Stephen VasciannieACCORDING TO the International Herald Tribune of April 20-21, Harvard University will be taking steps to address the issue of grade inflation at that institution. Specifically, Harvard is giving consideration to restoring the notion that a 'B' grade represents the average mark for a class, and to clarifying on Harvard transcripts just what is meant by an 'A' grade.
This reassessment of grading at Harvard comes in the light of the fact that last year about one-half of the undergraduate grades at the institution were 'A' or 'A'-minus; and, at the same time, in last June's examination results, 91 per cent of all final year students graduated with honours degrees of one type or another.
Grade inflation is a torrential river that flows from several sources. Naturally, lecturers are pleased when their students perform creditably in examinations, not only because it indicates interest in the course, but also because it shows that the course was so structured and presented that even the less intellectually capable are able to master the technicalities set forth for their consideration.
Also, in some instances, lecturers are inclined to be unduly generous in marking because this makes their courses popular, and where, as in some North American universities class size is an index of influence, there may be the temptation to tip marks upwards to ensure a flood of students in the following semester.
There may also be other factors at work. If some lecturers mark significantly less generously than the majority, then, at some stage, university authorities may begin to wonder about the teaching performance of the lecturer giving out lower grades. Thus, in order to avoid questions about why one's marking curve differs from other lecturers, some lecturers may simply decide to go along with the programme.
These, though, are generic problems, and I have no knowledge as to whether or not they are present at Harvard. My guess is that at least some lecturers at Harvard justify giving out 'A' grades largely on the basis that Harvard takes the top 10 per cent or so of the students from the pool of high school graduates, and therefore it is to be expected that many of these candidates will flourish in their tertiary studies. Even so, however, the Harvard grade profile is difficult to justify, and the case for a review of grading cannot be regarded as eccentric.
IMPLICATIONS
But does it matter? Some years ago, I was involved (at a quite junior level) in the assessment of candidates wishing to work at a Wall Street law firm. Among other things, it quickly became clear to me that most selectors at the firm took it as given that graduates would have 'A' grades, and that, therefore, the grading system would not really be helpful in distinguishing the outstanding from the others. And, this, I believe, is the main problem with grade inflation: if everyone comes in with high grades, then the system is almost useless for its purposes, and, ultimately, it undermines the basic rationale for giving examinations in the first place.
Moreover, grade inflation, at whatever level, is unfair to students. First, it is unfair because if everyone gets the same high grade, this suggests that everyone put a similar degree of effort into the course in question. No knowledge of rocket science is needed to indicate that this is not usually true. Thus, those who make a special effort are squeezed into the same sardine tin as those who studied the material on the night before the examination.
Second, grade inflation is sometimes unfair to students because it fosters mediocrity. If I know that I will pull an 'A' with minimal effort, then, depending on the sources of my motivation, I may well choose not to push myself. Not only that, some students swear by their 'A' grades, and may come to a rude awakening when they discover that their 'A' knowledge in a particular subject hardly amounts to a can of beans in the minds of persons other than their overgenerous professor.
Now, precisely because grade inflation fosters mediocrity, it is a threat to standards in the academy. And, partly for this reason, some institutions encourage their lecturers to grade papers 'on a curve,' meaning that there should be a normal distribution of marks: in the normal distribution, a small number of students take home 'A' grades, and a small number of students will fail the course or obtain a very low pass, while most candidates will end up with 'B' grades, or perhaps 'B+' grades.
This approach will ensure that graduate schools and prospective employers can distinguish among those who have a special mark of merit, those who are ahead of the class, those who are average, and those who could have made a greater effort. Marking on the curve may be a little harsh on students in a year when, by chance, most candidates in an examination are particularly strong; it also tends to bring a competitive edge to class proceedings even where this is not desirable. Nevertheless, it is one way of dealing with overgenerous marking.
STINGY?
At the other end of the spectrum, there are, of course, those lecturers who stoutly refuse to acknowledge that anyone, but themselves, might be deserving of an 'A' grade. There is a story (perhaps apocryphal) to the effect that in one year in the early 1980s, a certain professor of law at Oxford refused to find one 'A' grade from a class of over 300 candidates in his subject. The other examiners rebelled, and refused to authorise his marking scheme until he could bring himself to find a sprinkling of 'A' marks.
I have not looked at the statistics concerning grades at UWI in any systematic way. In the 1970s, though, students were quite convinced that in some departments, only one student per year would take a First Class honours degree, and the student in second place, no matter how strong, would have to be happy with a good Upper Second Class honours degree.
If that was true, it probably reflected a determination to maintain standards. If, however, a rigid rule of marking is maintained along these lines, it will also work unfairly to the detriment of some students.
Stephen Vasciannie is a Visiting Fellow at Wolfson College, Cambridge University in Britain.
