Grade inflation is the new positive discrimination — Minding The Campus

I teach at an Ivy League university, and I can't count how many colleagues have told me that they “just give everyone an A.”

This mindset is not limited to one teacher, one department, one discipline, or one generation. I am not outing one or two people in particular when I describe my experience with grade inflation. It happens everywhere, and some teachers even boast about it.

At best, grade inflation robs students of their education. At worst, it has disproportionate, negative consequences for students after they graduate, especially those who are socioeconomically disadvantaged. Graduates with money and well-connected families can handle the burden of a mediocre reputation. Graduates whose futures depend entirely on their achievements and perceived potential? We've left them with the very degree we promised would help them in life.

We know what happens when the public believes that some applicants are less capable than others. Regardless of whether affirmative action is effective or necessary, the general perception has always been that it “misdirects” underqualified applicants to selective colleges. Some black and Latino students have questioned whether they were admitted based on their merit or simply because of the color of their skin. The uncertainty created by maintaining a system of reduced merit not only demeans the students in question, but also leads professors – and potential employers – to expect those students to be below the required level of achievement. Likewise, grade inflation is a practice that aims to promote equity or even “decolonize” teaching, but the ultimate effect is to undermine Student performance. The reputation of graduates as competent individuals suffers when their academic abilities are questioned.

This pessimism is not unjustified.

A recent survey shows that nearly 40 percent of employers surveyed avoid hiring college graduates because they suspect they are unprepared for professional life. American companies are increasingly hiring based on applicants' skills and lowering minimum degree requirements. Frustrated young workers are going viral on TikTok, realizing in real time that the implicit promise of well-paying employment after graduation doesn't match their frustrating reality. Since 2020, hiring rates for applicants with a bachelor's degree or higher have dropped, while applicants without a bachelor's degree are more likely to find jobs than their better-educated counterparts. Perhaps the most counterintuitive hiring trend of all is advising applicants not to list their GPA on their resumes. A number of employers are questioning the validity of linking a high GPA with job competence.

In summary, college degrees have become increasingly unattractive to employers, and even graduates with high grade point averages—who might be expected to buck this negative hiring trend—are being advised to downplay their grades to increase their chances of being hired. Grade inflation generally prevents students from becoming, or at least appearing to be, competitive job candidates.

Some graduates can overcome the challenges posed by grade inflation. But these graduates are not the ones we typically think of as needing extra help. Those with advantageous social networks remain competitive in the job market because of their connections, which are often inherited. Those with fewer connections and likely lower socioeconomic status can theoretically still capitalize on their academic achievements and subsequently build their own professional networks. But since it's an open secret that today's graduates are underprepared despite—or perhaps because of—their high grades, students who rely on their own achievements are at a loss. If the value of academic achievement is known to be inflated throughout academia, our least privileged students can't even rely on their own achievements.

We need realistic solutions to grade inflation that benefit the students who suffer most from this practice. From experience, I can say that blaming individual teachers does not work. in masses. When precariously employed faculty, who do the bulk of teaching at American colleges and universities, are given the choice of awarding an A or risking their jobs, they are likely to choose the former. Departments, especially tenured faculty, must determine the standards by which student work will be evaluated. Deans and department heads must provide administrative support to their instructors in the event of criticism of grading and hold their line. Course evaluations by students should not be interpreted as reliable indicators of instructor competence, because there is a known relationship between positive course evaluations and student satisfaction with their expected grades. The damage from grade inflation can be repaired only if administrators and department heads work together to hold the line of fair grading based on honest evaluations of student work.

We cannot afford to repeat the debacle of affirmative action, which had dubious effects on equality and brought even more public disapproval to the American university system. Grade inflation not only impairs student learning and tarnishes graduates' reputations as competent individuals, it also sabotages the academic organization as a whole. The reputation of academia is at stake, and faculty grading decisions will either restore or further undermine its integrity. The future of our students, especially those who are disadvantaged and rely more on their performance to advance socioeconomically, is at stake. Administrators and faculty must address the issue of grade inflation to restore our reputation. If we can make grading meaningful and fair, we can show our students, prospective employers, and the American public that a college education is still valuable.

Grade List image by Eugene Sim – Adobe Stock – Asset ID #: 85939075 & Red oval element by TWINS DESIGN STUDIO – Adobe Stock – Asset ID #: 493412523