings of instructors was studied. It was hypothesized that (1) the higher the academic status of the instructor, the higher the competency rating and (2) the more the distraction, the lower the competency rating. The 56 undergraduate student subjects were assigned to experimental conditions whereby they were told the instructor's academic status or they were exposed to distractions. Two confederates posed as subjects and carried on a conversation every 2 minutes. During the presentation, the instructor ignored the distraction. Students rated the instructor on a six-point Likert-type scale after the presentation. Both hypotheses were supported; however, an interaction effect indicated that the graduate instructor was rated as more competent than the undergraduate instructor only when a distraction was present. It is concluded that the higher the academic status of an instructor, the less the instructor needs to be concerned about being judged as incompetent. Since status was only significant in the distraction condition, it appears that a lower-status instructor has to place high priority on controlling distraction in order to be thought competent. (Author/SW)