grade inflation at kenyon college

Grade Inflation and Compression

at Kenyon College ________________________________________________________________________

Devin Ensing and Brett Field

ANTH 113

Professor Pack

December 13, 2011

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Introduction

One of the biggest issues that permeates institutions of higher learning in

America is grade inflation. The issue of grade inflation has become mainstream over

the last few years, garnering attention in media outlets such as the New York Times.

Some people hypothesize that this is due to an increase in the quality of students,

while others hold the notion that the rapid increase is the result of higher grades

being easier to obtain. In order to understand this phenomenon, we looked

specifically at the causes of grade inflation at Kenyon College, both from students’

and faculty’s points of view. We set out to answer this question: why does grade

inflation persist at Kenyon, and what does it say about the culture of the college?

Further, we looked at why grade inflation is an issue Kenyon should be

concerned about. Many of the students we interviewed expressed a similar view

when approached about grade inflation -‐ they loved it. What is so harmful about

everyone bringing home better grades?

Finally, we look at whether anything can be done at Kenyon college to curb

grade inflation. Many people argue that the American higher education system has

gone too far down the road of grade inflation for one individual institution to

unilaterally buck the trend. Is this true, or are their steps Kenyon can take to

reverse the trend without hurting the college?

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Data Collection Methods

To obtain data on grade inflation at Kenyon, we primarily relied on

interviews with students and faculty. We conducted interviews with six faculty

members; four professors, one retired professor, and an administrator. We tried to

interview professors in diverse departments and with varying viewpoints on the

issue. These interviews lasted roughly one hour, and we relied on a base outline of

questions that we had prepared, but tried to be flexible as well with the interview

based on the responses we received, steering the conversation towards where we

thought we would get the most information. We also interviewed 25 students and

conducted a focus group of six students. The interviews with students were shorter

than those with the faculty members, as we used these to gauge campus opinion. To

this end we also sent out e-‐mail surveys in an attempt to get a finger on the pulse of

the Kenyon students’ opinions of grade inflation. The focus group lasted roughly an

hour, and allowed us to delve deeper into how the students felt about their grades

and grade inflation. During these interviews, we would each take notes

independently of each other, afterword, we would exchange notes in an attempt to

eliminate personal bias. In addition to interviews, we also engaged in participant

observation of a lunchtime conversation about class registration. Because grades

are such a pervasive issue on campus, we found that our lives became participant

observation in a way, as both of us found many times over the last several weeks

that grades came up in conversation, and we were able to glean important

information about student attitudes towards grades that connected to this research

topic.

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Causes of Grade Inflation

Student Motivations

The most striking thing we found in our talks with Kenyon students was

how necessary getting good grades was to them. We found a recurring theme that

students claimed they ‘had to’ have above average grades. In fact, this seemed to be

considered the main barometer for the success of a semester or school year. Every

student interviewed but one described a ‘bad’ semester as one in which a desired

GPA level is not achieved. This shows that rather than a focus on enjoyable,

informative, or even potentially ‘useful’ classes, students see grades as the

culmination of the academic experience at Kenyon.

However, this importance placed on grades does not seem to motivate

students to work harder. Every student we talked to expressed the desire to

increase their GPA, but only roughly sixty percent said they were planning on

devoting more time to academic work next semester. This number is most likely

inflated by the pleading the fifth effect, as students attempted to appear more

academically oriented than they actually are, both to us and themselves. At Kenyon,

due to its remote locale and the wealthy background most students come from, the

vast majority of students are not devoting significant amounts of time to earning a

paycheck, meaning students are dipping into their non-‐academic time for extra

leisure time. Therefore, it appears that despite the importance placed on grades, the

goal of increasing leisure time is even more important to Kenyon students.

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High Self-‐Esteem

Aside from the commoditization of college, which is discussed later, the

main factor for this importance placed on grades seems to be maintaining high self-‐

esteem. The students we talked to expressed pride at being students at a selective

school like Kenyon, and that getting good grades expanded this pride. Because of

this, students see grade inflation in a positive light. Interestingly, we found that

positive self esteem stemming from grades was not affected when we informed

students of the surprisingly high average GPA at Kenyon. Students with grades in

the 3.25-‐3.45 range, within .1 of the college average, all initially told us they were

proud that they were able to achieve such a good GPA. This sentiment did not

change when we revealed that Kenyon’s average GPA was a 3.39 (Spring 2011

semester). This showed us that average is the new above average -‐ students don’t

need to outperform their peers to feel accomplished. Therefore, grade inflation

satisfies their goal of maintaining the high self esteem that students have nourished

throughout their lives.

