Grades and sense of justice about grades: The gender aspect

Nura Resh*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

Grading students on a standardized hierarchical scale (usually numerical) is an institutionalized means of evaluating their academic performance and a very meaningful signpost in students' educational experience: Grades have a gatekeeping function, providing or withholding access to particular classes and schools; Grades affect students' self-image, motivation, and expectations, ultimately affecting future learning behavior and the probability of dropping-out or graduating from high school; They create a status hierarchy within the classroom, affecting social acceptance, friendship formation, and the student's "popularity; Finally, grading practices have a latent effect: it inculcate important values and norms of behavior that prevail in the wider society. "Unfair" distribution of grades, not only increases sense of injustice among students, but may also contribute to the shaping of their world views and the "social map" they construct in their mind. Therefore, grades are a highly 'valued good' and the process of their allocation looms large in student's justice life.Students evaluate the "fairness", or "unfairness" of their rewards in general, and grades, in particular vis-à-vis their constructed perception about their deservedness. When actual reward matches the expected, just reward, a sense of justice will result; conversely, when there is a gap between the actual and the perceived deserved reward, a sense of injustice will sensibly follow.Congruent with the meritocratic ethos, equity-differential reward allocation, proportional to investment or product-is the guiding principle of grades' distribution.Even though idiosyncratic and school policy differences might affect the weight given by teachers to specific criterions in the grading process, it is accepted that ascriptive characteristics like, beauty, gender, skin color, ethnic origin and the like should not become a criteria in teachers considerations when distributing grades.International testing show an advantage of girls over boys in verbal tests and their lagging behind boys in mathematics and science, although gender gaps in these subjects are constantly narrowing. However, evidence suggests that girls are getting better grades in school, even in mathematics and science. If the actual higher grades, that girls get are not accompanied by perception of a higher entitlement, it can be expected that boys will show a greater sense of deprivation, i.e., will feel more strongly than girls that they were under-rewarded.This chapter focuses on gender differences in grades and the sense of (in)justice about grades in school. It will review the research in this domain relating specifically to the following questions:Are boys and girls getting different grades? Are grades' differentials universal to all subject matters? How is it related to "objective" academic achievement (e.g., in international testing)? What are the resultant gender differentials in sense of justice about grade?,

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationAcademic Achievement
Subtitle of host publicationPredictors, Learning Strategies and Influences of Gender
PublisherNova Science Publishers, Inc.
Pages95-112
Number of pages18
ISBN (Print)9781624174544
StatePublished - Jan 2013

Keywords

  • Gender
  • Grades
  • School
  • Sense of justice about grades

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