Student Entitlement

Part of the reason behind this seeming contradiction is the entitlement felt

by today’s students. The self-‐centered and entitled worldview of today’s youth is

well documented. ‘Generation Me’ has been told they are special and have the

ability to “do anything they want” for their entire lives. This has created a ‘Lake

Woebegone’ effect, where every child of this generation has been told they are

above average their entire lives. Kenyon students are no different. In fact, this

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entitlement is especially prevalent in the predominantly upper class, white,

academically inclined students that Kenyon attracts. Because this generation has

such a high self-‐image, they view anything that challenges this image as the result of

something outside their control. Therefore, these students expect to get A’s, and

when they do not, they project the blame outward. Rather than seeing a poor grade

as the result of their own poor performance, students rather seemed to see it as the

result of an outside factor. The effect of Generation Me on grade inflation can be

seen in figure 1, where the average GPA at Kenyon jumps dramatically in the late

1980s when Generation Me began to enter college. In our interviews and

observations, students often described professors who gave them an unsatisfactory

grade in a negative light, often even attacking them personally. One typical

comment came from a junior male, who told us a B-‐ he had received in a history

class last semester was because “the professor was a d-‐-‐-‐.” Very tellingly, only

thirty-‐six percent of students interviewed said they felt their own lack of effort or

intelligence was the primary reason for a bad grade, with poor scheduling, outside

stresses, and bad teaching or grading often being seen as more important factors.

This feeling of entitlement is also seen in the parents of Kenyon students.

Though we were unable to interview any parents themselves, our talks with

students and faculty gave us insight as to how parents influence the way students

think about grades. We found that the Lake Woebegone effect extended to parents

as well, as nobody wants to see their child be average. Many of the students

interviewed listed parental pressure as a reason for the importance they placed on

grades. Further, the parents also share the student’s entitlement concerning grades,

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though not to the same extent as the students. One administrator recounted a story

from his teaching days at a school comparable to Kenyon, in which a parent had

blamed him for her son not getting into his desired graduate program, telling him

that her daughter at the flagship state university had gotten all A’s and was now at

graduate school, and that her son should be able to do the same. That entitled

behavior is accepted and even imitated by parents only serves to reinforce it in

students.

High School Grading

Another factor leading to Kenyon students’ entitled feelings about grades

is that with grade inflation persisting at the high school level, they have not had to

deal with the experience of receiving unsatisfactory grades. At Kenyon, most of the

incoming freshmen have enjoyed tremendous academic success throughout their

lives. According to the school’s website, thirty-‐nine percent of the class of 2015 got

better than a 4.0 GPA in high school, two thirds received a 3.7 or higher, and less

than one percent received grades lower than a 3.0. This was reflected in the

comments of one student interviewee, who recounted that, near the end of his

senior year of high school, he realized during a conversation with several friends

that none of them had received a grade lower than B throughout their entire high

school career. After four years of being told their academic work is perfect, or at

least well above average, these students are not prepared to handle a below

average-‐or even an average-‐grade.

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Commoditization of College

Another factor that we saw as leading to grade inflation is the

commoditization of a college education. This is not an issue solely associated with

Kenyon or its comparable colleges, but is rather a wider cultural issue. However it is

more distinct in private schools like Kenyon, where tuition is not kept at lower

levels by state funding. This commoditization is a function of both the changing

nature of the American workplace and the increased emphasis placed on

consumerism in American culture. As the American economy becomes increasingly

knowledge based, a college education has become essential to obtain even a middle

class lifestyle. Therefore, the cultural importance of graduating from college has

become even greater, as it is more directly tied to opportunities for consumption

and especially conspicuous consumption, and therefore status. For the more

lucrative, higher paying jobs, a graduate degree has become a necessity. This makes

receiving high grades even more crucial for future consumption, especially with

many exceptional students who decide to go to a top tier school such as Kenyon

because it provides them with greater access to graduate programs. All of this has

caused students to focus on grades more and learning and the college experience

less. As one administrator put it, “Grades are seen as the instrument of life

transformation rather than the experiences (of college).” Because of this, students

are more likely to react negatively to receiving a subpar grade.

The commoditization of college education is also affected by record costs

now associated with attending college. At a school like Kenyon with a $54,000 per

year price tag, students and their parents who are footing the bill expect to see a

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tangible benefit. The intellectual ideal of college as a place to learn and better

oneself is no longer economically feasible. Spending a quarter million dollars on

college and not getting into the right graduate program -‐ or worse, not getting a

degree at all -‐ is not seen as an option. Rather than motivating themselves to work

harder, this increases the sense of entitlement and outward projected blame bred

into Generation Me. This causes students and their parents to blame teachers if their

life goals become unattainable because of bad grades. A sophomore male, when

reflecting on the purpose of going to college, summed up this feeling. “I’m not

paying $100 for each hour of class, I am paying $200,000 for a Kenyon College

degree.”

Changes in Student Behaviors

Because the focus of students has become getting good grades while

maintaining the maximum amount of leisure time, we found that students at Kenyon

have become increasingly focused on finding the easiest classes possible. Even at a

liberal arts college like Kenyon which is supposed to attract students interested in

learning for learning’s sake, we saw that older students had a great interest and skill

in gaming the system by taking easy classes. In talking to students about how they

selected their classes for the next semester, the second most important factor -‐ after

fulfilling graduation and major requirements -‐ was setting up an easy schedule. This

“scheduling for success” is seen as an alternative to work for getting good grades: “I

didn’t do as well as I had hoped last semester,” one sophomore male told us, “so I

felt like I needed to set myself up for a good GPA when I registered.” We found that

a whole industry existed around finding easy classes, as websites such as Rate My

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Professor inform students as to how difficult professors were. One student told us

that he had not taken an introductory Anthropology class recommended to him by a

friend because the professor had scored too low on ‘Easiness’ on Rate my Professor.

We also saw some older students acting as gurus on the process of finding easy

classes, instructing younger students as to which classes were an ‘easy A’. This

reflects the idea that students attempt to control their grades not by work, but

through registration. This is the easiest way for them to fulfill their two main goals;

maximum grades and maximum leisure time. It also provides professors with

incentive to inflate grades to attract more students to their department, securing

more funding and ensuring positions would be retained within the department.

More than one professor we talked to admitted that this was a concern within their

department. One professor told us that a sentiment existed within his department

that a similar department with a 3.6 average GPA would draw majors away from

their department if they only had a 3.2 average GPA.

Student Teacher Relationships

In our interviews with professors, we also found that the size of Kenyon

encouraged grade inflation. Because the school is so small, professors get a better

chance to build a relationship with individual students. Most professors we

interviewed said that this affected their grading, as if a student was at the borderline

of a certain grade and they liked the student, they would give him the higher grade.

Professors at Kenyon also want to be liked by their students, and know

that awarding average or below average grades can damage relationships with

students. One professor recounted that he has had former students refuse to

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acknowledge him on Middle Path due to being awarded poor grades. This is

consistent with our findings in interviews with students, who often listed harsh

‘unfair’ grading as a major attribute of their least favorite professors. The fact that

Kenyon emphasizes teaching rather than research for their professors attracts

professors who are more likely to seek the affection of their students. The

professors we interviewed expressed a sense that part of the reason they chose to

teach at Kenyon was building relationships with students. Further, student

evaluations are the most important factor for professors attempting to get tenure,

giving a practical use to popularity as well. However, the professors we interviewed

generally felt that this was not a major factor, as they believed the fact that these

evaluations were given before final grades came out prevented grade-‐induced poor

evaluations.

Introduction of Women at Kenyon and new Faculty

Women were accepted into Kenyon beginning in 1969, and the first women

graduated from Kenyon in 1971. This led to an increase in the average GPA by

creating an increase in the quality of the average student at Kenyon. Women, for one

reason or another, have consistently received grades higher than men, and it was

and still remains that way at Kenyon. Figure 4 below shows that in the spring 2011

semester Kenyon males obtained an average GPA of 3.30, while women received a

3.46. This is consistent with historical grades, as women at Kenyon typically receive

an average GPA that is one to two-‐tenths of a point higher than men.

To show what effect women would immediately have at Kenyon, we can look

at incoming classes around the time women were first admitted. There was a class

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size of 200 before women, and when women were introduced the new class size

was 200 men and 150 women. If we believe that the difference in GPAs between

males and females would hold even back then, there would be about a difference of

0.15 points for women. The total grade would increase by 22.5 from the new

women. Spread out over the 350 students in the class, the overall class GPA would

increase by 0.064 points. This accounted for almost half of the increase in mean GPA

from 1971 to 1972 (2.76 to a 2.90).

Increase in Faculty

The introduction of women at the college also resulted in a much larger

incoming class, which meant that the college had to hire many more faculty. The

number of faculty jumped dramatically from about sixty to well over one hundred,

and with this increase in faculty came the impossible task of trying to track and

mentor all new professors. In essence, the new faculty were left mostly to

themselves to attempt to teach and grade Kenyon students. The problem with this

was twofold: professors were not experienced at teaching, possibly leading to an

easier curriculum and higher grades, and professors fresh out of graduate school

were used to graduate school grading consisting mostly of A’s and B’s, so the only

grades they gave out were A’s and B’s. Another issue which the professors dealt with

was the pressure applied by students to get higher grades. Students are more likely

to pressure younger faculty into being lenient than older, more established

professors.

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Problems with Grade Inflation

Student Decisions

Grade inflation affects student decisions, as Kenyon’s students are not

quite fully mature, and as such their decisions may be more focused on the short-‐

term than the long-‐term. The first major academic decision they must make in

college is the major in which they will be studying. In a perfect world, students will

enjoy whatever discipline they are best at, and will decide to major in something

that will be both satisfying and useful for them in the future. However, in some cases

students are not interested in what they are best at, and if they are receiving bad

grades in difficult classes, they may end up using this information to decide which

major to declare. The majority of students we interviewed said that grades did play

a role in their decision to declare a major at Kenyon, whether because they were

looking for an easy major or because they felt that their better grades in a certain

subject meant they had a greater aptitude. Differing grade inflation across

disciplines is at the heart of this issue. Some disciplines and departments have seen

much more grade inflation than others, and as such student GPAs across

departments differ. In figure 3 below, we show the grade distributions for each

discipline at Kenyon. We also calculated the average GPA for each discipline in the

spring 2011 semester. Fine Arts (such as music or art) leads the way with an

average GPA of 3.65. This means that the average grade in a fine arts class last

semester was just below an A-‐. Humanities (such as languages or philosophy) are

next with a 3.42. Social (such as anthropology and economics) and Natural (such as

math and chemistry) Sciences are last with GPAs of 3.27 and 3.26, respectively. The

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wide range of differences in the disciplines, which is even more so evident across

departments, could lead students to major in a less than optimal department

because of the faulty information provided by inflated grades. One senior male we

spoke to said that he attempted to major in math, but did poorly in his math classes

during his freshman year at Kenyon and instead decided to major in an ‘easier’

department.

The real issue is that students alter their choice of major from a field with

tougher grading towards fields with easier grading.1 STEM areas; science,

technology, engineering, and mathematics, tend to have much lower GPAs than

other courses in fine arts or humanities, even at liberal arts colleges like Kenyon. In

an article for the New York Times, Christopher Drew found that 40% of students

planning on majoring in engineering and science end up switching their major to

something else, which is twice the attrition rate of all other majors.2 Though this

number reflects on students nationally, our interviews show that this phenomenon

exists at Kenyon at well. There are two factors at work here because of grade

inflation. First, with the higher grade inflation in other disciplines, students feel the

pull from other fields that comes along with increased GPAs. Secondly, because of

the objective grading of the STEM courses, which allows for less grade inflation,

students are also pushed away by lower grades in their major.3

1 Taylor, Timothy. "Grade Inflation and Choice of Major." Conversable Economist. 14 Nov 2011. Web. 2 Drew, Christopher. "Why Science Majors Change Their Minds (It’s Just So Darn Hard)." New York Times 06 Nov 2011, ED16 . Print. 3 Ost, Ben. The Role of Peers and Grades in Determining Major Persistence in the Sciences. Economics of Education Review, 2010, 29(6): 923-‐934.

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What is the big problem if more Kenyon students are now majoring in a

diverse selection of majors, and less in STEM fields? For students, graduating with a

major in a STEM field provides higher earnings expectations, so majoring in these

fields should ultimately have long-‐term benefits. Politicians and educators are

worried that American students are falling behind their counterparts in other

countries in these disciplines, and eventually the United States will fall behind in

global innovation.

Students should not feel pressure to major in STEM or some other field.

However, we believe that students should not be dissuaded to major in a field that

they originally planned to major in because of difficulty or poor grades,

comparatively. The solution is not to make those STEM classes easier, as that would

do no favors to students. Other majors should crack down on grading and bring

their average GPAs closer to those of the math and sciences. If fine arts at Kenyon

were to have their GPAs brought down from a 3.65 even by one third of a letter

grade, they would now have an average of 3.32, which would be much closer to the

natural and social science grades. Math and economics at Kenyon have the lowest

GPAs around 3.10, but those GPAs should also be examined, as the problem of grade

inflation does not simply fall on the backs of humanities and fine arts. However, if

the difference in interdepartmental grades were to be decreased, students would be

much less willing to switch majors simply because they will get better grades in

other departments. What this would do is help students make the most rational

choice the best one, instead of having students make a decision they believe is in

their best interest backfire years down the road.

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Grade Compression

Another way in which grade inflation hurts Kenyon students is it doesn’t give

them much room to show they are above average. Not only does this hurt

exceptional students, it hurts average students by de-‐incentivizing hard work, so

they get less out of their Kenyon education. With the inflation of currency, another

zero can always be added. With grades there is a ceiling at 4.0When the average

grade is a 3.35 -‐ essentially a B+ -‐ there are only two grades, A-‐ and A, for which to

reward above average work. This has two effects. Firstly, it reduces the ability of

exceptional students to stand out. If everyone is getting good grades, it cheapens the

performance of truly above average students. Further, this discourages students to

apply maximum effort to their schoolwork. If we assume that students put in

average effort to get an average grade -‐ a B+ or even an A-‐, then the current system

offers very little incentive to do more than average work, as there is very little room

to increase the result by increasing time devoted to studying. Because a B+ is

considered an acceptable grade by most Kenyon students we talked to, this means

there is very little incentive for students to preform at above average levels.

Solutions

Contextual Transcript

One idea that has been brought up to fight the effects of grade inflation is a

contextualized transcript. Although it would not solve the actual problem of grade

inflation, its effect could be to at least temper the rising grades and give students

greater access to information about their grades so they can make informed

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decisions. A contextualized transcript is simply a transcript that shows the student

how he or she did in comparison with the rest of their class and the rest of their

fellow majors. It would list overall GPA for the current semester and cumulatively,

but also list the GPA for all courses in the major, and the GPA for all of the classes

taken by majors in the student’s major. It would then go on to show the exact grade

distribution for each class the student took in the semester, as well as the number of

students enrolled in each class. This would allow the student to see how he did

relative to other students: if the student was pleasantly surprised with a B+, for

example, but then found out that 80% of the students enrolled in the class got at

least an A-‐, he would no longer feel quite so happy with a B+. On the other hand, a

student who was disappointed to receive a B+ will be much happier if he finds out

that he got the top grade in the entire class. Currently, there is no way to distinguish

between the quality of these two B+’s.

A hypothetical contextual transcript can be seen in table 1. The student

received an A-‐ in URDU 213, and was probably happy as an A-‐ is higher than his

cumulative GPA. However, the grade distribution of that particular class was so that

all five students enrolled in the class received at least an A-‐. In this light, the

student’s A-‐ is not so impressive as he received the lowest possible grade in the

class. Contrary is the C+ the received in GEOL 235. Although a C+ may have resulted

in the student being disenchanted, only three students out of the twenty enrolled in

the class received grades higher than a C+. Overall, the C+ is probably more

“valuable” than the A-‐ in the contextualized transcript as the student is doing better

compared to class averages. However, in a normal transcript, a C+ looks much worse

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than an A-‐.

The overall effect of this contextualized transcript is the increased

transparency that comes for faculty and students alike. Professors know they can no

longer simply give high grades to please students as the grading scheme will be seen

by all students. They must grade more fairly, lest they be ridiculed by students for

grading too hard or fellow faculty for grading too easily. Students would know

exactly where they stand in comparison with other students like them. This increase

in knowledge leads to more perfect information, rather than the asymmetric

information that is currently prevalent at Kenyon. An increase in knowledge will

allow students to make better choices about their major, which will be more

beneficial for them in the long run. The current asymmetric information provided by

inflated grades has the potential to harm students’ decision making, as some

students may make less-‐than-‐efficient choices because of information coming from

inflated grades.

The one problem that has been brought up with the contextualized

transcript is that it does nothing to actually solve the problem of grade inflation. It

has been put forward for review and obtained virtually no support. Its detractors

say that if students were to obtain knowledge of grade distributions, it would lead to

more competition for grades. This in turn would violate the principles of Kenyon

community and friendship, where instead of helping each other with work, students

would become part of a “dog eat dog” world where each student is fighting to get to

the top.

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Transparency

Another possible solution is increased transparency in grading. This

would especially help solve the problems caused by differences in grade inflation

between departments. By creating more transparency, professors would be

encouraged to grade fairly as the grade distribution of the class would be known

throughout the college. Hopefully this will help normalize grading between

professors and disciplines, as they will have a better idea of what the faculty as a

whole is doing. The administration could then set goals for the average GPA overall

and by department, and professors with grades well above the target GPA would

feel pressure to change grading habits to conform to the administration’s desires.

Conclusion - The Comfortable Arrangement

After conducting this study, we find the prospects of a solution to grade

inflation bleak. While the increase in grades will surely slow down or perhaps even

stop due to the fact that, barring the invention of a ‘Super A’, as one professor

jokingly suggested, there is less and less room for increase; there seems to be no

going back to the grading standards of the past.

This is because there is simply no incentive for anyone in the system to

change it. The group who is hurt by grade inflation -‐ students -‐ do not see grade

inflation as harmful to them, but rather expressed their pleasure in the system, as it

allows them to achieve a maximum grade for minimized effort, fulfilling their two

predominant goals of ego protection and leisure time.

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The malaise felt towards grade inflation by the Kenyon faculty can be seen in

the lack of passion with which the professors and administrators we talked to were

fighting grade inflation. While several of the professors and the administrator we

talked to believed grade inflation was a problem, most of them were not actively

fighting it. For example, when we asked an administrator who was a member of the

anti-‐grade inflation camp what he was doing to fight grade inflation, he did not give

us any specific actions. The only faculty member we talked to who had put forth a

plan as to how to reduce grade inflation was a retired professor, no longer part of

the system. Part of this is because professors who believe action is required are in

the minority, as evidenced by the fact that the Committee for Academic Standards

has rejected all proposals we heard of, including the less radical idea of the

contextualized transcript. We also noticed that professors seemed to shy away from

public discussion of grade inflation. While every professor we talked to was very

forthcoming to us, several of the professors we talked to made sure that we weren’t

writing for the Kenyon Collegian before they would divulge any information, as they

were presumably afraid of a backlash for criticizing the grading practices of their

colleagues.

The reason that there seems to be a lack of action and public discussion of

the issue among faculty is the impression that reducing grade inflation will hurt the

college. Many people we interviewed expressed the sentiment that the school

would be putting its students at a disadvantage if it pursued unilateral grade

deflation, as this would hurt their chances to get into graduate school. This, along

with the fact that grade deflation is seen negatively by students because it means

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more work and a greater possibility ego deflation, would certainly lead to a decrease

in top tier students interested in Kenyon, which would in turn decrease the college’s

academic profile.

Kenyon has now put itself into a precipitous situation where any decision

made will have harmful effects. Grade inflation has already become a serious

problem, and will only continue to become more of a problem if nothing is done.

However, action on this front will not be without consequences. Kenyon must make

a decision now and wholeheartedly follow that path; whether that is to try and fix

grade inflation or to stand by and let the actions run their course.

Limitations

Unfortunately, because of time constraints, we were unable to get as deep

into the issue as we would have liked. Expanding the scope of the study would have

allowed us to gain different perspectives on grade inflation and hopefully point us

toward a better ultimate solution.

The biggest limitation in our findings was that we were unable to get an

adequate cross section of the Kenyon community. Had we been able to continue our

work on this project, we would have loved to extend our interviews to include

groups we feel we underrepresented in this study. Most glaringly, we did not

interview any junior professors for this study, as we decided to focus on older

professors who had seen grade inflation progress through the years and would be

more candid with us. Had we been able to talk to a junior professor, we could have

gained greater insights into the pressures they faced from students to inflate grades,

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as well as their mindset towards grade inflation.

We also would have liked to have gotten a better cross-‐section of the

students throughout campus. Most of our observations and student interviews

were done within our peer group, meaning our sample was skewed towards males

and athletes, as well as members of the ‘bro’ culture. We did collect some random

surveys, taken at the library and Peirce during lunch. This skewed our random

sample, as people at the library are studying, which most likely puts them in a

different mood about grades, grade inflation, and academic work in general. Had we

had more time we would have liked to get a deeper understanding of how the

prevalent hipster culture at Kenyon saw grade inflation. We could have done this

through participant observation of this group and developed a key informant. This

would have made our study a better representation of Kenyon as a whole.

We also would have liked to talk to the parents of Kenyon students.

Throughout our interviews with students and faculty, parents kept on coming up as

a factor in student entitlement, commoditization, and student pressure to get good

grades. However, we were not able to talk to any parents, which means we were

missing an important perspective on all of these issues.

Though we got a fairly good grip on the issues surrounding grade inflation

at Kenyon, we would have liked to look at this problem at other institutions,

especially larger state schools. Figure 1 shows the average grade at Kenyon from

1956 to 2006, and at Ohio State from 1980 to 2006. Although Ohio State lags behind

Kenyon in grades, the inflation between 1980 and 2006 is essentially the same at

Ohio State as it is at Kenyon from 1960 to 1986. Ohio State is more or less just

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twenty years behind Kenyon in real grades, but inflation is approximately equal. We

would have liked to be able to investigate why this is the case. While the fact that

grade inflation at Kenyon roughly parallels grade inflation throughout American

colleges shows that many of the driving factors we found are consistent with other

schools, the truth remains that Kenyon is not particularly representative of

American college culture. The majority of American college students attend larger

public universities that are easier to get into, less academically rigorous, and

cheaper than Kenyon. Most attend schools with ten to twenty times Kenyon’s

enrollment and half its cost. In short, Kenyon students are whiter, richer, and

smarter than the average American. Many of the factors we investigated, such as

professor-‐student relationships, do not apply to these schools, and other aspects are

certain to apply differently. Had we been able to investigate grade inflation at a

large public school like Ohio State, and even a local community college, we could

have gotten a more complete view of grade inflation. It also would have helped us

prescribe possible solutions, as any viable long term solution will have to be enacted

by the American higher education system as a whole, not unilaterally by Kenyon.

Authors’ Reflections

Brett

Before embarking on this project I never understood how ubiquitous grades

were as a topic of discussion and concern at Kenyon. I found that everywhere I

went, from Peirce to baseball practice to hanging out with friends in my room,

grades would come up as a topic of conversation. I always knew grades were

24

important-‐I place as much importance on them as anyone-‐but I never knew how

pervasive they were in Kenyon culture.

Doing this project also caused me to reflect on my own study habits. I had

never thought that grades were inflated to the extremes that they are, and that my

3.5 GPA was very impressive. After doing this study, I realize that this GPA is not as

above average as I thought. I also realized that my views toward studying were as

poor as the people I was interviewing, as I have not changed my study habits at all

despite a below average GPA last semester.

I also came to see how this attitude toward grade inflation and grades has

hurt students. When talking to students about registering for easy classes, I would

think about how I had not done a good enough job of this over my first 3 semesters

at Kenyon. During registration this year, my main goal was to try to schedule for

success next semester. However, when I started looking at classes with this as a

goal, I realize that I was cheapening my academic experience at Kenyon by taking

classes because they were easy, not interesting and useful. This really opened my

eyes to how this view of grades keeps myself and other students from fully

exploiting our opportunities at Kenyon.

Devin

The issue of grade inflation was not part of my thinking for my first two

years at Kenyon, but has permeated my views on Kenyon, college in general, and

society these past few years. I saw a close friend of mine majoring in math graduate

with a 3.30 GPA, while her roommate, an international studies major, graduate with

a 3.60. My belief was that the former friend was much smarter, but did not get

25

recognized. The latter friend was acknowledged at graduation as being of

“distinction.” I thought it was unfair that someone who seemed to have less

knowledge receive more positive attention from the college. It made me think of

what is really important at college? To accumulate knowledge or to get good

grades? As an economics major with a statistics minor, I have always valued the

learning I have received as it can translate into a future job more than simply

achieving good grades and being recognized. However, I am not so sure that other

students agree with this, and even whether or not the faculty and administration

wholeheartedly agree with this. Kenyon has always been a “place of learning”, and I

am worried that it is simply becoming a place to get good grades. Have we become

so “cultured” that we have become something we never wanted to become?

I believe that we have progressed past the point where we can make any

meaningful changes without hurting our current or future students. If we do not fix

the grade inflation problem soon, our current outstanding students will be harmed,

as their grades will become worth less because of the number of students that have

a top GPA. The school’s reputation could also be harmed if students with inflated

grades go to graduate school and do poorly. However, fixing the problem will have a

lot of growing pains. It will be very difficult to simply lower the GPA, and even if we

manage to accomplish our goal we will still run into problems. Current students will

not be able to get into graduate programs as easily as they will have lower grades

than their contemporaries. Future students will be less likely to come to Kenyon

because they see the lowered grades and want to go to a school where they can have

“higher achievements”.

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My recommendation would be to take a serious look at this problem very

soon and commit one way or another. If we decide that it is a problem not worth

fixing, then we can go that route and see our average GPAs hit an eventually ceiling,

whether that be 3.50, 3.75, or 3.90. Our best and brightest students will be hurt, but

everyone else will seem to be happy. However, if we decide that it is a serious

problem that needs to be fixed, we need to start working on solutions now. I am of a

firm belief that grade inflation does need to be fixed, and although it may be difficult,

the rewards will ultimately be worth it.

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References

Clydesdale, Timothy Thomas. The First Year Out: Understanding American Teens After High School. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press, 2008. Print. Drew, Christopher. "Why Science Majors Change Their Minds (It’s Just So Darn Hard)." New York Times 06 Nov 2011, ED16. Print. Light, Joe, and Rachel Emma Silverman. "Generation Jobless: Students Pick Easier Majors Despite Less Pay ." Wall Street Journal. 09 Nov 2011. Web. 9 Dec. 2011. <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203733504577026212798573518.html?mod=WSJ_Careers_CareerJournal_2>. Milner, Murray. Freaks, Geeks, and Cool Kids: American Teenagers, Schools, and the Culture of Consumption. 1st ed. New York: Routledge, 2006. Print. Ost, Ben. The Role of Peers and Grades in Determining Major Persistence in the Sciences. Economics of Education Review, 2010, 29(6): 923-‐934. Taylor, Timothy. "Grade Inflation and Choice of Major." Conversable Economist. 14 Nov 2011. Web. <http://conversableeconomist.blogspot.com/2011/11/grade-‐inflation-‐and-‐choice-‐of-‐major.html>. Twenge, J. M. Generation Me: Why Today’s Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled - and More Miserable Than Ever Before. 1st ed. Free Press, 2007. We interviewed five faculty members: three current professors, one retired

professor, and one administrator. We conducted formal and informal interviews

with approximately 25 students, and formed a focus group of six students.

We would like to thank all of the faculty members we talked to for their input into

this project. Without their willingness to pass on their knowledge, this project

would have been very difficult, if not impossible. We would also like to thank all of

the students that we talked with or that gave us their opinions. Each opinion was

taken into consideration and we are thankful for them. Finally, we would like to

extend great thanks to Professor Smail, whose interest in the issue at hand and

dedication to solving the problem proved to be invaluable to us.

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Figures and Tables

Figure 1: Kenyon and Ohio State GPA History from 1956 to 2006.

2.5

2.6

2.7

2.8

2.9

3

3.1

3.2

3.3

3.4

1956

1958

1960

1962

1964

1966

1968

1970

1972

1975

1977

1979

1981

1983

1985

1987

1989

1991

1993

1995

1997

1999

2001

2003

2005

GPA

Year

Grade InHlation 1956-2006, Kenyon vs. OSU

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Figure 2: Overall grade distribution for Kenyon in the Spring 2011 semester.

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

A+ A A-‐ B+ B B-‐ C+ C C-‐ D+ D D-‐ F

Spring 2011 Grade Distribution

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Figure 3: Grade distribution for Kenyon in the Spring 2011 semester, sorted by discipline (Fine Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences).

Average GPA by department

Fine Arts: 3.65

Humanities: 3.42

Natural Sciences: 3.26

Social Sciences: 3.27

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

A+ A A-‐ B+ B B-‐ C+ C C-‐ D+ D D-‐ F

Count

Grade

Grade Distribution by Discipline, Spring 2011

FNAR

HUMN

NATS

SOCS

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Figure 4: Grade distribution for Kenyon in the Spring 2011 semester sorted by gender and ethnicity.

The ethnicities are as follows:

1 = African American 2 = Native American 3 = Asian American 4 = Hispanic 5 = Caucasian 6 = Unknown

2.7

2.8

2.9

3

3.1

3.2

3.3

3.4

3.5

3.6

M/F AVG 1 2 3 4 5 6

GPA

Ethnicity

GPA by Gender, Ethnicity

Male

Female

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Table 1: Contextual Transcript

Name: Saul Teukolsky Major: Geology

Current Semester Cumulative GPA 3.08 3.17 GPA for Geology Courses 2.83 2.94 GPA for Geology Majors in Geology Courses 3.24 3.19

Enrollment and Letter Grades Awarded Course Grade Enrolled A to A-‐ B+ to B-‐ C+ to C-‐ D+ to D-‐ F GEOL 203 B+ 18 5 12 1 0 0 GEOL 235 C+ 20 1 2 13 2 2 URDU 213 A-‐ 5 5 0 0 0 0 ZOOL 106 B 40 10 15 12 3 0

grade inflation at kenyon college

Documents